This Week - W/E 12th November 2022

This week got off to a lovely slow start, thanks to the rain. As it was raining again on Sunday morning, the dog was not interested in going for a walk, so I got to have a slow leisurely morning in my dressing gown.

It was during this slow morning, that I realised I hadn't read any of my favourite blogs for a whole week, so I spent a couple of hours catching up with the week's posts, commenting and blogging. It was lovely.

Later, when the rain had eased, I got dressed and walked the dog and inspired by some of the blogs I'd been reading in the morning, I spent most of the rest of the day sewing. It felt so nice to get back to doing something creative. I have already posted seperately about what I made or started to make.

On Monday, I was due at work at 1pm again. The scaffolders came to put up some scaffolding on the front of our house, as OH is going to paint the front of the house over the next few weeks and also remove some dead climbers.  

I got up and ready and walked the dog, posted a parcel and then set off a little early for work. It was just as well, as there was traffic on this occasion. Work was super busy and by the time I left, my head felt like it was going to explode. So many decisions, questions from customers, complicated till transactions and refunds. It was so mentally exhausting. Very different from the previous Monday when I'd worked and it had been relatively quiet by comparison.

When I left work, I needed to do the weekly shop again. I only did it after work because I was using a 10% off my next shop voucher, and I wanted to get the most from it.  In future, I'll be trying to get to work early and do most of the shopping (minus fridge and freezer items) before work and will then just top up with these items after work. I'm too tired to do the full shop after work.

Anyway, shopping done, I headed for home, but it was raining so hard, a road sign was covered with branches and I inadvertantly came off at the wrong junction and then got a bit lost. I ended up in a bus lane and will possibly get a ticket. I'm hoping not, but we'll just have to wait and see. 

On Tuesday, I had a bit of a lie in before getting up and going out with the dog. I just wasn't feeling like rushing off to the gym, so I missed my class again. I was still feeling a bit out of sorts from the previous day.

OH started work on the front of the house today. He's tidied up the brickwork and cleared the climber and now just needs to fill and paint. The weather isn't being co-operative with lots of rain showers, but it's quite exciting.

In the afternoon, I did some more sewing. It felt so therapeutic to spend time in my sewing room, working on projects. It really helped me recover from the stress of the previous day.

On Wednesday, I had another leisurely start to the day, as OH took the dog out as she was up and chomping at the bit. As a consequence, I got to take my time. I decided not to go to the Soca Aerobics class again and to do a bit of cleaning in the sewing room instead, as many of the surfaces were looking dusty. It felt good to get it all looking clean and decluttered again. I managed to remove a lot of junk from the desk, giving me more room to work/sew, which feels great. I'm going to try to get back to classes next week. I just don't like all the rushing around in a morning trying to get the dog walked and get to them.

I was due at work for 5pm, so I spent the afternoon pottering and then took the dog out early before setting off for work. I actually don't mind working late, as the last hour is spent tidying up the store, which makes a change from being on the till. It just messes with your meal times, that's the worst thing, but I can handle that.

Anyway, Wednesday's shift was quiet, so I got to check out where things are in the store a little more and was given a different area to tidy when the store closed. I welcomed a quieter shift after Monday's shift.

On Thursday morning I was able to go to my volunteering on my bike. It always passes really quickly when I get there and I do quite enjoy it now I'm getting more familiar with what we need to do. It's a nice group of volunteers too.

When I left, I was riding home and saw a pigeon stuck in some netting on someone's balcony. I stopped to ring the RSPCA, but they are too busy to deal with such things and the bird was very distressed. Every time it flapped it's wings to try and free itself, a couple of other birds would come over to it, as if to give it support. 

I couldn't just leave it like that, so I worked out which flat in the block it was, from the front and went around the back and knocked on the door. Luckily, a young man answered and asked me in to help free it. I was a bit reticent at first, as I didn't know him, but he seemed okay, so I went in and managed to cut the bird free. It had got it's head and wings through a hole in the net that was only a couple of inches square, so cutting the net was the only option to free it. It looked completely exhausted.

Once freed, I held and stroked it for a while until it had calmed down and recovered a little. Eventually, it flapped itself out of my hands and scuttled off under some big wheelie bins. At least it would have some shelter there from predators until it recovered properly. Hopefully, it will be able to fly off once recovered from the shock. There wasn't really much more I could do. At least it was free and not exhausting itself to death in a vain attempt to free itself.

On Thursday afternoon my grey Irish linen fabric offcut arrived, that I ordered from eBay at the weekend. It was really good quality, the colour match was good, and there was more than enough of it for what I needed, so I was very happy with it. I proceeded to cut out and stitch together the paper pieces and fabric pieces ready to add to my cushion, which made for a relaxing way to spend the afternoon of my day off.

On Friday, I was back at work in the afternoon. I didn't do an awful lot before work, just the usual dog walk and posting off the odd parcel. Life has quickly settled into a new routine, which I enjoy.

On Saturday afternoon, I was back at work again. The traffic was very busy getting to work, due to bus and train strikes in London. Luckily, I had allowed sufficient time, so I wasn't late. It wasn't too busy at work either, for I suspect the same reason. I was glad to get home on Saturday night and chill and enjoy the rest of the weekend.