Wednesday

Yah! I did manage to get out for a walk today. I didn't go at my usual time, as it was pouring down. I waited a bit, watched the radar and weather conditions and managed to get out for a bit of one between showers. It was quite peaceful. Lots of puddles. The water level is really high. It's high everywhere. We are under a flood watch - for low areas - due to so much rain!

I got a haircut, well just a trim and it's rather fluffy now due to the humidity. I'll probably have to straighten it. I don't do it often, but when it's like this it's just a mess. I stopped at all the places I need to stop at so tomorrow I won't have to go anywhere - might have to do the Post Office Friday or Saturday as I've sold a couple more things. 

It's supposed to rain AGAIN all day tomorrow so it will be another hit-or-miss for walking. Thankfully, Friday seems to be a dry day so if I can't go tomorrow, I'll leave more time on Friday to have a meander perhaps with my friend and then by myself. I have an Asylum Lake meeting tomorrow - second one in a month - but we ran out of time at the last meeting and still have things to discuss. It is taking up more time than I thought would be required. I do the social media too. I enjoy that part of it, but I'm not a fan of the interacting with other people. I am planning on continuing with the board meetings at least until husband retires, then I'll have a rethink. Unless, before that time, someone else comes along that wants to join the board (there is a limit to the amount of people on the board). There's been quite a bit of turnover even in the two and a half years I've been on the board, and I know there are older members who are looking to 'retire' when others can be recruited. 

Plans tomorrow - I do have to do the decluttering. I keep saying that. I'm just struggling with tiredness right now. It seems that, in this menopause journey, there are nights when I can't sleep at all, nights where I really want to sleep but keep waking up and times when all I want to do is sleep! I'm in a cycle of the last two at this time. I really feel like I could sleep a long time in the afternoon and then stay up half the night! Unfortunately, it's not an option as the other members of the household have to sleep 'normal' hours. I don't want to disturb their sleep. 

It's the Weekend...well, almost

Friday night. Another dismal day. The forecast last night didn't look too bad, well not bad temps and the clouds, well, there are always more cloudy days than sunny ones at this time of year. I got up with the alarm, bounced got out of bed, had a bit of caffeine before dressing and heading out. It still looked really dark out. I opened the back door and well, heard the patter of a steady rain. I looked at the forecast on my phone and on the computer. No rain in sight. So 'they' said. Ok, maybe it was just a blip. I got dressed and headed out. It was a bit drizzly, but no rain, right? 

I got wet on my walk. It was horrible. Luckily, my raincoat was in the car and I had the good sense to put it on. My friend did show up for the walk and we managed once around the park. We had a good natter, didn't see many people (or birds for that matter!). There weren't many people around - a bonus! At least I got out for a walk, right? 

Everything just looks so dismal. 

This afternoon I chatted with my sister and I started sorting DVDs. Both my sons were around so I checked with them and husband about the DVDs and there is a pile ready to donate. There are a few I might stick on Ebay (just for a month) and see if there are any sales. Those are the ones that aren't on streaming services and are hard to find. I'll give you a count on donations tomorrow. There is quite a pile! I have sorted a few I want to watch once more before donating too. The bad thing is the DVD player has gone bad (well, it's been broken for a while) so I've ordered a new one. This is a 2-in-1 that plays both US DVDs and UK ones so I'll be able to get rid of the other player too. I think there has to be a limited on how long some of the other DVDs stay around. 

Tomorrow - it's supposed to be cloudy again (I miss the sunshine!) - but hopefully it won't be drizzly and I can get out for a walk. 

Do you have plans for the weekend? 

Do you have a lot of DVDs or have you got rid of them all? 

Monday - Some Thoughts

Monday was off to a slow start. It was dull and rainy when I got up so I decided not to go for a walk. I did go out and run some errands so I could check those off my list. I also got tomorrow's housework done today so that I can (if the weather is better) walk for a little longer tomorrow morning. I didn't mop however as it was raining, and it seemed pretty pointless to mop the kitchen when everybody would be walking in the back door with (likely) muddy boots!

I'm not going to complain too much about the rain as we really do need some. I took this photo with my phone of my windshield after I got in the car lol. 

I also listed a few more things on Ebay today. Things are slowly going out the door. I need to get more organised with this. 

I was thinking about the decluttering today and where I want to go with it.  As I sit in the living room, I see the cabinet we keep the television on, DVD player and way too many DVDs and CDs. They are in the cupboard but there are a lot of them. I took out a few to look through and got stuck. I was wondering what peoples' thoughts are on these. 

* Have you got rid of all your DVDs and CDs? 

* Do you keep a collect few? 

I'm really stuck where to go with them. There are some that I put on and watch, but there are a lot that I don't. Some can be seen on the streaming services we have while others cannot. Should I just go through them the first time and pick out ones I can easily let go and then take a rethink about what others I can let go of? 

Ideas? 

Hope everyone had a good Monday. Back tomorrow. 

Rainy AGAIN

 Thanks for all the supportive comments regarding Mum and my decision to go visit. It's taken me a while to make. I should say that I am fully vaccinated. I got mine as soon as it opened up to my age group. 

Jo - I think Prince Harry is probably doing the test and release that you can pay extra to do on Day 5. If I can manage to get the money that's what I'm going to do.  Not sure how much extra that one is. I also have to find the post boxes where you can post your tests. Please let me know if you do have any questions and I'll try my best to answer them. I'm finding out things as I go along. I think if it wasn't for Mum's health I would try waiting longer, but at this point I'm afraid to.

It rained most of the day today too. Storms, hard rain and a little smattering of dryness inbetween. I'm going to scream at the next person who tells me that we needed the rain. I don't think we needed it to all come at once lol. We had a tornado watch and then a warning, but it was on the other side of the county so, thank goodness, it didn't affect us. I did try to go for a walk, but I ended up completely drenched. The only good thing was that, for just about the ten minutes it didn't rain, I watched and managed to get photos of a green heron fishing. Usually you can't get very close to them as they are very jumpy. I think it helped that I was really quiet and the place was empty! 

I didn't get as much done as I hoped (story of my life). I did get in the craft room and have been trying to use up some papers and some pre-made mini albums that are in my stash. I also pulled out a new 'kit' to do some cards with. This came with Crafts Beautiful magazine. I must admit that I bought it for the hedgehogs! I do hope to get to see one when I go to Mum's. There was one in the community garden the last time I was there. 

Not the best photos, but the light in my craft room is mostly artificial and I was just plain lazy and couldn't be bothered to bring them downstairs to better light. 

The 'kit' comes with stamps, papers, toppers, some little sparkly bits and some 3d sticky bits. I'm looking forward to seeing what I can come up with!

Rainy Day

A cold front is apparently coming through and the rain has started. It's got worse throughout the day and now it's just constant. I ended up drawing the curtains and turning on the lights. Not the best use of electricity but I got tired of trying to struggle to read and looking out of the window just to see it pouring. The poor birds are outside looking rather drowned. There was one blue jay sitting outside squawking away. I think it was wondering where everyone else was as it kept looking around. I threw a couple of peanuts out for it and I think it took up - it's stopped making a racket anyway.

I went out with MIL today. We did a bit of shopping (epic fail on the craft items) but it was fun and it's been a long time since we've been out. Once home I did spend some time in my craft room working on my mini-albums.

Bless - they are 6x6 and are perfect for some 4x4 photos I have. You can add as many pages as you like and fold down pages. They would make perfect little gifts. I might try making some a little larger and I think I might do one for daughter with the dogs in it (I've done this before for her and Shasta).

Not sure what the weekend holds. It depends on the weather. I feel as though I've been saying that a lot. Hopefully at least one walk will be on the cards as I didn't walk today.

I was just about to wrap this post up when I remembered something that I've been meaning to ask and (of course) it always slips my mind. In your budget do you have a fund for 'fun' things? Do you allow a certain amount per month or pay period or week? I was thinking this might help with the spending rather than denying myself altogether (which doesn't appear to work!).

Today's photo - sunrise from last week. I absolutely wish I lived somewhere where I could see more of these sunrises. This was taken on our trip last week.

Rainy and Chilly

It's wet and cold again. Sigh. It seems to be raining more than ever lately. Sort of matches my mood today.

I'm glad I'm going on holiday next week. I really need a break from 'real' life, a few days away. I managed to talk a walk yesterday, but then got home and couldn't get warm. I ended up bundled up on the sofa feeling chilled and achy. Still feel a little off today. I hope I'm not coming down with anything! The up and down temperatures don't seem to help. My body can't decide if it should be warm or cold.

Got to see some turtles sunbathing yesterday. There were three of them but one must have had better hearing than the others as it slid into the water.

Got to see the babies again. There were only two. I hope this was a different set and not the ones I saw the other day as there were four babies then.

Hope your day is a little brighter and warmer than mine!

Dreary, Rainy day

The rain set in yesterday afternoon and continued all of the day today. I ran some errands, picked up some snacks for our road trip but sadly couldn't manage a walk as it was just too wet. I did go for a long one yesterday and I'm hoping the rain can clear so I can go tomorrow.

I got some nice post today. On some recommendations I have started using Shutterfly to get some prints of my photos done. I'm addicted. They regularly give 'free' items when you pay postage only. I've ordered a bunch of stuff from them. Today I received my order for my four free coasters.

Not sure whether I'm giving them away or keeping. I have a feeling I might be using this company to make holiday gifts later in the year! I'm hoping to take a lot of photos on our trips.

Thought I'd add a couple of photos from my walk yesterday.

There was a new family out at the lake! So nice to see.