Soledad's Journal

... especially if one has to do the grocery shopping to begin with. Our local Lidl is very well-stocked, one a good location and therefore extremely popular. Going there on a Saturday is nothing short suicidal but sometimes there's no way around it. Today was such a day. 'Nuff said.

At least I didn't have to cook today. We had soup and Apfelstrudel left over from yesterday and decided that they will do for lunch. Which was a relief as we also had laundry day, so... a midday nap seemed necessary.

In the afternoon I did what the Germans call den inneren Schweinehund besiegen and cut out the smaller parts for the two felt bunnies-to-be. No sewing just yet, but at least they're taped on and actually look like, well, bunnies. Blind ones as one can't tape the black buttons on that will serve as eyes. But they'll come.

Today is also the birthday of my goddaughter (H's daughter, the mother of Theo and not-so-little-anymore Emma), so I called her to deliver our good wishes. Then I typed up the roughly two sentences I had managed to write today and am now ready to call it a day.

... from yesterday's nerves, but I promised a picture of Jumbo, the politically incorrect, garish elephant, didn't I? So here he is, with his tiny ancestor, the 60+year-old plastic toy elephant:

https://hu.pinterest.com/pin/341640321754701892

Other than that, I did the grocery shopping today, took out the selctive rubbish... and not much else, TBH. Mum had a visit from the PT lady, we watched some crap telly, ate leftover soup and the sandwiches I had grilled for lunch, and that was basically it. I'm about to try some writing next, but if it will actually happen remains to be seen.

... has been finished as well. Take a look here. Again, I added the original photo on the package, so that noadvertising can find the right one, should her local Tedi have them.

I'm more or less content with the kitty, especially with her expression due to the added eyebrows, and the pink heart on her chest. The only problem with these Tedi toys-to-make-yourself is that they are made from such a stiff felt. It not only wrinkles badly, there's also no way to stuff them without giving them a rather prominent goiter, but that can't be helped. My friend Evie declared that her granddaughter would love the kitty, so I'm content with the outcome.

Not much else happened. I had to cook for two days, as tomorrow the One technician is due to come and replace our old internet modem (apparently, it can no longer deal with the improved speed), which makes me nervous in advance. I hate changes. I prefer things to remain the way I was used to them. Clearly, I'm getting old.

Isn't it insane how fast time goes by? I'm trying, really trying not to feel old, but when I consider how little I get done on each passing day I must admit that either time has sped up or I have slowed down considerably. Most likely the latter. :(

In any case, this Sunday was the same as many, many others. I've taken down the dried washing, gave Mum her weekly shower, washed my hair... same old same old. At least I didn't have to cook; ain't leftovers a wonderful thing?

This way I actually had a little time for myself: working on the layout of the AU "Plato's Stepchildren" episode/story/whatever and doing a bit of crafting. My politically incorrect, horribly garish elephant plushie has reached the stage when all I have to do is to finish sewing it together and stuffing it. I could have finished, hadn't I had to fight the vicious thread I managed to get at TEDI. Note to myself: never buy cheap thread again. The struggle with the useless stuff isn't worth the money I saved.

Other than that, not much happened. We watched some telly - partly YouTube on the big screen, thanks to my young cousin, so we weren't completely devoid of Judge Barbara Salesch - partly "The Incredible Dr. Pol" and the Great Australian Bake-Off, I took a nap in the afternoon and had a phone chat with H. And that was it. Sunday as usual.

That's what a successful shopping trip does to me: it invigorates me like very few other things do. To be precise, after three fruitless tries today I finally found that leather watch strap I had been looking for... for months, actually. Now I can proudly wear my 80+years-old wrist watch that Mum had gotten from her uncle as a very young girl. It's a reliable Swiss model - not one of the big brands, but I find it pretty, and it has emotional value.

Inspired by this success I also paid the craft shop on my way home a visit and bought some extra thin wax plates and wax borders. I used to decorate Easter candles with my pupils as you can se here. My own creations were a bit more detailed (see this one), but thin wax plates are hard to find, especially as I no longer have the chance to visit Vienna. I have two plain candles, one pale pink, the other one pale turquoise, so I might do some candle decorating again. I used to do that a great deal after I had come back from Germany; unfortunately, there are no pictures of those. I didn't even have a computer back then, not to mention the internet.

Anyway, I also did the grocery shopping, including some baking and preserving ingredients that were in offer and spent an indecent amount of money, which always gives me a heady feeling of freedom. We used to be so poor for so long, it's liberating to splurge a bit from time to time. *g*

Naturally, the shopping excess took the entire morning. We ate instant soup with some leftovers and peanut butter cookies, watched some telly (during which I fell asleep several times), then I called my friend Evie (she got down from her steep hill okay yesterday), after which I wasn't sleepy anymore, so I decided to do some research for a fanfic idea that came to me unexpectedly. So that is what I'm going to do now.

Today I headed to the Campona shopping centre, which is a somewhat bigger one and is at a distance of ten bus stops. I waited for the bus a good ten minutes, it finally came, I boarded it, and after two stops it made a detour to the Savoy Park shopping centre, where it stodd for another good ten minutes, supposedly for timetable issues. You should have heard the outcry of the old biddies about the unexpected delay! Honestly, as inconvenient as it was, one should think around the age of one hundred people would have learned manners already. Clearly, one would have been wrong.

Most people got off and tried to catch other buses. I decided to wait and came to my destination somewhat delayed but very comfortably. My first goal was the vending machine, however, because I decided that I had deserved a cappuccino, which I promptly bought. It was more price-y than the one I usually get at our local supermarket but much better, so that was okay.

( Thread odyssey in boring detail )

After having solved (temporarily) the yarn problem, I went to the only newsagent's within reach that sells German crossword booklets. I need to keep my vocabulary alive, after all, and talking to H. on the phone once a week, plus watching "Richterin Barbara Salesh" alone don't do the trick. Finally, I rode the bus back, hoping there wouldn't be another detour (there wasn't), and did the rest of the shopping at the Chinese drugstore and one of the local supermarkets, respectively.

I also found the time to drop by our beloved corner café and bring Mum some of their fabulous croissants, which made her very happy. :)

I had plans for this day, since we postponed Mum's birthday for tomorrow. Since I didn't have to cook, either - long live leftovers! - I planned to do a few things for myself. Like a bit of crafting, a bit of writing, a bit of resting. Well, the last one actually happened, but the first two...

I started with cutting out the basic parts of an elephant plushie - only to discover that I didn't have any grey thread with which to sew them together. After having spent a small fortune on red and white thread yesterday, I'm no facing the necessity to do the same with grey thread. Why is it that one can have entire boxes of thread in various colours (which I do!) but never the only one needed at any given moment?

As for the writing part, I intended to add another scene to Chapter 18 of "Alternate Caretaker" and/or write the opening scene to Chapter 19 (the story has actually 22 written parts at the moment but 4 of them are so-called interludes, so I'm still at Chapter 18). Well... neither of those things happened. I'm brain-dead, totally unmotivated and couldn't think of a single thing that would work.:((

So we watched some crap telly, Mum happily accepted congratulatory phone calls (and one video call from H. and her immediate family), and then we took extended naps. And now I'm mourning all the time I've wasted today. *sigh*

As of no outside visitors (save for one talkative neighbour but she didn't stay long) and only laundry and cooking inside to do.

So I did have a bit of time for more crafting. I've finished the first plushie. Originally aimed for the Easter Bunny but ended up with Aromo, the Rabbit of the Unstoppable Brain (Hungarian children's tale by Ervin Lázár). As I said, just a tiny bit menacing-looking, but again, Aromo was always ready to protect his friends, so it's okay. I've also cut out the main panels for the next plushie, a teddy bear. Tomorrow there will be little details, like nose, eyes, palms and the likes.

In the afternoon we watched a bit of crap telly, then I managed to write a bit before resting my eyes (no actual sleeping, alas), then I called H. and my friend Evie. Evie wasn't near her phone but called me back later - right during the finals of the GBBO. Fortunately, I've already seen this particular season at least twice, so it wasn't a big deal.

1) I've put away all the felt Christmas tree ornaments.
2) I removed the lolly stick ones and the folded paper stars. Now only the garlands are left.
3) I've transcribed some of the creative jam recipes into a small notebook I had selected for this very purpose.
4) We did the weekly laundry.
5) I cooked lunch - fruit soup with apples and raisins, some frozen potato croquets that I bought ready-made, filled with spinach and mozzarella and a mixed salad. Mum approved.
6) I did some minor crafting: finished the shelf for laundry room #2. Now both laundry dooms are on the same level of readiness. On to the ironing boards and the laundry baskets.
7) I'm about to type up the already written parts of the next chapter of my alternate Caretaker (ST: Voyager pilot) story.
8) I had a nice, long phone chat with H. I tried to call my friend Evie, too, but she was likely overrun with kids and grandkids as always during the weekend, so she couldn't answer the phone.

I'd say that's enough for one day. In other news, my back is still acting up; but again, it's been less than a week. Usually it needs two to four weeks to right itself. *double sigh*

I had a restless night. Neck and shoulder (and back) pains made me unable to find a position in which I could have slept any longer than two hours in a row. It took me nearly fifty minutes to fall asleep in the first time, and then I woke up again... and again... roughly every two hours.

Of course, the fact that I had to get up an hour earlier than usual because Mum wanted to attend to Mass via TV didn't help. Ah, well, at least I was pissed off suitably to finally clean the kitchen; something that had been long overdue. And to take down the dried laundry. And to give Mum her weekly shower.

Funnily enough, neck and shoulder (and back and wrist) don't bother me when I'm doing slave labour. Just when I'm trying to rest. Or to work at the computer. Bleh!

No cooking was necessary - long live the leftovers - so I used the time to do a tiny bit of sewing. One set of laundry room shelves is now finished. All I need to add are the little hooks for the towels, which I need to buy first in a sewing shop. A good thing that I'll have to go to the Allee shopping center tomorrow anyway. They have an excellent craft and sewing supplies shop. I hope I'll find there what I need.

After lunch I gave in to the inevitable, and since my various body parts chose to behave I slept for two hours. It was a real blessing. Then I gave H. a call, who's fighting off a bad cold (again), posted the next chapter of 'Alternate Caretaker' to otherworlds_lib and we watched the GBBO - the only thing worth watching tonight.

Oh, and I forgot: I also started a small notebook for collecting various... unusual jam recipes I intend to try for this year's Christmas fair. Like apricots with rosemary, sour cherries with thyme, strawberries with basil and balsamico vinegar and the likes.I've just added the spicy fig jam of noadvertising's DiL to the list.