Soledad's Journal

Today, I was busy again. First, Mum and I made our weekly trip to the corner café. It took longer than usual because her knee was acting up, but we managed it nonetheless. We wouldn't miss this for the world, as long as the weather cooperates.

After that, I made some more cellophane bags. 16 pieces in just under two hours, to be accurate. I'm really getting the hang on this. 32 done, the other 32 to go - then I'll run out of cellophane. *g*

I didn't need to cook today (bought some goodies at the café and only made a Tütensuppe to go before them), so I gave one of the spicy apple jam with raisins recipes noadvertising suggested a try. Well, it was a bastardized version of the recipe by someone called Marion, as I replaced the orangeat with aromatised orange zests and left out the almonds completely, but so far the little jars look great. I just hope the lids will remain sealed after they have cooled down. *fingers crossed*

That about took care of the rest of the day. We also watched some telly, and are now lazing around - with all windows closed, unfortunately, to wear off an unexpected attack of huge Nachtfalter - no idea what they are called in English and why have they suddenly decided to invade our home, but I don't want the disgusting creatures around us. Annoying, though; it is the evening hours when we can actually air the flat, as we get direct sunshine all afternoon. *sigh*

I was all over the district the whole morning. First I did some grocery shopping. Then I tried to fetch Mum's medicine; the one for osteoporosis. Guess what? The thing was nowhere to be found. Again. At one pharmacy they said they might get some next week. I certainly hope so, as Mum ought to take it on May 1 - it is the kind of thing she needs to take once a month.

It is partially our own fault, of course. We know the thing - Ossica it's called - periodically vanishes from the market, no-one knows why. So we should have had the new dosis prescribed at least a month ago; Mum just thought she still had one last pill. She was mistaken. Hunting down somebody - anybody - at the clinic was a two-hour-act in itself; her own rheumatologist simply didn't answer the phone. Then I cruised between various pharmacies in vain. Ah, well, we've (hopefully) learned our lesson.

On my Ossica-hunting cruise I also dropped by at Kik and bought some acrylic paint to replace all the pots I had to throw out recently. Only a few basic colours and only because I had a bon that allowed me a 15% price reduction for everything I bought. So there came some good out of the whole thing, after all.

The afternoon was socially active. First, I called H. and we chatted amiably for a while. Then two of my friends/ex-colleagues called, and we did the same. Consequently, there was no time left for a much-needed nap, and I could only finish one pincushion. But it was worth it.

... should be forbidden. No, seriously. Let me list today's endless 'joys' to prove it.

( The long list of woes )

After the big cleaning, and things were barely back in their place, my young colleague Adrienne called to ask me a favour. Long story short, she forgot a bag with all the scripts for our school's cultural event in a supermarket, where she bought some rolls for a kid who nearly topped over because of an empty stomach. She had to take the kids back to school, where they still had lessons (including her), but I live two corners away from this particular supermarket, so I went to fetch the bag for her, of course. Fortunately, it was still there.

When I had to get dressed anyway, I decided to do the grocery shopping and take out the selective rubbish in one fell sweep. That way I won't have to go to the supermarket (a different one) tomorrow and can sleep in. I bought a Vienetta ice cream cake to compensate us both for our pains. I think we deserved it.

Or still. It's a matter of perspective, I guess. And the cloudy, rainy day doesn't help; it's hell on the aging joints.

Still, at least I've boxed the finished lamb biscuits, so there's that. We also had laundry day, and I've finished another short scene in the ongoing WIP. But that was basically all I did today. I feel as if I'd been made of jelly or whatnot.

Tomorrow we'll have to rearrange the flat again for the big cleaning frenzy on Monday. I just hope the new cleaning lady will show up. I'm really not up to do the whole thing on my own, although I will do it, of course, if I have to.

And this is the point when I once again remember why I hate housework so much: it is dirty, time-consuming and absolutely pointless, as the results never last longer than a day or two.

I really don't know whether I should laugh or swear. The insurance woman (at this point I refuse to refer to her as a lady) has cancelled the appointment for the third time. So I'll have to work our daily schedule around her - supposed - appearance for a fourth time! *what I'd like to say won't tolerate the print, but I guess you know anyway what it would be*

The chiropodist lady did show up, though; she might talk without a break, but at least she's reliable. And actually very friendly, too, she'd just need a "Sound off" taste. At least one thing got dealt with for the next month.

She also brought some slices from the corner café, since we always offer her coffee and she wanted us to have something sweet with it. Of course we couldn't eat the whole thing at once, so we saved the lunch leftovers from yesterday for tomorrow and ate soup with the rest of the slices. Not very healthy but good for the frayed nerves. Sweet things always are.

I did a bit of crafting in the afternoon: finished one sachet and applied the lace trimmings to another one. Then I took a nice, long nap; again, good for the frayed nerves. And it is evening again. We've watched the Australian and Canadian Bake-Off, I printed out the new notes for tomorrow's choir practice and I think the day is basically over.

My very first, 16+-year-old mobile phone died on me today. I went to Telekom to have my account modified, and after the nice young man put in the new Sim card, the phone couldn't be switched on again. It's most likely the on/off button that is broken (I couldn't really use it for at least half a year, so the phone had been on continually), and while it's just such a small part, no-one has the ersatz parts or knows how to mend it anymore. Granted, the battery had been weakening for some time, too, but... well, it can't be helped. I'm really sad, though. That phone had gone through so much with me, and I really loved it.

So, right now the Sim card resides in Mum's old phone (inherited from H. about four years ago), until I can get myself a newer model. Also a button-operated one, mind you, I prefer those for simple phone calls. Not to mention that if Mum got to the hospital again (which I hope to avoid in the future, but one can never know) she won't be able to deal with my way-too-smart phone, so yeah. Fortunately, my friend Elise, whom I asked where to find such an old-fashioned phone, told me that she had bought one for her father who didn't like it and never used it. So, she'll bring me the phone next week, we'll try it out, and if it works for me, I'll buy it off her. It would spare me the necessity of running all over town like a headless chicken and trying to find one.

The phone drama cost me half the day. Fortunately, we had cooked in advance yesterday, so no slave labour was necessary. I started on the third elephant instead, mostly to calm down a bit (elwenlj would agree that hand-sewing is very good for that) and even finished it to about 80 per cent. She's very... floral, and I think I'll call her Ellie (very original, I know). I've got more of the same fabric (Granny's old gown) to make a similar one. Then I'll probably declare the elephant herd complete.

I also talked to my friend Evie in the evening. That was very soothing for my nerves, too. Friends are a gift one can't value enough.

... of the disappearing cleaning lady. After several days of failed attempts to reach her on the phone, I got the nagging suspicion that she might be blocking our number. So I asked Mum's friend - the very one who had originally found this lady's ad in the local newspaper - to call her and pretend being interested in hiring some cleaning help. And lo and behold! she answered the phone and was more than willing to accept new clients (are they called clients?). I would have left things at that - I had my answer, after all - but Mum insisted on calling her on the mobile phone whose number she didn't know. And she answered the call! Mum asked her why she'd abandoned us straight away... and she hung up on her without a word. No real surprise her after all that had happened, but I find that attitude dishonest and rude. I mean, if she had changed her mind about working for us, she could have simply said so. Why this whole secret agent operation? I'll never understand people.

So we are without help once again. Meaning that the flat will only be cleaned on the ground level for the foreseeable time as I simply can't climb onto ladders. Not that ground level cleaning wouldn't be hard enough in our terribly crowded flat, but there are such things as cabinet tops and windows and the likes... I just hope we'll find someone eventually. :(

Other than that, it was a quiet day. I've made the pants for the girl doll, which didn't really turn out as intended, but they'll do. I hadn't cut the fabric wide enough for the pants to be baggy, so the poor doll now has skin-tight ones. Ah, well, hopefully the dress will cover the worst mistakes. Not having a proper pattern turned out disadvantageous, after all.

There might be some modest progress on the book-selling front, though. I've called the religion teacher of our school, who works for the local parish, and hope to be able to donate some of my religious books to their library. *fingers crossed* I also talked to a lady who works in one of those second-hand book wagons that are parked all over the town and also might be able to donate some of my non-religious books. I really hope to get rid of those books I haven't touched for the last fifteen or more years!

In a feeble attempt to tick off the first point on my to-do list (figuratively speaking), I went to the local government office today because I knew I'd need help with this Digital Citizenship thing. Well, I didn't get it. I took all possibly necessary documents with me, but the whole thing was hamstringed by the fact that I didn't have a screen lock installed on my phone. Now, I don't even know what a screen lock is, not to mention how to install one. The "helpful" lady clerk told me to get help and then come back for the Digital Citizenship app. And this after I've waited for nearly an hour, in an overheated, unaired room, together with a great lot of people, many of whom were coughing and sneezing all the time. I was wearing a mask (together with exactly two other people), but still... Considering how Covid is on the upward swing in our country again, this was not a healthy environment.

After I've left without having gained my goal, I rode the bus further outwards the district to one of the shopping centres that has an international newsagents' and bought my German crossword puzzle booklets. And a large bag of polyester stuffing for my rag dolls. Then I did a bit of grocery shopping as well. Spending money is always helpful for my state of mind.

Fortunately, I remembered that one of my (much younger) (ex-)colleagues is very clever with such things, and also very helpful. So, in my misery I gave her a call, and she promptly offered to help me tomorrow, right before choir practice. That was a great relief, as this thing needs to be done by January 16, and my neighbours (who could help, in theory) are both very busy people; not ones I like to ask for favours.

So, that was my day of epic fail with a faint shimmer of hope. Accordingly, everything else got postponed. The only thing I did for fun was to stuff both doll bodies, so that I'd be able to fit the clothes next.

Starting with the good part: I've baked another 4 batches of biscuits; now I'm up to 11 sorts. Two of them are decorated already, the third one doesn't need any decoration (it has mini-marshmallows that look very funny when molten inside the cookies) and the fourth one will be easy to decorate, so I can do it in the morning and box them by the evening.

Speaking of the morning: I woke up to the unpleasant surprise of the dratted balcony leaking again. By everything that's holy, we've spent a fortune on the stupid thing, and it's still not fixed! *insert swear words of your choice* So, Mum's calling the janitor tomorrow again. *sigh*

By all that baking I really didn't have much time for anything else. I've been inspired by this YouTube video:



and started making something similar, only not from a plastic bottle but from a thick and wide cardboard roll. We'll see if I come anywhere with it.

For writing there was no time (and energy) left, either. I wrote one single sentence, just to prove that I have written something, which was my picowrimo goal (as usual).

And now I'm very, very tired - small wonder, considering that I was chopping dates and various nuts for today's baking session from 11.30pm to 2.10am. I really, really need a new chopper.

The good:
1. Once again, Mum and I made our fake Vienna tour, aka the visit to the corner café. It was nice, the weather was lovely, with warm sunshine and a bit of a fresh breeze, the coffee and croissants delicious as always. The personnel get so used to us that they know what we'll order by heart. *g*
2. I finished Card #36. Pictures tomorrow when there will be enough natural light to take a decent photo.
3. I also did a bit of writing. Still rolling with the narrative, I hope picowrimo will help to keep the momentum.
4. I successfully performed another shopping tour, buying the soft things for the next three months or so.

The bad: there are lots of stressful things oncoming, none of which I can really influence.
1. On Monday, the water meters will be replaced in the entire building. That
means we might or might not have water, intermittently, between 8am and 5pm. Including the loo, where the water meters are situated.
2. On Friday the new cleaning lady is coming for the first time. That in itself isn't bad, but since we never met her before it's something of a calculated risk.
3. Vodafone has announced some changes in their TV provider system. There might or might not be problems requiring the resetting of the media box, which I can't do on my own because I'm such a Luddite. Plus, we don't even know yet when this will happen; apparently, they'll inform us in email or in a text message. Wonderful - NOT!
4. I should have taken Mum to control with her pacemaker in October but I couldn't make an appointment until the time for the water meters was set. The Ltd that does the work promised to inform us early in October and start working on the 16th. Obviously, that didn't happen. Now I'll have to see how and for what time I can get an appointment for Mum, despite it being overdue.

Have I mentioned how much it stresses me to make official phone calls? I've got a veritable phobia of it. *sigh*
(And yes, that was the annoying part.)