Christine's space

Next week the plasterer comes to sort out the damage done in bedroom and bathroom by two floods and a leaking gutter.

Once that’s sorted out, then I can redecorate. It’s not the paint that’s expensive but the man to do the work – think high ceilings. Nope I’m not going up ladders to do ceilings.

Of course there will be problems and there’s Christmas in the way. But watch this space. It may yet be a nicely decorated flat once again. Till something else goes wrong.

Thank you to one of my favourite forums – some of the advice I’ve posted before but this is a whole new angle of eating.

For  those of you who watch what you eat, here's the final word on nutrition and health.  It's a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting nutritional  studies.

1. The Japanese eat very little fat
     and suffer fewer heart attacks than us.

2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat
     and suffer fewer heart attacks than us.

3. The Chinese drink very little red wine
     and suffer fewer heart attacks than us.

4. The Italians drink a lot of red wine
     and suffer fewer heart attacks than us.

5. The Germans drink a lot of beer and eat lots of  sausages and fats
     and suffer fewer heart attacks than us.

CONCLUSION:

Eat and drink what you like.
Speaking English is apparently what kills you.

One of the screws that held the old one in place had worn out. It could no longer be screwed back in yet again. Oh dear. There’s nothing worse than a wonky toilet seat.

Time for a new toilet seat then. Hmm. Barbed wire in resin is old hat. Been there, was replacing that. Quick trawl round the Argos web site to find one and picked a tropical sunrise. Sort of fits with the colours in the bathroom so why not? Reserved on line.

The rain, however, was coming down in hurricane fashion and standing at the bus stop to go fetch the said toilet seat was nearly enough to put me off the whole project. However the bus was only a couple of sodden minutes late. I caught the first bus home from the safety of the dry MetroCentre Interchange.

Daughter has installed said new toilet seat whilst I made her lunch. Oh there was more to the visit than that mind you. But it came out as a fair exchange all in all.

Yesterday I managed to find enough dry minutes to add spring bulbs to the tubs in the yard by the door and plant twenty daffodil bulbs in a corner on the allotment.

The bags of bulbs had sat rather to long in the garden centre and both crocus and narcissus were already showing shoots. As there has been no frost one can only hope that they settle down at the front door before winter chill becomes serious and the soil turns seriously cold. The twenty daffodils look to be fine if a little late planted on the allotment. They will either grow or not as may be. It would be nice to see more spring colour at the door and any at all in the spring on the allotment. We shall see.

It is too damp to do anything more useful on the allotment than to add to the compost heap as ever and find a spot for the daffodils.

There are two compost heaps which could do well with a turning, merging and moving over to be ready in the normal spot where marrows and courgettes seem to thrive. If we have a couple of really cold, deeply frosty weeks like we did after last Christmas, the ground will drain relatively rapidly and allow this work to be done. Last winter was seriously dry from the start of November through to February which meant that we had very solid dry soil before it froze.

Who is to know how hard the presently totally sodden ground will be over the next seven or so weeks if we do get serious frost. I’m bored with being housebound though, would like to get out in the fresh air and take some exercise. But it is winter. And winter is apt to be very wet, very windy and very cold if we get a classic winter. Such is life.

Flaming Christmas!

It’s that season again. The one of spendfest, running up debt, buying and trying to eat too much food, visiting relatives that you haven’t seen for the last twelve months, giving too much to children ….

Yep by the end of the week most places will have had the big switch on of the Xmas lights, organised late night opening of shops to get people to spend their last coppers and then some more and generally be pleading with us all to go and and spend everything we have and more to save the economy.

Whilst of course the powers that be are holding climate change conferences where the basic premise should be that for the good of the planet we should all consume less in the wealthier parts of the world (I would hate you, dear reader, to think that I’m suggesting that those without adequate food, clothes, heating, housing and clean water should consume less). A simple premise that would help both the environment and the climate.