Right. [rubs hands together and cracks knuckles] Let's try to get this written before Kai wakes up...

First, while I remember, Kai fixed my computer speaker for me (GoodTwin and Sue may remember the plug thingie on the master speaker broke off when they were here last). The pair of speakers are ancient - decades before USB speakers appeared on the scene - but really really good. The volume on them is window-rattlingly loud at just half-mast... Anyway, Kai handed it to me with a grin and said I shouldn't nag him about his boxes full of old computer bits any more, as he found the replacement plug amongst them. (I promised I wouldn't - not that I did much, anyway - but asked him to try to keep them tidy...)

It's wonderful to have music again!

Last post Lutra commented - "First the tetra of immortality, now the everlasting orchid... I'm detecting a theme!" Well, it gets odder. Every time we've had workmen come in the last year and a half, their partners have either just had babies, or are about to. Tom the plumber, Steve and boss's son the Crystal Clear window installers, even the guy who came to fix the fridge freezer!

Gravity goes a bit strange in this house too, occasionally, especially in the greenhouse. I usually start the salad leaves off there, and bring them into the house when they're big enough to use...

Didn't quite work last time!

Greenhouse, last sowing.

What they should look like (although this is only half the usual amount as the rest has been used in sandwiches etc.)

(The recipe for the Japanese pickles is at the end of this post, btw.)

We seem to have a (semi)resident fox... Back in March, after the snow had melted, I saw something moving in the garden. At first I thought it was another cat - but Tyjer was sitting watching it rather than attacking, so I looked a little closer. It was a very poorly fox, all the fur gone from its tail and left shoulder and limping badly...

I rang the RSPCA, who asked if it was mobile (which it was, if only just: they can't do anything if it's still walking around) and said could we try feeding it for a few days to see if it improved. We keep dog food in anyway, to put out for the foxes when the weather is really bad, so we gave it a go. Fox visited every lunchtime for five days, obviously improving, ears perking up and the limp getting better, then stopped coming. We thought that either it was self-sufficient now, or had died (we didn't know what had caused all the fur loss: it could have been from an accident, maybe with a car?, or mange, which we know can be deadly.)

Then last week Ken said he'd seen a fox wander down through the garden. That's not unusual, but this wasn't the usual fox, who we recognise because he is a magnificent specimen, big, strong and with a bushy full tail. Then on Friday last Kai went out to fill the bird feeders at the top of the garden, only to see a fox lying in a sunny spot up behind the privet he has planted at the edge of the new meadow. It saw him and slunk away through the damaged fence panel - but it was there the next day too, and he got a better look. If it is our poorly fox, it's made a full recovery, although its tail fur still hasn't quite regrown completely. And the hole in the ground in the new meadow is a lot bigger than it used to be... We put some food out for it, which vanished fairly quickly.

Kind of tickled that it feels safe enough to use the garden in daylight!

So, quick run-down of last week.

Mon: major shop at Wilko for me - paint, wall hooks to hang up the mower, pair of telescopic grass shears that I can use without bending over - and Kai said the exam wasn't too bad.

Tues: Kai's second exam, also not too bad, he thinks/hopes. I couldn't go swimming as the end of Hampstead road was closed for roadworks (like half the bloody city at the moment) Tues and Wed (and in fact was still closed to traffic on Thurs...) Spent much of the day getting ready for the window installers, shifting stuff away from the windows as best we could. Watched Kingsman: the Golden Circle in the evening, and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Wed: Crystal Clear arrived at 9... There followed an extraordinary amount of noise, drilling, sawing, and kicking down the kitchen door as I couldn't find the old key!

They actually got the windows completely in on Wed, and just had to finish off tidying up on the Thurs.

It all looks fantastic - and it's so quiet. And warm - the temperature is the same right the way through the house now, so much better than having to go out of a warm room into a cold one (no more ill-fitting Critalls windows that we couldn't even close properly). Not to mention the security aspect! We've waited 25 years to get it done, but it's been worth it.

Fri: young Will came to install the stair rail - it's lovely pine, so is wonderfully in keeping with the natural unpainted look we're aiming for for the wooden fittings in the house. And it makes getting up and down the stairs so much easier.

Sat: I started painting in the kitchen while Ken bought and sawed the wood for the shelves I wanted across the new panel that's replaced the old kitchen door. Great big non-opening window for my indoor food plants!

Sun: shopping and chilling. And finishing watching Stan Lee's Lucky Man season 2 - great stuff. Waiting now for season 3...

Other bits of news... Driving lesson on Thurs went OK, though I was very tired and had to cut it short after just over an hour as I was losing focus and (obviously) didn't want to cause an accident. Next lesson is tomorrow, 4 - 6 (rush hour, oh joy... Still, I have to do it sometime so why not now...)

Dr has given me new meds to see if they help with the pain in my back, hips and legs - amitriptyline, which confused me as it's primarily an anti-depressant, but also used in neuropathic conditions, which is what I have. Felt positively dopey when waking the first week: that's now eased off, but the pain is worse. Though apparently it takes 4 - 6 weeks for it to start working, so hopefully the effects will kick in in a week or so. Fingers crossed.

We have a Wecare technician coming at 1, with a contractor, to give us a price for replacing our downpipe with a new one. The old is asbestos and came with the house: about 12 years ago it developed a hole - which we patched up with butyl rubber and superglue (Blue Peter fans, anyone?) - then a leak, which we treated the same. It's done well since then, but now it's got rather beyond us and is a health risk: we really need it replaced. I'm dreading the cost, but it needs to be done. More later.

Go read Jonathan Day's Enlightenment. It had me LOLing loud enough to wake the neighbours!

Lastly, I've treated myself to four films going really cheaply (like, 1p and 50p) on amazon and ebay - Buried (because I like Ryan Reynolds, although I know I'm going to find the film claustrophobic), and - because Keanu Reeves is my guilty pleasure - Little Buddha, A Walk in the Clouds, and Dangerous Liaisons, an early film in which he only has a smallish role (I think?), but having recently watched the Korean version of this classic, I thought I'd get an English one as well...

And that's the most of the news! Later, all...

Japanese pickles (From the Curry recipe collection by Sainsbury's (p. 42, no ISBN number that I can find) - a great find in a charity shop!)

50mls rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp caster sugar
1/2 a cucumber, halved, deseeded and sliced thinly
1 carrot, peeled and sliced into thin ribbons
75g radishes, trimmed, thinly sliced
2cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and very thinly sliced

Bring vinegar, sugar and 1 tbsp water to the boil and simmer gently until the sugar has dissolved. Put the veg in a bowl and pour over the liquid, stir well and leave to cool, then cover and chill in the fridge.
Delicious, but it doesn't keep for very long without the veg going limp. Not that it stays around for long here, I love it!

Tyjer on the back of my recliner...

Labels: busyness, cooking, decorating, drama, driving, films, foxes, garden, hardware, Kai, medical matters, Tyjer