a day in my life.

Friday 13th September

Sometimes ordinary days are just that, very ordinary. Yesterday was like that. It rained, I got up, drove my husband to the station and son to work, came back, ate breakfast, drove to work, worked, drove home, read and knitted a bit, picked up husband and son, cooked dinner and then more knitting while watching Gardener's World. Thats it. Not many photographs because the light was poor.

The trees at the edge of the garden are beginning to look autumnal, the oaks are still green but the silver birch is beginning to turn.

From the garden, tiny apples, herbs for my packed lunch and mint for my tea.

No pictures of my lunch this month but one of this lettuce that looked almost too perfect to eat.

I am still knitting the Icelandic top-down cardigan, not much progress from last month as I had several attempts at dividing for the sleeves as the armholes came out very tight following the pattern. I think/hope I have it right now. I'm also adding some shaping to the body which wasn't in the pattern so I keep stopping and trying it on. Overall, I'm still pleased with it.

So that was my day, a very ordinary boring day. My "day in my life" post seem to have been particularly boring lately and I was going to stop doing them but perhaps in a few years time I might like to look back at how I spent my days. Alternatively, it might prompt me to do something a bit more exciting with my time!

a day in my life

a day in my life - Wednesday 14th.

I've been posting these posts on the 13th of the month but this week I completely forgot so this is a day late. My excuse is a lingering cold, a sore throat for a week with headaches and shivering thrown in from time to time. I am not good at taking things easy when I don't feel well, my instinct is to push through but this doesn't seem to be working so my day was one of rest and hopefully recuperation.

Up early (there is only so much rest I can take without being an inconvenience!) to take my husband to the station for 6:45 and my son to work for 7:00. Returning home I made breakfast but didn't feel like eating it so went back to bed for a couple of hours and ate it later.

After another rest I printed some of my photographs from our holiday in Iceland ready to show to friends in the evening.

Next, lunch

followed by a little knitting in the garden.

This is my current project, the top down Icelandic sweater from Craftsy. It is knitted in the round but will be a cardigan so I will be cutting the steek down the centre. This will be the second time I have cut a steek, the first in the Rams and Yowes blanket went well but there are fewer steek stitches in this pattern so I expect it will be just a stressful second time round!

In the afternoon I drove my younger son to bowling with some friends and then picked up eldest son from work. Early evening I drove again to meet my husband and some friends for a meal. By the time we had finished eating it was getting dark, a reminder of how quickly this summer seems to be passing.

By the time I had driven us home I was not feeling so well, so it was bedtime for me, hoping to feel better soon.

a day in my life

13th July and I am already passed the half-way point of my day in my life posts for this year. When I read back through previous posts a few years ago, it seems that I was always busy no matter what day of the week the "day in my life" fell. Giving lifts to the children, working on the allotment, cooking, there was always so much going on.

Life is less rushed now, the children grown and independent, though still often wanting lifts and the day passes at a slower pace.

Today was particularly slow because it has been so hot. The hottest day of the year so far. On a Saturday with nothing planned I was able to spend much of the day in the shade in the garden.

It was nice to relax and read the papers in the fresh air although it was very warm. I did two loads of washing and it all dried very quickly. I did manage to iron the cotton items before they were completely dry which makes it easier to iron out any creases.

We had lunch in the garden. Here is my half eaten salad as I remembered to take a photo. Slices of apple and plum together with raisons with a lemon tahini dressing served on a bed of watercress, rocket and spinach. In hot weather I like the mixture of fruit and green leaves.

Continuing on the theme of food, the redcurrants are beginning to turn red, there are loads at the moment but pigeons come into the garden frequently and seem to be very fond of redcurrants. I hope there are some left for me.

This little white flowered plant is stevia which is a natural sweetener. The leaves taste sweet, I have added a few to stewed apple as a sugar replacement. I remove them before I serve it. I haven't tried drying the leaves yet but after drying they can be ground to a dark grey powder which can be used to replace sugar. I wonder if I should remove the flowers to encourage more leaf growth?

The rest of my day was spent reading and relaxing. We had salmon and vegetables for dinner. I have spoken to my parents and youngest son on the phone. Now my husband and eldest son are watching a film and I am writing this post.

A very slow day indeed but sometimes that is just what I need.

a day in my life

Today was a work day and I didn't take any photographs so the only picture is the trees at the edge of the garden taken this evening.

We returned from a five day mini-holiday late yesterday evening (I have loads of photographs from that for another post) so today I wanted to catch up and get everything straight.

The alarm clock was set for six as usual and today I dropped my husband at the station and took eldest son to work. I had done some washing overnight and the weather forecast was good so I hung two loads of washing outside even though it was actually raining while I did this! My grocery delivery came as I finished breakfast so that had to be unpacked. I made nut milk from almonds I soaked overnight and then prepared my packed lunch and went to work.

After work I gave eldest son a lift home and we sat down for a cup of tea. I spent some time on my laptop catching up on a few blogs and then made dinner which was roasted vegetables and brown rice.

After dinner, a couple of phone calls with family and then I caught up with the ironing. It was the right decision to hang out the washing in the rain as the weather improved during the day and I got everything dry.

Its getting late now but I think there is still time to look at the wool shade card that arrived a few days ago and to choose the colours of the Lett-Lopi wool I will need to knit an Icelandic cardigan. A pleasant way to end a busy day.

a day in my life

13th May 2013

This year I am starting these posts with a photograph of the trees just outside our garden. For the first four months they looked much the same but now in May, spring has finally reached the UK and they are bright and green.

I like my garden in spring, the plants all mingle in together and there is so much fresh new growth.

Today has been a fairly normal uneventful day. I got up at six to drop my husband at the station and then eldest son at work. I was back home for seven to have coffee and breakfast.

Breakfast was a mixture of oats, chia seeds, cinnamon, ground flaxseed and blueberries soaked overnight in almond milk and topped with raw cacao nibs and walnuts.

I don't usually work Mondays but I have increased my work hours recently to cover for a colleagues illness so I was at work today. I don't have any photos of the rest of the day apart from my lunch. Rice with beans, pomegranate, avocado, chopped dates, herbs and tahini dressing with carrot and raison salad.

At home after work I had a cup of tea with eldest son, did some housework and cooked dinner. My husband was later home from work than usual so I have just picked him up from the station. Time for a little knitting then I will be tucked up in bed in about an hours time.

a day in my life

Yesterday was the 13th, the date I am posting my "day in my life" posts this year. I didn't take many photographs because it was dull and raining most of the day.

I took the photograph of the trees just outside our garden when I went out first thing to hang out the washing (a very bad idea since we were out all day and it rained for most of it - the whole lot was absolutely sodden when I returned). The trees look much the same as in the previous three months, I'm looking forward to seeing some green leaves soon.

I took these photographs of the garden which is looking quite pretty at the moment.

Then we were out all day taking younger son back to university. We stopped for coffee, did a supermarket shop and had lunch. During this time it poured with rain so we left him early and made our way home. This is a short term for him, a couple of weeks of lectures, then exams and before we know it he will be home for the summer holidays.

Back at home I spent some time spinning. I can't remember what tthis is, possibly bluefaced leicester. I have about 100g and I think it will become a scarf or cowl.

So that was my day, a short post and few photographs but in the future, it will remind me of the times when we packed up the car taking the boys to or from university at the beginning and end of each term.

A day in my life

Wednesday 13th February

Today is the third of my "day in my life" posts this year and once again it is a Wednesday which is a day I am at home.
First thing this morning I drove my husband to the station for the 6:45am train and then continued on to drop my eldest son at work for 7:00am. I came home for breakfast and coffee followed by some time reading blogs on the computer and catching up with some paperwork.

The bunch of flowers on my desk was a bargain from the supermarket, a leftover from Mother's Day I think, it was wrapped in lovely pink spotted paper and was reduced from £8:00 down to £1:09. I didn't get any flowers on Mother's Day and at that price I could justify treating myself.

Next I rushed around sorting out washing and cleaning the house to make time for a brief garden visit. This was the first day the gardens at West Green House were open this season. I only discovered this garden at the end of last summer but as it is only a short drive away and National Trust members get in free I think I will try to visit a few times over this year.

It has been cold lately and there wasn't much colour but I quite liked seeing the structure of the garden without all the foliage.

It was all pruned very neatly.

Clipped box always looks good whether it is immaculate hedges or a slightly quirky chicken.

There were some early daffodils with many more to come

but the real stars today were the hellebores.

I also spotted this unusual snowdrop with a yellow spot on each petal.

Back at home there was ironing, I picked up eldest son from work, more tidying and a little bit of knitting. No photograph of the knitting because it doesn't really look much different from the last post.

Dinner was beef cheese crumble with jacket potatoes and vegetables for the carnivores and black beans and millet with vegetables for me. I cooked a large batch of millet which will form the basis of my packed lunches for the rest of the week.

In the evening, phone calls with youngest son and with my parents and a bit more knitting.

A day in my life

Wednesday 13th February

Today has been cold and grey with the temperature staying around freezing all day. My fingers hurt with the cold as I hung the washing on the line this morning but its worth it to dry the laundry outside all year round.

Although it has been cold there are signs that winter is moving on, some fresh Aquiliga leaves

and buds and flowers on the coloured primroses. As soon as the flowers appear the pigeons peck at them leaving just the flowers stalks and a few scraps of petals which seems a shame, they are very pretty if they are left alone.

Wednesday is a home day for me and this week eldest son had a day off as well. Our plan was to go shopping and then visit the snowdrops but the weather was against us and we came home after shopping. Last year the snowdrops at Welford Place were spectacular, I am hoping for nice weather to go again this year.

We arrived home early afternoon and the washing was dry. I just finished bringing it into the house when it started snowing and raining at the same time.

There was a slight white covering in the garden but I am pleased to say it didn't stay long.

During the rest of the afternoon I did housework, ironing and made the dinner.

I made a large bowl of vegetable chilli with onions, carrots, courgette, mushrooms, garlic, chilli, red lentils, kidney beans, vegetable stock and passata. We're not as greedy as this looks, this is for two days. Today we had chilli with brown basmati rice, salad and tortilla chips. Tomorrow the remaining chilli will be a filling for jacket potatoes, a nice easy meal when I come home from work.

This evening I have been knitting and chatting on the telephone with my parents and with youngest son. All is well. Now all I need to do is pack my lunch for work  tomorrow and enjoy a nice bath.

Goodnight.

A day in my life

A while back I wrote "A Day in my Life" posts on the same day each month, building up a snapshot of daily life. Between April 2008 and January 2010, I wrote twenty two posts and then I stopped, I'm not sure why.

Back in april 2008 I had two children at school and my days revolved around them and their activities. Now almost five years later, my eldest has been away to University and is now back at home while the youngest is now in his second year away at University. Life has changed and so I thought that I would restart my "Day in my Life" posts to record this new stage in my life.

Since this is 2013, I have decided to record the 13th of each month.

Sunday 13th January

Today started fairly early for a Sunday. The alarm was set for 6:25am so that I was up in time to drive eldest son to work. One thing that hasn't changed in five years is that I am needed for driving duty.

This morning my husband and I decided to go into town. We walked beside the river to the centre.

Although we haven't had too much heavy rain in the last few days, the river level is still high and it is flowing very fast. You might just be able to see in the photograph below that the water is flowing over the lock gates.

We had coffee near the river watching the world go by and then came back home.

Salad for lunch.

It was bright and sunny here this afternoon, a nice change from the recent gloomy grey weather so we headed out for a walk. 

In the shade on the higher ground there was still some ice, not sure if was a heavy frost or a light fall of snow. The temperature was around freezing and in the wind it was cold.

The frost lingered in any shaded place like this sheeps' wool caught on the shady side of the fence.

It was a bracing walk but great to be out in the fresh air.

After this I forgot to take any more pictures, I am obviously out of practice with these posts.

We followed our walk with a visit to a tea shop and then came back in time to pick eldest son from work. Dinner was roasted vegetables for all of us and sausages for the two male meat eaters.

Now I am upstairs with my laptop while downstairs there is a Bond movie being watched. We have all the Bond Films and my husband and son are watching them in date order. They watch one every couple of weeks, this week it is Live and Let Die.

So that was my Sunday 13th January. I hope I remember to post next month - please remind me if I forget!

A day in my life

Writing my "day in my life posts" on the 14th of each month makes me realise how quickly the time passes. On the 14th of December I was looking forward to my son coming home from university, getting ready for Christmas and we didn't have any snow. Now a month later, Christmas has come and gone, my son is back at University and we have had more snow than we have seen in years.


Tho photograph taken this morning, shows the path I have cleared down to the chicken coop. The hens still don't like the snow and will only walk on the cleared path.  When we had fresh snow recently they stayed inside the run looking out of the door and waiting for me to clear the snow away before they would consider venturing out.


I let them out this morning at eight o'clock before I went to work. Due to the snow this was my first day back after the Christmas break and I admit that I have got quite used to being at home. luckily I only work part time and I was back home again at 3:30pm. 


Now that the snow is beginning to thaw the roads are dreadful. It wasn't easy this morning driving up our road to get to work but this afternoon it was much worse and my wheels were spinning in the slippery melted snow and slush. I had already cleared the snow from our drive but when I got home I spent and hour or so clearing some of the compacted snow from the road as well. Our road is a cul-de-sac and so there is not much vehicle movement to clear the road. Also at this time of year it is in complete shade all day so even if we get sun, the snow and ice last for a long time. I don't suppose its made much difference but I hope I don't slip and slide so much tomorrow. As I have said before the snow is lovely for a few days but now I just want it to melt - I don't know how I'd cope if I lived somewhere where there was snow for many months in winter, but perhaps then there are systems in place to deal with it.


Just two of us for dinner tonight, me and youngest son and then this evening a skype call to eldest son for an hour. Its lovely that the three of us can talk together and its free, definitely a good use of technology.


After the call, I did some knitting and finished one sleeve of my jumper.

Last month it looked like this,

so I have made some progress even though it seems very slow to me. 


So that was my day, work, snow clearing, dinner, chat, knitting and now blogging, just an ordinary day in my life.