Weekends

31st May 2020

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  • Feeling: Good, but wishing the weekend was longer
  • Listening to: I can go the distance / Your song
  • Watching: Avenger Assemble

Woke pretty early (around 7:30 I think) and got up as D had suggested we should go for a walk before it got too hot in the morning, and I also had some sourdough bread on the go overnight that I wanted to get on with.

Kids got up around 8 and came on a walk without complaint (which is a minor miracle at any time of day). We walked along the north side of the river Leam through a small bit of woodland, and then back along the other side in Victoria park. It was lovely to be out while it was cool and not too busy (although the park was busy enough and hot enough by the time we were walking back).

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Morning stroll before it gets too hot

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When we got back home I tried to make crumpets out of some sourdough starter I didn’t need. It was a mixed success – the results were quite delicious (with maple syrup, blueberries and sour cream) but more like pancakes than crumpets (crumpcakes? pantpets?)

In the afternoon we followed up last week’s viewing of Thor with Avengers Assemble (first time for the kids). I’m not so bothered about the more recent Avengers films – I prefer some of the other Marvel films especially Captain Marvel and Thor: Ragnarok – but the first Avengers is good fun I think.

In celebration of my niece (R) 10th birthday, D made chocolate cake and I had it with an oat milk iced coffee – very nice! We celebrated with R over Zoom at the weekly family quiz, although F got a bit upset because she was last in the quiz 🙁 Hard being the youngest sometimes.

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Iced coffee and cake

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D (and I) like to watch the Bon Appétit Test Kitchen YouTube channel and recently they did a video on grilled cheese sandwiches. This had left D craving a grilled cheese, so my sourdough baking was partly to get some bread she could use. The sourdough turned out OK, although the crumb is a bit soft for my taste it is probably pretty good for grilled cheese sandwiches and D had a grilled cheese and soup for tea (while me and the kids were having ribs in BBQ sauce).

The evening I’ve spent recording myself singing the two songs for the Bare Necessities fundraiser next weekend. Recording yourself singing can be a bit soul-destroying sometimes and I tend to start getting very picky about what I’m doing – but I think I got two reasonable takes of each song in the end so I’ve submitted them.

Over the weekend I completely failed to install the new water butts we had delivered last week, and also didn’t manage to get to play the Maponimoes game that C sent us (something we are looking forward to trying), but its been a good day today and now I’m tired so I’m going to have some toast and tea and then head to bed.

Stay safe, stay strong x

30th May 2020

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  • Feeling: Recovering from a grumpy day
  • Listening to: I can go the distance (from Hercules)
  • Watching: Lovebirds

Me being tired and grumpy on a Saturday is turning into a bit of a pattern (unfortunately). I woke early (5am) and then dozed on the sofa, and slept until 10am. D had been up for a while and had been out for a run but the kids were only just getting up when I woke.

My singing teacher is organising an online fundraiser event for a charity called Bare Necessities in Coventry which provides essential (non-food) items to those who need them – including sanitary and baby products. I’ve volunteered to record a couple of songs, and I spent most of the day trying to do a decent recording of “I can go the distance” (from Disney’s Hercules) and “Your Song” (Elton John). Unfortunately singing practice has taken a backseat during lockdown, and no choir means no regular singing – so I’m a bit rusty.

I managed two recordings in the end, but I’m not really happy with them – so it’s good that I’ve got a few more days before I need to send them in.

F created a quiz for us all to do in the afternoon – although computer problems caused her a huge amount of frustration we eventually got them sorted and the quiz was really successful – we all had fun.

B spent time doing calligraphy and working on adding some special effects to a video from his cousin B – he was rightly pleased with the results as the effects looked pretty good!

Meanwhile, D did a bit of gardening and cooking and spent some time reading.

Just before tea I shouted at Bryn which really upset F – she felt I’d been very unfair, and she was probably right (in my defence, B had been a bit thoughtless, but I had probably over-reacted). I cooked tea for the kids – and despite the fact I over-cooked the chicken a bit, they seemed to really enjoy it, and I apologised for being grumpy with them.

After tea we had our usual Saturday quiz (thanks C) which we thought was tough but did very well – so that was a nice boost. After that we went for a short walk – nice to get out into the cool of the evening. I showed the kids something I used to do as a kid – firing (I think clover?) seed heads from a stem.

Meanwhile D took some lovely photos instead of destroying the wildlife!

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Early evening sun

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Finally we watched some TV and ate ice-creams with the kids, and once they’d gone up to bed we opened a bottle of wine and watched a movie. So now at the end of the day I’m feeling much more mellow and not at all grumpy!

I think my frustration with Saturdays is I tend to be exhausted from the week, but yet feeling like I should be doing stuff – so “wasting” the morning by sleeping in leaves me feeling bad from the start of the day. Added to that Saturday is probably the day I feel the restrictions of lockdown the most in a way – as it’s when we’d usually go to the shops, have a nice lunch out, etc. etc. Its almost like I need an extra day every weekend at the moment to re-set.

Stay safe, stay strong everyone xxx

25th May 2020

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I woke early (5am) with a headache and pain in my leg (which usually means I’m dehydrated) so got up, drank some water, and tried to get to sleep again on the sofa. After a while I managed to get back to sleep and then woke again around 9:30 – still with a headache – but felt much better once I’d had a cup of tea and a shower.

F’s hair has been getting a bit long and bothering her (getting in her eyes) for a couple of weeks now, so this morning I agreed to cut it (before I’d even had breakfast) – my first foray into hair cutting beyond my own beard!

Before and After:

The rest of the day was pretty lazy overall. F and I worked on one of the extra features F had designed for the potting bench – a place to safely stand pots while you work:

D spent the morning digging out a very stony bit of our garden (with a bit of help from me) to plant sunflowers out – although they look like they are suffering a bit this evening (I suspect the heat). She also used the potting table for the first time to put a cucamelon plant into a hanging basket.

B and F both had online tuition sessions today despite the bank holiday. F wasn’t keen at all to do her’s but with some bribery (promise she could watch “Thor” – a film we stopped her watching some two or more years ago on the basis she was too young at the time – a decision she is still holding against us somewhat) she did do it and enjoyed it (she always does).

B did a bit more work on his physics engine code project and managed to get a 2D ball moving around the screen with a bit of help from me, and we started to work out how to simulate gravity in a 2D world. In his online tuition B is now working on pretty advance maths I think (simultaneous quadratic equations today!) and it’s good for him to have a project to actually apply some of the maths he knows.

We all enjoyed watching Thor after the tutoring sessions were done, then cauliflower cheese and sausages for tea, and ice creams for me and D after the kids were in bed – all in all a pretty good bank holiday Monday.

Stay safe, stay strong x

23rd May 2020

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  • Feeling: Up and down
  • Listening to: Nothing today
  • Watching: Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Been a bit up and down today emotionally, which I think is probably down to being a bit tired. Had some really good moments with the kids, but also got very upset with both of them during the day.

After watching Shop Class yesterday F was keen to make something, and for a while we’ve had a pallet sitting in the back garden which I’d promised D I’d make into a potting table for her – so we worked on a design together and after a bit of planning started pulling the left over nails out of the pallet wood and then started constructing the table.

This project took up most of the day although with lots of breaks, and we’ve not finished yet (the legs still need to go on and F has plans for a “pot holder” on top and some decoration), but I’m pretty pleased with what we’ve done and it was (mainly) really good to work on this with F.

D spent some time cleaning the kitchen this morning and organising plants, and then had a quiet afternoon mostly curled up on the sofa with a book (F and I had contributed to making her morning more stressful than it needed to be – sorry).

Despite being pleased with the potting table project, by the evening I was feeling a bit down after another falling out with F (because I said “No” to some TV), and not really in the mood to do the weekly quiz by C – but I was really glad we did because it cheered me up and I got to spend some time with B who I’d not really seen much during the day as I’d been focussed on the project with F.

Unfortunately I had another “down” dip when it came to the kids bedtime – which wasn’t a great way to finish the day with them.

After flipping channels for at least 15 minutes this evening eventually D and I watched “Birdman” (my choice) which is a film I’ve had on my “to watch” list for ages – it kind of suited my mood as it’s both funny and tragic by turn, and quite an odd movie overall. I quite enjoyed it though.

I’ve fed my sourdough starter this evening and tomorrow morning hoping to have enough to make bagels plus pancakes for breakfast.

Stay safe, stay strong.

17th May 2020

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The morning started with a very cheerful F trotting into our bedroom pleased to be “awake first”. I made tea for me and D, and we all shared some left over pastries for breakfast.

D and I put together the new cold frame which arrived last week and got the tomato, sunflower and nasturtium plants out in it.

C from choir had posted a little video tour of her garden on Facebook and it was so nice, we decided to do one as well (although slightly annoyed with myself that I filmed it in portrait mode).

In the afternoon we watched the latest Star Wars film, which was fine, although having really enjoyed The Force Awakens, the last two films have felt a bit ponderous and I’ve not really been grabbed by the storylines.

After that B and F had put together a quiz for my side of the family using Kahoot (inspired by a similar quiz done by R, one of their cousins from Ds side) – which seemed to go really well.

I had to do some work for tomorrow, so I spent most of the evening doing that, and now a bit tired, but it’s been a good day and I’m feeling very positive this evening.

Stay safe, stay strong.

16th May 2020

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A very lazy day today. I got up to get breakfast pastries from Haddie and Trilby first thing, but after breakfast ended up nodding off on the sofa. While I was asleep D, F and B went for a walk.

This set the tone for the day – I did a bit of reading, listened to some music, and eventually managed to get myself into the garden and constructed a sort of camp stool out of the hedge trimmings.

F was a bit bored today, although she did try to fly a kite in the garden (unsuccessfully) and did some spray painting later on.

D made some flower headwear for C’s quiz this evening (each week there is a dressing up theme – this week “flowers”)

C had included a Harry Potter round in the quiz for Freya – which cheered her up (especially as we got full marks on that round – but then badly let ourselves down in the Sport round!)

This evening D and I rented the Birds of Prey movie to watch which was quite fun. Now bed time.

Stay safe, stay strong.

9th May 2020

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  • Feeling: Tired out
  • Listening to: Welcombe Radio
  • Watching: The Last Jedi

Tired out this evening, despite not really doing a lot today – I blame the heat.

Woke up at a reasonable time feeling really relaxed – first time in ages I woken feeling completely rested. In the morning we went out for a walk in the small woods along the riverside in Leamington – the sun coming through the green canopy was beautiful.

While we were out I got a message to say a recording by our choir was going to be played on a local community radio station, Welcombe Radio, today – so I spent some time listening to their Art Show to hear our moment of radio play.

But the big event of the day was the release of our virtual choir performance that we’ve been working on since we haven’t been able to rehearse face-to-face. About a third of the choir took part and the musical director has turned video director to put it all together. So proud of this choir and to be part of it.

Stay safe, stay strong xs

3rd May 2020

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  • Feeling: Tired and a little down
  • Listening to: Bach Motets
  • Watching: Nothing really

It’s been a “nothing really” sort of day. I got the lie in I wanted this morning and didn’t get up until 10am. D and F had been up a while but B also got up late and wasn’t much ahead of me.

Unfortunately it wasn’t a great morning – despite (or because of?) the lie in I was tired and had a headache. F got frustrated with the lack of action and company in the morning and I got frustrated with F, and we fell out. I also upset B as he embarked on making granola by himself (which was admirable) but without actually checking what ingredients we had or really thinking about the recipe before he started – which again left me frustrated. What we are learning here is I’m really not great company when I’m tired.

D stepped in and worked with B on the cooking and tried to cheer up F. Eventually we had lunch and I made up with the kids, and the day perked up a bit.

In the afternoon I made bagels with some help from B, and then D, B and F watched The Force Awakens. I sort of half watched, tried to do a puzzle on my phone, and tried (but failed) to read my book, and rest.

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Bagels!

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Overall I’m feeling a bit down this evening – I’m tired, behind with work and not really looking forward to Monday. I feel like I’ve wasted the day a bit and not been great company for D or a great parent for B or F and I’m generally feeling quite sorry for myself. Looking for something to treat myself with this evening to cheer myself up. Hopefully a good nights sleep will sort me out.

Stay safe, stay strong.

2nd May 2020

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  • Feeling: Exhausted
  • Listening to: Choir songs
  • Watching: Virtual choir video!

Today would have been spring/summer concert for the choir I sing in. Instead we decided to have a virtual event, remembering some highlights of Sing it Loud and premiering our “virtual choir” video – although that didn’t go quite as planned!

My day started last night when Seb (the musical director) got in touch about midnight to see if I had a computer that might render the virtual choir video more quickly than his (as his was not going fast enough) – and so we spent the next two hours getting me setup with the right software and files to give it a go. We set the job going, and it looked like it might work – and around 2:30 I went to sleep with the plan to wake up at 7 and hopefully see a finished video – however when I woke it was still predicting 6+ hours to finish the job – and it remained at “6 hours to go” for the rest of the day.

Happily Seb was able to put something together for the evening, and the whole event went off really well and we had a lovely time – what was meant to be just 45 minutes of memories, turned into a couple of hours of reminiscing and watching old performances, and eventually the virtual choir – the proper version will be made available on YouTube once its done, but for this evening we all enjoyed watching Seb’s “early draft” together.

Apart from choir, it was a busy day – we got pastries from Haddie & Trilby for breakfast.

Then I spent most of the day building the new trapeze and climbing frame set for the kids. We’d decided that the old swing (which was secondhand when we got) really was past it, and given the current circumstances we should get the kids something they could really play on in the garden. And so last week I ordered a single swing/trapeze frame plus a rope ladder/platform & pole from Brave Toys. While the process wasn’t entirely stress free (I didn’t always deal with the kids “helping” so well) the result was a great new garden toy and two very happy kids.

In the evening, before choir, we had the usual Saturday quiz, and F had been very keen for the dress-up theme to be books – she dressed as “Prince Johnathon” from the Song of the Lioness series, while B wanted to be the steam punk traction city of London from the Mortal Engines series.

All of that followed by choir, with less than 5 hours sleep and I’m exhausted – so I’m going to bed and hoping to have a lie in tomorrow.

Stay safe, stay strong.

27th April 2020

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  • Feeling: More relaxed
  • Listening to: Nothing today
  • Watching: Van der Valk

Going to try to keep this short. A pretty relaxed day as I determined not to stress myself out with a list of things to do. I made bread (focaccia – but far too wet and not my best effort – but tasted fine all the same), jam (kiwi & gin) and broke down a pallet that we had a delivery on in the hope that at some point I might make something out of the wood.

I did some more electronics with B and some programming – we got the light dependent resistor working and connected to the Raspberry Pi – so a step closer to my project to integrate this with my wooden guitar player automaton.

F played in the garden and on the computer and watched Hairspray in the afternoon.

I helped D conceal her phone in the hedge so that she could film the birds (hopefully some footage forthcoming).

I failed to read my book (which was about the one thing I’d wanted to do), but did manage to finish the arrangement for my latest looping project – so hopefully I’ll be able to record that in the next few days.

In the evening B and F FaceTimed with their US cousins, and F got to say thank you for the very smart laptop case she got from them for her birthday.

All in all a successful Sunday, but now its Monday (twenty past midnight) and I need some sleep.

Stay safe, stay strong.