Happy Monday all. Another week down, plenty achieved and feeling good.
The experiment I was doing at work has been a success. I've almost entirely caught up with everything I was behind on and I'm finding a lot of peace in my day now I've cut off the timewasters. Each morning at 8am I'm at my desk and instead of firefighting and fixing other people's issues I'm reading a personal development book or working on one of my assignments for my leadership diploma. A month ago I could not have predicted I would be doing that or feeling so positive about my work future.
It's good to have boundaries.
-oOo-
Friday was crop harvesting day in the fields around the property. Good job the weather wasn't stifling because we had to shut all the windows due to the dust and influx of thunderflies coming off the crop. The farmer had grown linseed this year for the first time since we've been here and for about a month we had the most amazing field of blue flowers. But then it turned to yellow and the farmer came along and sprayed it off so for at least a month we've been looking at dark-brown dead stuff.
As only the linseed at the top of the plant was wanted there was a lot of chaff left over, which he piled up and set fire to, leaving big patches of scorched earth. That was a first. Normally he plows the chaff back in to function as an organic soil conditioner but there must be something amiss with the chaff from linseed. Or perhaps it was the herbicide they used?
-oOo-
On Saturday morning I did something I had been thinking about doing since 2003 - I went clay pigeon shooting. In 2003 I went on one of those corporate shooting events and while I missed just about every shot, there was a particular position that I scored 9/10. It was quite flat and the clays came straight across from the left. I've always wondered why and resolved to go back and chat to an instructor to find out. It's taken me 18 years.
Anyway, I rocked up at the shooting range first thing Saturday so I could squeeze it in before the Sainsbury's shop. I had a great instructor and managed to hit 14/25, which both he and I were very pleased with for, effectively, a first attempt. And his opinion about why I managed to hit 9/10 before? I am left-eye dominant so I was quicker to track the clays coming from the left, and being flat and low I didn't have to move the gun much, just mostly hold still and judge when to pull the trigger.
I'm going back next week for second lesson. My bonus is due at the end of July so for once I'm going to spend a little on myself, take some lessons and see if any aptitude I have could turn into a new hobby. I have to say, I found it surprisingly relaxing. I mooched around the supermarket in a very laid-back manner and when I got in had a nap. If it's going to be that good a stress reliever I'll be up there every Saturday morning to shake off the working week.
-oOo-
Sunday morning I was up with the lark and doing battle with the nettles in the paddock. Absolute beasts around 7ft high now. We have a petrol brush cutter but my shoulder is annoying me at the moment and I haven't got the strength to pull the cord to start it up. Instead I had to resort to an electric strimmer that my father gave to us months ago because he couldn't get it to work properly. Then Martin tried and he couldn't get it to work well either so back into the tool barn it went. Enter me who actually read the instructions and fixed it. I find strimmers don't work well if you put the line spool on incorrectly and haven't noticed that grass has wound around the main shaft and is throttling the life out of the motor. Once the line and spool were mounted correctly, and the years of fibrous material prized out it worked quite well. Shhhh...don't tell Martin.
Then Sunday afternoon was spent cleaning the kitchen. The warm weather has given us such problems with flies this year that we have pulled out all the stops - no food left out (not even under cover), no washing up in the bowl, fly papers, fly killing clings for the windows and the usual fly traps outside on the patio. Still, I opened the food waste bin at lunchtime to find maggots around the lid. They'd got in. So everything was cleaned and sanitised around the cooker and sink within an inch of its life. Then I thought as I have the cleaning bug I might as well do the log burner side of the kitchen. It's not often I give that side a good clean. I pulled everything out or down off the shelves, got out the soapy wood wash and gave it all a thorough scrub from top to bottom, including the doors, drawers fronts and floor. Afterwards, there was a distinct echo in the room. Does dust absorb noise because the room sounded empty afterwards? Embarrassing to admit, as it might give you some idea of the scale of dust on those shelves but there you go. One day both sides of the fireplace will be boxed in with cupboards to prevent the build up of dust and grime.
I've also made a couple of changes to try and improve things. I'm getting rid of the door blinds that you can see in the picture. They are difficult to clean and the plastic beading at the bottom is broken. I'm going to find some gingham curtain material and make up a set of curtains. Not sure what colour yet, possibly grey, blue or light green if I can find some at a good price. That way I can wash them periodically.
I've also decided to get rid of the plastic drip tray and cutlery container. I bought black to match in with the microwave and tea/coffee/sugar containers but it has been a pain from day one. Because we have such hard water, every week I have to spray vinegar and bicarb on it and scrub it down (the bottom picture is after the cleaning). Then I have to do the same to the taps and sink, which are coated in it. It was so bad on the draining board this week I used the caustic mix I usually use for descaling the kettle.
-oOo-
I finished a good book this week called Unnatural Causes by Dr Richard Shepherd, a forensic pathologist who has spent 40 years trying to uncover the truth of how people met their end. He talks about some very high profile cases he was involved with and how pathology has changed over the years, for the better in some aspects, for the worst in others. His speciality was knife wounds, and I must confess I did laugh at his descriptions of his wife and children complaining that he had been messing with the Sunday joint again. Yes, he used whatever joint was in the fridge to evaluate the signature profiles of different knives for his studies. Often the result was not slices of roast beef on the plate but lumps. 😆
I also finished this puzzle, which I've been working on for months, not because it was very hard but because I don't tend to be downstairs any more in the evenings. As I've stopped indiscriminately watching TV the marathon puzzle sessions have stopped. Most evenings we watch Life Below Zero, which starts on one of the Freeview channels at 7pm and so coincides with dinner, but after that I'm off. I make an exception of Friday or Saturday so Martin and I can kick back together and watch a couple of films, and that's when I do my puzzles now. I probably don't get more than 50-75 pieces placed on these evenings. That would have annoyed me in the past but it doesn't any longer.
I'm enjoying the journey, not just the destination 😁
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