Into February

So far February has gone well.  Tuesday I was back at the dentist who said normally the stitches would have dissolved but mine hadn’t so he took them out.  It was painless and he reported everything looks healthy.  Now we wait 6 weeks before impressions are taken for my implant, then another 3 weeks before it is fitted.  What an age this has taken, my mouth still feels a little sore but I am grateful to be so well looked after and hopeful of a good outcome - eventually.  Meantime I have not been very sociable because I really don’t like wearing my temporary tooth. MrFF would have liked us to take a break somewhere warm but it would have been pointless for me, I’d rather stay home with a gappy smile.

It’s lovely to have longer hours of daylight with quite a lot of sunshine.  I am walking out regularly and climbing the 3 flights of stairs back to the penthouse.  I often return through the town with a dash into one or two of our charity shops for a quick treasure hunt.

Lovely recent finds are

A Kosta Boda snowball t light holder for £4.50, it is chunky, heavy and twinkles beautifully. My lovely Danish friend in Italy has several these that are always lit when we dine outside on warm summer evenings. I have admired them for many years and now have one of my own that even in February brings to mind convivial summer nights.  

200 grams of Trekking Hand Art hand dyed sock wool £4.99, just look at those gorgeous shades. 

The yarn 75% wool, soft and squishy, it speaks to me of men’s cable socks and I cannot wait to cast on.

Nice weather, time outside, good books, lengthening days, green shoots, it’s going ok here even if the outside world is a crazy scary place.  Sometimes we have to find comfort where we can.  

End of endless January

A bright sunny end of January day.  The light coming into the kitchen this morning prompted me to dust the slats of the blinds but enough cleaning I’ll take a walk soon.  On Saturday when I returned from my usual 6 miles the power was off in the building, I had to climb the 3 floors to the penthouse via the fire escape.  It made me realise that I should use the stairs more and now after my walk that’s what I do, an extra little work out.

There are definite signs of spring, clumps of snowdrops in flower, bulbs coming up in my balcony pots and my Christmas bulbs brightening the lounge.   Yes that is blue sky.

Last week I was at the dentist for the start of my implant placement.  The post is in,  I have 7 stitches in my mouth and am back to eating cautiously. Apparently I still have about 9 weeks to go with appointments right through until April.  MrFF is getting restless to return to Italy, I just want the job done and ignore his suggestion I ask my dentist to hurry up.

I am being stoic with my pastimes. I am reading Wolf Hall, one of the books on my should read list and knitting from the stash, socks and neckware.

 
The scarf is Be Simple by Carolyn Glauz-Todrank which I knitted using 100 g of yarn and wear knotted like a necker.  

Could do better

Last week I ordered and received a cotton polo neck jumper from the John Lewis sale, a cosy wardrobe addition to wear under a cardigan or jacket. It was just right except for the label above extolling their ethical sourcing of better cotton, even though there might not be any better cotton in the garment.

A Google search for what the label is trying to tell me didn’t enlighten me at all.

Better Cotton is sourced via a chain of custody model called mass balance. This means that Better Cotton is not physically traceable to end products, however, Better Cotton Farmers benefit from the demand for Better Cotton in equivalent volumes to those we source.

Mass Balance is the chain of custody model that laid the foundation of the entire Better Cotton initiative, making our programme easy to scale and bringing immense value to the farmers. It was first introduced in the Better Cotton Chain of Custody (CoC) Guidelines, the guidance document that set the requirements for organisations in the supply chain that are buying or selling Better Cotton or cotton-containing products through Mass Balance Better Cotton orders. After the introduction of the CoC Standard v1.0 in 2023, Mass Balance remained a key offering alongside physical chain of custody models. 

Any wiser?  Me neither.  I imagine the scheme makes very little difference to the cotton farmers or the environment but gives a tidy income to those who thought it up, wonderful career and travel opportunities for its board of international directors and cons the unwary purchaser.  

Walking on ice

Winter dusk

This year the council have only been clearing snow from the main roads in our town, side roads and pavements are untouched and over the week with below zero temperatures and more snow fall it’s been difficult to get about. Schools and community centres have been closed, the bins have not been emptied, care workers struggle to attend, most people have stayed at home.

Our challenge is that we have to descend a fairly steep hill to reach services like shops, buses and this week my dentist.  I’d been out a couple of times with MrFF for some exercise, we’ve managed to stay upright with a few skids but it was not pleasant and at times bitterly cold.  These last couple of days as the temperature has risen above freezing, just, the surface of the snow and ice has melted in the sun leaving a skating rink or in our case a bob sleigh run.  I don’t have the confidence to walk by myself so on Thursday MrFF kindly accompanied me to my dental appointment, a 4 mile round trip. 

As an avid snow shifter when we lived in Scotland, I had my own personal snow shovel, I am surprised how few people have cleared their paths and drives, though I am pleased to see how little they’ve used their cars.  I know shops no longer clear the route to their door because of health and safety regulations, they could be responsible if there was an accident. That probably applies to offices and businesses generally but if residents cleared the pavement in front of their house it would help us all.

Temperatures are set to rise by Sunday which could make conditions worse before they get better.  Let’s hope the snow is gone quickly and no more arrives before my next dental appointment in about 10 days time.  My dentist is pleased with my progress so far though he too struggled to remove my temporary denture, commented it was still a snug fit and asked me to take it out.  He says I’ll be all sorted in another 11 weeks. The last 6 weeks with this temporary front tooth have felt like a lifetime but equally not wearing it and having a front gap isn’t comfortable either.  I am not miserable like I was at the end of last year but I am looking forward to April and hoping January won’t linger as long as it usually does.

These two obviously think otherwise, our littlest grand nieces up early on the first day of snow enjoying their first proper winter weather.

As expected

I was up several times in the night checking the forecast snowfall, it was quite gentle but persistent and by morning we had this.

Undeterred we walked the couple of miles to town and back collecting the Sunday papers and some fresh veg. Only the main roads had been cleared and we saw several cars stuck on side roads, the snow on the pavements was deep, rutted and becoming compacted, if it freezes it will be treacherous.  There were plenty of children out with their sledges and a lack of milk, bread and eggs in the shops as apparently deliveries had failed to arrive. 

A seasonal start to the new year, a year which I can only hope will be an improvement on the last.  We still think of Grigio often, Mario eventually reported that Vincenzo is fine at his house.  I am back at the dentist on Thursday.  6 weeks into the 4 month implant process I struggle every day with my temporary denture which I often remove to enjoy the various delicious treats we received for Christmas and always to sleep.  I should be fixed by the end of March, MrFF is talking of returning to Italy in early April.

We did it again

Well sort of.  MrFF had dropped a lot of hints that I’d be disappointed this year with my £5 stocking.  He forgets that he always spends the weeks before Christmas traipsing round the shops and travelling to other towns with his free bus pass only to bemoan the fact he cannot find anything suitable.

This year he underspent and I overspent so things balanced out.  Here’s what I received 

A couple of books and hand warmers which he says I can use when my feet are cold in bed as they often are these days, probably a circulation thing. Some eco bamboo clothes pegs which at first I said I’d take to Italy as we have no outdoor clothes line in Ilkley but which I might use when here  I put the washing out on the balcony on the airing stand, unofficially.  We are not supposed to dry washing outside which on a good day seems criminal, besides my laundry can hardly be seen as we are so high and behind a parapet, it’s not like Naples with sheets hanging from the windows.

MrFF got last years Private Eye annual 50p and brand new garden shears which at £2.99 were a charity shop bargain that will go to Italy so I can use them too.  Two Marks and Spencer Autograph supima cotton t shirts that look like new at £5 each.  First I bought just the green one but they were so nice and the budget blown I went back for the blue.  I also threw in a pair of hand knitted socks, extravagant or what.

Our gifts from friends and family were lovely, just right, and our day was mostly peaceful. After breakfast I took a walk on my own as MrFF was starting a cold which so far hasn’t affected me.  We had a nice meal and had settled down to watch tv when at 10 pm the fire alarm in our building went off.  We evacuated via the fire escape and waited outside until it was confirmed to be a false alarm.  It went off again this afternoon and we were on our way down the escape stair again when it stopped.  It has been turned off, I was a bit worried that whoever did that hadn’t  had time to check there definitely wasn’t a fire.  A lot of people hadn’t made any effort to leave the building, I wonder what will happen if it goes off in the middle of the night

Post edit - I also received a scented candle which I forgot to show you. I haven’t lit it yet, it did not trigger the fire alarm which went off again on Saturday. We were just descending the escape again someone turned it off.

All is calm all is bright

The build up to Christmas seems to have been even more manic this year.  I’ve seen supermarket trollies loaded with festive foods for weeks now, huge queues and extra large vegetable displays started happening weeks ago.  And let’s not mention the dreaded party food that has been available since well before anyone was thinking about a party.

On our way out yesterday we called at our lovely northern supermarket Booths for our Sunday paper.  At 10 am when the shop opened we had to queue for a parking space.  I dashed in for the paper, negotiated the overflowing trollies and was out again to find MrFF hadn’t moved an inch, we then had to queue to get out of the car park.

We were meeting my youngest niece, her husband and their two young daughters 3 and 5, for a visit to Cliffe Castle museum followed by a late lunch back at the penthouse.  The little ones had a lovely time, there was much to engage them particularly in the natural history section where the eldest chatted knowledgeably about fossils, dinosaurs and the solar system. We had a lovely few hours.

After lunch we were treated to a rerun of the eldest’s school nativity, Isla had learnt all the words to some specially written songs, Elodie joined in as best she could and then gave us her own rendition of jingle bells. There was a lot of dancing, running about, rearranging of cushions and in the end both girls were so hot they stripped down to their little vests and tights.  It was lovely to have them here and see Christmas through their young excited eyes, a good antidote to all news we've had on cards this year of failing health from friends.  

As a bonus they were able to bring all our presents from family, plus a lovely arrangement of greenery and fresh garden vegetables from my brother and his wife.  We sent them home with our gifts to family as they’ll all be together on Christmas Day,  so that’s all done and dusted. 

Nothing much to do tomorrow as today I’ve cleaned the house and done all the laundry including changing our bedding, I just need to find something for our Christmas dinner.  MrFF has already attended three turkey lunches so he won’t be missing out if we settle for a duck and if all else fails there’s a nice leg of lamb in the freezer and two boxes of mince pies, I may get more tomorrow.

I hope you are calm and bright, won’t be long now.  Happy Christmas