Raking Leaves

 I spent an hour raking leaves into heaps and then transporting them to borders, tubs and shrubs for mulch. A tedious job but I wouldn't be without our trees. I love them so much - the evergreens too.

I did my weekly shop early this morning when the supermarket opened at 8am. I've always shopped at this time as my head is clear and I have no distractions.

 Now that we live in strange times, I like it even more. Apart from the face covering, I can feel as near to normal as possible and not contend with too many other people and their fear and judgements of how well or badly I comply with the rules . 

No matter how well the face covering fits, my glasses periodically fog up, and for some reason when I wear it, my nose runs like a tap behind it with no possibility of pulling out a tissue for fear of sparking outrage. I suffer from year round allergic rhinitis and the anti histamines are useless. But blowing your nose in public is not a good look now.

Enough moaning. Tomorrow we will see new baby grandchild again and that lifts my spirits and makes me forget everything else.

SEASONAL JOBS

We had the chimney cleaned today and are all set for winter. The boiler was serviced last week and so we have peace of mind with both of those seasonal jobs done. We use smokeless fuel and only light the fire after 6pm when we watch tv in the evenings. The central heating is on for an hour a day unless we have a cold snap and that provides us with all the heat and hot water that we need.

The Lake at Templemore Park

A lovely walk at Templemore Park before most people were up and about (as it's a bank holiday Monday) - only a few pleasant dog walkers and ourselves. Calm, peaceful, invigorating. Nearly 5,000 steps in before the day starts.
 

Getting My Steps

 Over the past few months my fitness tracker has shown my step count decreasing from what I would like it to be. My target is 50,000 steps a week, but I have frequently struggled to make 40,000. I don't know what happened. Maybe I just got lazy. Maybe the present situation dampened my spirits. Whatever it was, it has to change. I find that if I can make 5,000 steps by lunchtime, it is easier to make at least 7,000 by the end of the day. I think I will post my step count here in order to keep myself accountable. Maybe there's a widget I can use in the sidebar .Let's see.

Nana Love

 Visited beautiful daughter, son - in - law and beautiful baby E. today. Ten days old and already making eye contact and following parents movements by turning her head to follow them. Happy times. Loving being parents - and now grandparents to two lovely girls. Grandchild number three expected just before Christmas.  My work in progress (WIP) is a crocheted  baby blanket in grey/yellow/white for next baby . Then hopefully a few cardigans for same. Will post a picture when further along.

A Few Extras

 Went to t-esco this morning for a few extra items in tins to have in in case we are grounded by illness over the next few months.  I don't do panic buying because once I'm covered for the basics I can make do and mend if there are temporary shortages later on. I think there's a lot of alarmist stuff going on at the moment online around the supply topic and I want to tread the middle ground. We need to think of what's good for society (everyone) and not just what's good for ourselves.