Replacing our 'New' Bed

 We got our new bed in the year 2000! I still refer to it as our new bed. The mattress is still the same but it's like us, knackered! 

. I've extended its life somewhat with memory foam mattress toppers but I think it is now desperate for a change. 

Anyway, we went with a company called Sueno based in Wakefield. I did want to just get a bed like a Premier Inn Bed and you can buy them. 

But we went with Sueno. They are an online company. Our Son had bought one from them two years ago and had no complaints. 

So we dithered over the headboards. We couldn't agree anyway I let the HG have the final say and we ordered it. It's got wings! 

So Saturday was delivery day. And it was a day of me stalking the bed's journey. It went all the way up to the Highlands of Scotland. Back down through Perth and then Glasgow and finally here at 5.15pm. The photos are out of order and go bottom to top but it was a great tracker system. 

I knew it was going to be a snug fit. We knew this from getting the old one out! 

We have a massive bedroom, it's at least 13m long by 15m wide - or 14m - it's longer and wider than a standard roll of carpet like huge. But the world's smallest staircase! Anyway, the wings that had caused much angst when choosing- had to come off. As did part of the overstairs cupboard extension! Thank goodness the HG was here. He was going out with his old school friends for 7pm and originally the bed was coming 6.30-9.30pm 

It would have to have been left in the dining room for him to sort. 

Anyway, the delivery lads were amazing and we all breathed in a bit and up it went by a whisker! I absolutely recommend them.

The base wasn't so bad because its two singles bolted together and they managed to squish and pull the mattress up too. 

It is lovely. However, Hindsight and all that. Why did we not decorate and get new carpet before we got the new bed?? 

Oh well. I think it was urgent for the bed to save our backs and joints. I loved my bedroom when it was first done. Not I want to paper to match the tiles on the fireplace - oatmeal with a splash of colour - it ties in with the oak wardrobes and the winged headboard ties in with the slate fireplace. 

Lovely bewinged headboard that I thought was old fashioned but it's grown on me. 

Plenty 

Of storage space to hide a dead body or two.

I bought some lovely new bedding - fitted sheets from a company called 'Rise and Fall' which are labelled with the short side because in the history of making the bed I always always always get it wrong first time. I also bought a lovely luxury thread count duvet cover in the M&S sale. It's cool and smooth. It's also pale bloody grey - it's now pale grey with Bluebell Prints! I will pop my beautiful scrappy quilt made by Pam in Wales ( I do miss her blogs ) on to save it a bit! 

Rightyo, I'm going to have my coffee, with a chapter of my audio book and make a start on this before work. 

Work is very challenging at the moment. Very, very challenging. Today I am also going to the funeral of a lovely friend, not much older than me, who I worked with for years. She did the job I do and she had a heart attack. I am 100% convinced, work played its part in that. I love my job, I am damned good at it, but most days I plot my way out of 

Anyway, please do at least one nice thing for yourself today annd one good for you thing and I hope it's something good for tea. 

My coffee and jigsaw is my nice thing , I've topped up my vitamin and magnesium and fish oil tablet dispenser which is my good for me thing and tea is yroast gammon with them posh knobbly new potatoes and salad. 

And probably a slice of this beauty. Recipe next time. 

4.26am

 

Just thought I'd show you the little corner of my room that's now the school. I'm going to swap the swan pic for the clock actually to give it the classroom feel a bit more. I took small crockery n cutlery for school dinners. I've a maths basket, some phonics, work sheets, exercise books , science equipment etc 

They are all loving it! 

Am awake, have been for hours. Got up to the loo, let madam out and took some painkillers - my shoulder is sore. But I think mostly I'm just sad having learned that one of my friends died suddenly on Saturday. 

She was one of those friend who you don't see for ages but pick up where you left off type. I first met her 30 odd years ago at the school I joined as a Maternity Cover. 

I clicked with her straight away. She was warm, kind, stood no nonsense and she was bloody funny. Hilarious even. Really good fun. She championed the children and went out of her way to help them. Me and her set up the first true Nurture group at the school and we stayed close after I moved schools to where I am now. Over the years, we caught up at training events and on line but I hadn't seen her in probably well over 12 months. 

Still, it was a shock and she will be missed. 

Life is short people, live for today, have something good for your tea. It might be your last. 

Crafternoon Tea

Thanks to all who've commented on my last few posts. I don't blog as such for the comments as it's just me recording what's going on. But I do rather love them too! 

 I had a lovely weekend. My working week now ends at 12.30pm on a Friday. I've swished working hours around to allow for one late finish at 5.30pm and one at 5pm. I've now declared myself semi retired! 

So I got home from work and then had a couple of hours pottering and washing and knitting then my friend picked me up at 3.30pm and we drove to her daughter's gorgeous country cottage to let her dog out. So we had a lovely long catch up and back home in time for tea. 

Then I was seeing her again on Saturday and my other friend. We had booked on a Crafternoon Tea activity afternoon in Kendal. A really sweet cafe hosted upstairs ( Bakery No.4 ) It was a bargain. £30.60 for four hours on a fabric art class plus afternoon tea. 

It was a lovely chatty drive up. A really wonderfully relaxing chatty but quiet afternoon with like minded folks. I learnt a new craft ( felting in the hoop to create art ) and would 100% recommend ( Jules, if you are reading this - I think you and L would love it! ) 

The gluten and dairy free option was also outstanding and the cafe provided bags to take home the stuff we were too full for! 

The only decision was what on earth was I going to create? You could choose to either make one large hoop or 2 small. I went with 2 small. For my first, I thought I'd do something that the children like to do at work. I cut a long length of black sparkly wool, gathered it up and held it high and let it go onto my hoop. I then chose 'jewelled' bright colours to fill in the spaces to create a stained glass effect. The possibilities were endless. The other one I decided to recreate one of the Sunrise photos from our holiday to Rascarrel Bay last October but I ran out of time. I brought some of the wool I was using from The Wool Buffet and I do have needles for needle felting at home to finish it off. 

Lana Grindlay is the artist who hosted and she was amazing. I'm hoping she will be able to come and do a workshop at school. I took her card to work yesterday but was so busy I've not had time to mention it to the Head yet. I may do it myself as an after school club one off or give the details to the Art Co ordinator to give the opportunity to a whole co hort. Undecided yet. It's great because there's no rules to follow and even if you don't consider yourself arty ( I don't actually ) there's joy in the process I think. 

Anyway it was a really really really lovely day outs 10/10 

Photos at the end of this post. 

Then on Sunday, I was invited to my friend's house to celebrate her daughter's 12th birthday. She is such a good and dedicated Mama. She always hosts a birthday celebration for school friends and then a separate family and friends one for us old dears to fuss and coo together. Her daughter is growing up into a wonderful young lady. Her celebration was book themed and my friend had ordered tiny edible books of the ones her daughter reads! There's an annual piniata - this time filled with book trinkets. I wish my friend was my mum! 

It was a really great weekend. 

Work yesterday was alright. I changed the role play corner in my room from a Cafe to a school. Oh my stars - you know who play the hardest and the best? The Year 6 children who come in. It was also very hilarious hearing the 'teacher' do all the lessons! 

This morning I got up at 5.30am. I've got a shin beef stew in the slow cooker and started using the new food waste bin with my peelings. I gave my compost bin away years ago once I quit growing veg. I've a few meetings this morning and about eleventy billion emails to catch up on and then this afternoon I've got some online training for supporting the siblings of children living with life threatening and life limiting diseases. We've quite a few in each year group so it will be interesting to find out what's out there beyond what I already know. The this evening I must get going on the sleeves for Oliver's jumper. 

Hope all is well in your world and it's something good for your tea tonight! 

  Book birthday cake

Saw this on the internet - isn't it just lovely 

One friend recreated a waterfall near the Coniston Copper Mines walk she'd done on Friday

My other friend recreated the view across the bay with the memorial bench for her Mum and Dad on the prom. 

All of our work. 

The GF DF option

Deliciously light scones

The lemon drizzle was huge and divine.

 Coffee art! 

How mine started

My efforts above! 

R 

What my MRI scan was like

 So Thursday morning I was up in time to get the larks up. After a few nights of dreadful broken sleep, I went to work as usual. I left at 1pm to get home and let Bluebell out, clean my teeth etc before my friend picked me up. 

But before work, I had to hunt out my swimming costume. Thanks for the kind comments and bra suggestions on my last post  lovely bloggy folks. So I do indeed had a pull on sports bra type affair. But that's too small. I tried and got stuck midway. Not a great look. So I carried the stepladders up the stairs and climbed up to my top boxes in our new wardrobes. 

And when I say Top boxes they are right up at the top. And

at 4ft 11, I'm not! These photos are from when they were installed by the HG in the Summer. The wallpaper shows where the old wardrobes were! 

Anyway I struggled but managed and then got my Son to reach the very last one for me to check - of course what I was looking for was in the very last box...

I tried on. Swimming costumes are stretchy but not that stretchy ! And it is a good few years since I wore them but nope, definitely a bit snug as you can see in my photo below . 

Nicked this funny off the internet! 

Then I thought, oh I know, I've my vest top, that will be fine. Forgetting that I've worn it in bed due to the drenchers I've been having nightly ... I thought - it'll be fine - a bit of febreze and there we are. Oh 

Fished out of the laundry basket to remember I drooled sodding toothpaste down it cleaning my teeth - the drooling occurred because I overbalanced. Michael Mosley told me to stand on one leg whilst brushing my teeth because it's good for me ! I'm dead good on my right one but a bit wobbly on my left. 

Balls to it, I thought. I will just go au natrel! 

So into the mobile MRI wagon.

I'd climbed. up the rickety stairs and was welcomed in by two radiologists and one of them looked like Paddy Dingle off Emmerdale.

He asked me to sit on the chair in a tiny box cupboard labelled 'changing room'.  and asked me 

Name

Age

Weight

Height

Have you got a bra on?

Take it off

I thought, blimey, he's forward and I don't think much of this speed dating!!!

So the scanner was in a lorry trailer in the hospital car park. At one end I could see there was the person in front of me being scanned. All I could think of was the scene from The Wizard Of Oz where the house lands on the witch and her legs and feet are all that's left sticking out! In the middle was a giant wall of tech, screens, buttons, cables and knobs and then the tiny cupboard where I was sitting at the other end, opposite the scanner room. 

He also asked if I had any tattoos, metal implants and anything inside my body I was not born with. I signed a form and then waited. There was a pulsing humming and whooshing constant noise and it almost felt womblike. Pulsing and rhythmical. I could have fallen asleep. He asked if I'd had one before ? I said no, I was looking forward to the experience! 

Then it was my turn. 

I walked from the cupboard, past the tech desk, into the scanner room. He said get on the bed. Bed! Concrete slab it was with blocks on it. One for my head that was like a chopping block shape and then an inverted v shaped one for my legs to go over. And a sculpted like shell foam mould for my shoulder. 

He manhandled me into it and after 3 instructions to lower my left shoulder, he realised I could not lower my left shoulder, I was manoeuvred a bit more, strapped in and anchored down. But as my shoulder was the most painful it had been for days, I could not hold my arm straight down against my side so was allowed to bend it at the elbow so my hands were resting on my middle. 

Next he said stay still, don't move, be still as you can. The bed shifted me in a bit, he tucked my saddlebags in on my right side so I felt squished up against the wall of the thing, he gave me a panic button to press if I needed them to stop and slapped a pair of ear defenders on.

He then proceeded to ask me if I was ok. I gave a thumbs up. He said don't move! 

Then he said right I'm going back in with Paddy Dingle. It'll take 20 minutes to an hour. Ok Rachel? Well, I wasn't allowed to move so I did nothing. 

Then Paddy Dingle said 

Are you Ok Rachel? You can speak to us! 

So I squeaked a Yes, sorry ( because I am British! ) 

I think, I'd reverted to 2 years old where if I can't hear you, you won't be able to hear me! Plus he'd said not to move, so no thumbs up and he'd given me a button to press to communicate with them to stop ie. I'm not OK , so why would I speak. 

And then it started! Now I know so many people who have had an MRI before. Interestingly, not the HG. ( 10 years this year since the Kidney Cancer! ) and they all mostly report it is so noisy, banging, clanking, clunking. 

Now that is not at all how I would describe it. 

It was like being IN a Space Invaders game to me.Peeeeow Peeeeow Peeeow zzzzzzzzzzzzz nooo noooo noooo nooooo dededede dededede bbrrrrrrr bbrrrrrrrt each 'firing' electrons sound was a different pitch so I could imagine it penetrating the different layers of my body tissues. 

Then it stopped! 

I thought, wow that was fast! 

And a muffled voice said, right Rachel, we are ready to start, KEEP STILL AND DO NOT MOVE. 

And I didn't! But I was so conscious of not moving and was barely breathing but realised my hands on my middle must be moving up n down. After a good chunk of being eliminated from space. It stopped and the voice said Rachel, some of that was shaky. You need to keep still. I said I'm ever so sorry, I think it's because I am breathing! He said, try shallow breathing. Which is what I thought I'd been doing. 

So anyway I said I'd try, I took two deep breaths and said Ok. 

Well, the more you think about your breathing, the harder it is to do shallow breathing and not move your lungs at all and because there's nothing to look at or distract you the focus becomes uncomfortable. I started to realise properly how the people with claustrophobic tendencies could panic. 

The magnetic fields  were well underway and by now I could feel them hitting my bone ( I couldn't, but you know ) and it was getting warmer. He said you are doing well. But then with the concentration on my shallow breathing becoming so intensified I thought the next time he asks if I'm ok I'll say I'm not, I can't do any more. I felt like I was going to pass out and the buzzer had shifted in my grasp so I'd have had to have moved to squeeze it. Anyway they said my name and all of a sudden I was sliding back out into the light! He asked if I was Ok. I said I was now. He said you can sit up. But I couldn't. It was like I was paralysed! So he helped me up and said how was it? I then said. Ooo I enjoyed that! It was an adventure! He laughed. I said when you told me to do shallow breathing, I couldn't!!! He then said you are free to go! So I left the chamber, walked past Paddy Dingle at the computer and said, Could you see why my shoulder hurts so much? 

He said 

Ohhhh yes. But your results will be through in about two weeks and they will go straight back to the consultant who referred you. I then got sorted and went out into the pouring rain glad to feel it in my face! 

Here's what I think they should do to make it better. 

For me, had I known they did a start test shot as it were, it would have been preferable. Also there is no way of knowing how long you have been in there so saying 20 minutes to an hour is absolutely pointless unless they can talk you through it. The inside of the chamber is white with nothing to look at - I don't know if that can be changed. They never offered me music through earphones like it said on the NHS guide. And explaining what happens if you move meaning it has to go again might help also a guide to the different sounds you might hear. Knowledge is power! 

Then my friend. Picked me up and we went to the garden centre for a cup of tea and some cake. Lemon ginger cheesecake for me, chocolate cake for her. We had a good old debrief about all our medical bits and bobs and work stuff. A browse in the gorgeous gift shop and bought some sweeties from the lovely display of goodies on the way out. 

She dropped me off at home in time for tea! All in all I'd give it a solid 8/10 for a day out! 

Hope you had something good for your tea, and if you ever need an MRI scan, you know what to expect now! 

MRI SCAN DAY

This afternoon at 2pm. So I'm leaving work at 1pm and my friend is going to come with me so we can go for a brew afterwards probably at a Garden Centre! 

I've been wondering what to wear as you are not to wear anything with metal in. So that cancels all of my bras! It will be a new experience for m to blog about. 

Specially when the mri scan shows an anomaly and it'll turn out to be unexpected tits in the arm pits area 😂😂😂

Already thought of a solution, once the HG has got up, I will look out my swimming costume. It will be super snug but it will allow me to at least secure the ( sad spaniel ears that were once a magnificent bosom ) girls towards the front of my ribcage and minimise any slippage towards the back! . 

I had my favourite ready made soup for mine yesterday. I've tried to make it myself but it does not taste the same! And due to jigsaw on the dining table, it was eaten on my knee! 

It's delicious! A lovely treat. Hope you enjoy today and it's something good for your tea. 

R

Weekending

 I've weekended hard! I've had myself a lovely old time! 

Can't remember what I've blogged about but three quick ones on the trot - think I'm finding the habit again! 

Today, I'm writing this as I wait for my Waitrose delivery. I've got free electric today from 8am - 4pm so the washer has been on and the dryer is tumbling. The Sun is out and so is some of my non tumble friendly washing. High in the blue sky, flapping nicely. It's bloody freezing though. We've just got back from visiting his Mum, in her care home. She's told us a right old tale today. She's thinking of getting a job, if her Mum lets her. She doesn't know what though. It was a few visits ago that I realised that what's she's lost is all her nouns. Her story's ramble on but she's lost the ability to name things and places. She says things like, well, I went to there, I got some things, went back to there with my friend. If you interrupt and ask which friend? She will say she can't remember. She had a new addition to her family today - there was a realistic weighted babydoll in bed with all her teddies. She said her Mum dropped her off and asked if she could have her. So she's got her till the next time. She said to the doll, though, at random, say hello to your Aunty Rachel and Uncle ( HG's name ). 

I got quite emotional watching her today and listening. She's quite sprightly and healthy. Just such a horrible disease for everyone else to witness. She's taken to calling one of the gentlemen there her husband. I said to G one of the lovely carers, watch her - there's enough babies in there, we don't want any more haha. 

Then we called to see my Mum, - she's on the waiting list for a hip replacement - not sure how long a wait it will be now with the national shortage of bone cement. 

Is it natural? Made of bones? I do not know. Not sure how it will affect my shoulder situation. I've got my MRI scan this Thursday at 2pm. Eeeek. 

I woke up and got up at 5.40am and it was murky and mizzly, so I had a coffee and sat and did some jigsaw. I've done this one a few times but I'm going to take its pic once complete and sell it on Vinted. I only put max of £3 so they sell and my quest for £100 starts again!! 

Yesterday, I made some chocolate chip shortbread. It was a recipe from Good Housekeeping  It was so easy. 

Ingredients

350g  butter, plus extra softened to grease

150g caster sugar, plus 1tbsp to sprinkle

500g plain flour

250g milk chocolate chunks, chopped

Grease and line a 20cm square tin with baking parchment

Method

1. Melt the butter in a small frying pan over low heat. Once melted, increase heat to medium-high and cook, swirling the pan occasionally, until the butter is golden brown and smells nutty. Pour into a large heatproof bowl and leave to cool completely.

2. Then when cool but still liquid, tip the sugar into the butter bowl and mix using a wooden spoon. Stir in the flour until combined, followed by the chocolate.

Tip into the prepared tin and press firmly to level with the back of a spoon.

3. Score deeply with a sharp knife into squares or rectangles or triangles if you feel fancy! I totally forgot to do this bit until half way through cooking but it was alright! 

Chill in fridge  30min,( or until you remember!! ) to firm up.

4.  Preheat oven to 170°C (150°C fan) mark Bake for 30-35min, until pale golden.

5. Remove from the oven and cut into squares along the scored lines, then sprinkle liberally with the Itbsp sugar.

Leave to cool completely in the tin.

I also made a chicken tikka for tea last night and froze 2 portions. These bags from ikea are great and I've taken to freezing things flat like this. I'm not sure why I never did it like this before! It was really tasty. 

Am just going to have half an hour with my jigsaw and audio book as the HG has an afternoon nap watching the TV behind his eyelids. It's the ice hockey on the Olympics. What a brutal sport! Have just made a coffee and am having a piece of the shortbread. It's so good! What's going to be brutal is staying away from it now! You can see my new to me from Vinted buys in the background! 

Hope you are doing something nice today and it's something good for your tea! I e not christened ours yet. 

We had a lovely day

 On Wednesday, I met my friend Barb* for coffee and lunch. Four fantastic hours of none stop catch up. Lunch consisted of chips and cake! We shared a small side portion of chips - I had six, she only had 2! Then she bought a Manchester Tart and I couldn't resist the coffee Renoir - we halved them and chatted over about 8 cups of tea! The other cakes were Malteser traybake and blonde with white chocolate for our menfolks at home but it did look like we meant business!!

The world was put to rights a bit. We never ever run out of stuff to talk about and I really do miss working with her everyday. She still works the afterschool club, which now opens until 6pm so had I not give it up when I had, I definitely purely would have by now. 

She dropped me off home before going to visit her lovely Mum in her 90s! Her Mum thinks I am called Barb too. 

*The Barb nickname comes from our love of quoting lines from The Royal Family for years at work! It just made us laugh and still does! Anyway her Mum calls me the lovely lady that bakes because I used to sometimes send cakes for her and Barb's dad when he was still here when I'd baked. Anyway, the Hospice cafe, where we go, always gives you a little freebie shortbread biscuit with your hot drink but we had had so much cake we didn't want to eat them so she wrapped them up and took them to her Mum who said 

Oh you must thank Barb for me!! I said let her think I made them. But actually next time I bake, I definitely will take one to school for Barb to give her Mum! 

Yesterday my other friends H and J came round about 10.30 and stayed all day until 4.30! We talked and I taught them how to k it garter stitch! I also got up and decided to make them a bag for their new knitting hobby. 

It was just a simple lined tote with matching pockets. It was a set of fat quarters I'd had for ages plus two others that blended in well.  They were delighted when I handed them over with their circular needles and two balls of wool as a start kit. 

I also used my new mini iron - Christmas goft from my lovely HG 

Ignore my old ironing board cover - it's about 25 years old and it's an old Morphy Richard's Shirtmaster ironing board which is huge but so useful. You cannot get new covers for the exactly the same like for like. If only I knew someone who sewed .....

I had already casted on 15 stitches and done 10 rows each. I showed them the needles and the stitches. I thought it best to get them going and then teach them to cast on. Or they can use one of the billion you tube videos that are out there for the cast on. It's how I learnt to knit. I used to ask my Mum to cast me on some stitches to have a go and she'd cast me on 20 and off I'd go - hokey, added stitches - I was not very good at all. My nanna had more patience with me but she held her needles slightly different to my Mum and my mum used to pop the yarn over with one finger wrapped in wool that I could NEVER do. 

It wasn't until a lovely lady called Doris ( it will have been someone's Grandma from church ) came to Brownies and taught me the way I do it now and I was away. I never touched knitting again until I was pregnant with my daughter and it was my friend Betsy who reminded me of the stitches and how to read a pattern and then I was away! 

Now over the years I have tried to crochet a lot but my knitting fingers find it awkward! I cannot get a neat magic circle going. I've two awful granny squares somewhere I did and half a fabric bowl I once started. I may have another go because the appeal is that it grows so very quickly. A few regular viewers /readers may remember Suzanne who blogged a Life  at number 38 - she was an amazing crocheter who has had to give it up for to wrist pain now but she did do me one of those amazing octopuses that they have to 'have' for new born babies  these days, because the tentacles are like the umbilical cord. It was for Oliver. I can do a simple chain. I can do a double and treble. I do struggle with the counting and cannot read a pattern at all. 

Yet! 

Always stick a yet on the end of a I don't or I can't sentence. Powerful. Also powerful is 

Instead of moaning about things add a I'm lucky I at the beginning. Puts things into perspective. 

I don't want to go back to work. 

I'm lucky I can go back to work. 

I can't be bothered to do....

I'm lucky I can do.... 

I was going to write about recipes. On another blog I read I learnt about bread and butter pudding ( which I've never ever had, made or wanted for some reason ) and bread pudding which when I saw the recipe I thought yes please! Again something I never ever had as a child. 

What I'm writing about is 'Bride's Slice' which is something I love and only ever see it at the Farm Shop in Carlisle when we do a half way meet up hand over with My daughter and Son in Law.

 

It's a thin layer of pastry, jam, a light fruit cake then marzipan and icing. 

A deep dive into the Internet found lots of variations. Pastry, then jam. The mincemeat mixed with biscuit crumbs on top then marzipan and icing. Then something else called Honeymoon cake which had biscuits, golden syrup and cornflakes in. And then I stopped looking because I am diabetic and am not eating such deliciousness !!  

Today I am going back to the Hospice cafe - it's just around the corner and is so good - all proceeds go towards the Hospice and it's entirely staffed by volunteers. The food is amazing. Anyway, it's fish and chip Friday and booking is essential - so when I was there on Wednesday I booked a table for me, my sister and my Mum. So that's 12.30pm today. Only, I sent my Nespresso machine off for repair and it's coming back today. Betwixt 11.45 and 12.45 by Connor! Now he picked it up on Tuesday and was early so am hoping for the same today. Anyway, I've told my sister to go and I'll meet them there as soon as he has been. But I was going to call round early. Ah well. Another coffee and a bit of pottering it is! 

This half term week has gone so very fast. And not that I'm counting down but there are only about 22 Mondays left until we break up for the 6 week holidays. There will be two at Easter and one at half term so that's down to 19 and maybe a bonus Bank Holiday if they are not included so 18 or 19 Monday get ups to go!!

As I write this,  the news is full of the arrest of Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. All I will say is, there's no smoke without fire. 

But the endless reels of breaking news with is just a continual repeat of stuff most people always no and what ifs and spectulations does not interest me at all. 

I'm going to try and finish my latest audio book which is 

Enjoy today if you can, and I hope it's something good for tea! 

Rachel