Soledad's Journal

It seems that LJ is down for me again, at least for the time being. It is very annoying; I've grown accustomed to the little conveniences of the site, like the fact that one doesn't have to hand-code bold font or italics and the likes. But it can't be helped.

I've just read a Reddit discussion (not a very recent one, granted), that gives very little hope for LJ being available in the long run. I'll try to import my writing comms to DW, if it is still possible (and if I can figure out how to do it, which I've forgotten since last using the feature).

Nothing interesting is happening over here. Mum and I are struggling through our days, both of us being exhausted and all that. The district nurse was here and redressed her arm wound; she was content with the way it is healing, thank God.

I've saved the "Apfelküchle" by transforming it into a bastardized version of Trifle, with jelly and vanilla custard, and it tastes great that way. Additionally, it means I won't have to cook tomorrow, which is a blessing.

I had some nice phone calls with H and friends/former colleagues in the afternoon, so that was it for social life.

I even managed to update one of my unfinished chapters over on the otherworlds_lib comm, but as the menu bar above refused to cooperate, my hopes aren't very high. I think it was the right decision to move the November session of picowrimo over to DW.

Other than that, nothing new over here. My friend Evie dropped by to help putting Mum briefly on her feet, and I invited over the talkative chiropodist lady for next Friday. My feet are a mess, and I just can't leave Mum back for an indefinite time to visit a different chiropodist; assuming I found a good one.

H. has her birthday today. We keep joking every year that between October 9 and October 31 we are the same age; then she suddenly becomes older again. *g* I gave her a call and we laughed about the old joke. I wish she wouldn't live at such a distance neither of us can cross at the moment.

According to DownRightNow it isn't, but it doesn't work for me. And several people from all over the globe seem to have the same problem.

Anyway, Mum is home, and we are trying to find our new rhythm. It is not easy, but we are doing our best.

Oh, and Happy Birthday, dear Elwendell, I hope it was a lovely day for you.

... because I'm exhausted and anxious about Mum's return (even though I'm looking forward to it very much). Once again, I wasn't able to get a taxi to take me home (not even via pre-order), so I had to creep down from the hospital to the tram station with my bad leg, for the 4th time within a week. I hope the idiot who decided to build a hospital on top of a steep hill has to climb such a hill in purgatory for a very long time. As well as the other idiot who decided that the trauma surgery station for accident victims of all western districts of our city have to be on the highest spot of aforementioned hill.

So yeah. The whole hospital complex is a labyrinth, sprawling over three levels, and the way down consists of endless flings of stairs and takes twenty minutes. Unless you chose the serpentine way, which takes half an hour on foot. I took the stairs, but my legs were literally trembling when I was finally down. And since I had to take the tram anyway, I went a stop further than our home and bought the salve and the diapers I'll need once Mum comes home. I never knew a package of diapers can be so dratted heavy! I think my arms are now at least two centimetres longer than they were in the morning.

Being cross already, I've decided to stop posting birthday greetings for people on my friendslist who have vanished years ago. What's the point? I tried the nudges, but they didn't work, so I'll just stop.

Granted, only five of us could participate, but there was a caramel cake:



and hot chocolate:



and the other birthday girl loved the birthday album I made to pieces, so we had a lovely time. She didn't know that I had told the others about her having turned 70 as well, so she was surprised and touched that everyone brought her presents as well. We spent over two delightful hours together, then everyone returned to her own family duties.

I brought the leftover cake home to Mum, who very much approved of it, so everyone is happy... save for the fact that everyone missed Mum. Especially me.

I also had three calls from various family members, two calls from Mum's friends and one from Evie. Talk about proper celebration.

Okay, so we survived the big cleaning frenzy again. For another month, I'll have peace from it. I'm tired but relieved.

The dentist's assistant phoned today. My replacement won't be finished till next week. So the whole process will be delayed by another week. God, I'm so fed up with the whole thing! Unfortunately, I'm neither a shark nor a crocodile, so I can't grew new teeth at will. It's so unfair!

My friend Evie is suffering from a slipped disc. She hasn't been able to leave the house for the last four days and won't be able to come to my birthday party, either. :((

So, that was it, basically, for today. I managed to write a little bit, but was mostly resting after today's ordeal, and so was Mum. But at least we're done until November.

... and I don't mean the phone service. *g*
Today I made the longest trip by everyday means (= not by taxi) since... well, whatever had happened to my hip ten or so days ago. First, I rode the tram to Stühmer's Café to book a table for our little get-together on Friday. I also ordered a caramel cake - caramel because Mum just loves caramel, and since she insists to pay for the whole thing in lieu of a better birthday present, she deserves to have a cake that she likes. At least I hope she'll like it; the café usually has excellent cakes, this one shouldn't be an exception. *fingers crossed*

Yeah, I'll remain 69 years old for exactly another four days. It sounds bizarre. I sent my invited guests a reminder, so I hope everyone can make an appearance. Especially as we'll celebrate Ilonka's 70th birthday, too. She just doesn't know it yet.

Anyway, I boarded the bus afterwards and went to the Chinese store of my preference to buy washing powder and other such things. The bus stops almost right in front of it, so it was very convenient. Then I get back into the next bus and came home, with a little detour to Lidl. Now, that one was exhausting. I still move around very carefully, especially outside the house, and moving slowly is very, very tiring. At least I had the shopping cart to lean on it as if it had been a rollator. *g*

No cooking was needed. We still had leftover carrot soup, and I bought Zwiebelküchle at Lidl, which served perfectly as lunch. We also had coffee, and then I was very lazy for half the afternoon. Later on I dismantled and cooked the broccoli I had also bought; it will be turned into a broccoli Strudel tomorrow, while its boiling water will serve as the base for a vegetable soup. Nothing gets wasted in this household!

Again, no actual crafting got done. But I did labeled and decorated my jam jars, so they are ready for the fair. I'll try to take some decent pictures tomorrow, but knowing my nonexistent skills as a photographer you shouldn't expect much.

... since it is Saturday, and Saturdays are always crazy busy. Well, not exactly crazy today, but busy nonetheless.

We had laundry day. Granted, Louise (the washing machine) does the actual washing, but pre-soaking things, filling Louise and then emptying her takes time and effort.

( Shopping spree )

Coming home, I made carrot soup, and we decided to have sandwiches, coffee and Quarkdessert for afters, as I really, really didn't feel up to cooking anything else. I then had a lovely phone talk with my friend Elise and subsequently took a nap.

Craftiness: I've finished the pencil holder cover. This is what it looks before gluing to the actual tin:

https://hu.pinterest.com/pin/341640321756295071/

Writing-wise I've produced two-thirds of a Din A4 page. I so love writing Vulcans, their mindset is so different, it's an adventure to try getting into their heads.

So yeah; a busy day, but a successful one.

Since I've been getting old and tired, I could only achieve one major thing a day as a rule. Today was a welcome exception. Not only have I done the grocery shopping in the morning, I also managed to work quite a bit on my pencil holder, and even wrote a full page for the next chapter of my alternate Voyager pilot. And took a nap in the afternoon and gave a friend/former colleague (now also retired) a call. *is proud*

Granted, I didn't have to cook today, save for frying a handful of frozen fish fingers, and Lidl didn't have any frozen blueberries (usually they have mountains of them), so blueberry jam with lavender will have to wait. It doesn't matter, I'll make the apple one instead, before my free apples would rot.

I've just typed up what I wrote in the afternoon and am very pleased with it. Yay for the muse ending her hibernation!

I spent the morning at the dentist's. Got there by taxi, survived the spiral staircase, got home by taxi. Price-y but safe. Or as safe as getting into the car of a complete stranger can be.

Things are developing slowly on the dental front. I'll have to wait at least two weeks for my next appointment because the dental technician is having knee surgery. By this speed we won't be finished before the year ends. *sigh* I just wish to be done with it!

The rest of the day was spent with doing absolutely nothing. Well, I did make toasted sandwiches for lunch, but that was basically it. I talked to my friends, Evie and Erna, on the phone; that was nice. I slept an hour and a half in the late afternoon; walking with tiny, careful steps is exhausting. Much more exhausting than marching energetically. I hate being restricted in my mobility.