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What was your fasting blood glucose? (full on chat)

lindisfel said:
The last autobiography I read was Bonnington's. I thought what a selfish guy he was and what a wonderful first wife he had, who died of a horrid illness.
Bonnington's life was charmed, it seemed he couldn't die on a mountain.
D
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We had a mutual friend who was a friend of his wife who was at the same concert and we met in passing.

Helen was in the sixth form and played Annies Song on her violin for the school. She was grade 8 and played in Cumbria Youth Orchestra and the results she got were special after doing her own arrangement and playing it for years. I would like her to play it at my funeral.
She was one of these kids and won the school prize for French irregular verbs and I made her take Maths, Physics and Chemistry at A level.

I saw her skills put into action thirty + years ago when she was home and Marjorie got a piece of hard pork chop stuck in her wind pipe, went blue in the process and Helen eventually did the Heimlich manoevre or she would have died had it been me.

One of the reasons I believe God is good.
 
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Annb said:
Our house is usually quiet enough to be a library. We have bookshelves lining the walls of our sitting room, but I have thinned the books out considerably. I did sell a whole set of Patrick O'Brien hardbacks that I bought for Tom, some never even out of their protective covers. He liked them because, being a Master Mariner himself, he could tell that O'Brien knew about the sea, whereas many other authors who wrote about the sea, to him, clearly didn't. I still have the complete set in paper back. Those were the ones he read and those I've kept. I also thinned out his collection of nautical books, but not the ones he used for navigation. Some of his collection he asked me to give to a retired Bos'un he had sailed with, when he was gone. Kept a small number which, who knows, I might read one day? Got rid of some of mine as well - the ones I knew I wouldn't read again. There still must be 900+ on the shelves.

Neil has another 1000+ in his part of the house but doesn't really believe in getting rid of books. His are mostly bought from 2nd hand bookshops and some are quite venerable.

A few of mine are, as well. A few go back to my childhood and have stayed with me all these years. Will I ever read a 1950's edition of Hans Anderson's Fairy Tales? Probably not, but it stays. An even older copy of Robinson Crusoe? Prize for my dad aged about 13 (1928), very shabby because I didn't really respect books when I was very small but it is based on the story of Alexander Selkirk - who shares an ancestor with Neil and Alistair. Another "Astray in the Forest" - about the same vintage and also a school prize for my dad, in pretty reasonable condition - one of my favourite reads as a child. How about Black Beauty? I refused to read it first time around because it gave a human voice to a horse. Never could do with that. Some venerable religious texts as well and one book I love which was published by some petrol company and showed maps of roads in the early 1900's. There are actually quite a few books kept for their literary value, which I may read again sometime.

Then there are the mini libraries in the bedrooms, and the hundred or so catering/cookery books in the kitchen. We are awash with books, as we are with many of the other things I keep for their sentimental value. .:banghead:

Odd thing is, I didn't want to hang one to my Uni notes or books that I needed for my degree, or my Masters. Got rid of them very rapidly. The only remains of those few years are 2 graduation photos and (somewhere) a couple of certificates. Who needs them now?
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Books are good insulation but if you have too many of them in the same place they can be mischievous, cause trouble and take you to dangerous places. I have a hand written illustrated book that I made in the late ‘60s called Valve Theory and Semiconductors. All apprentices had to make their own from teaching notes. From uni, just one book saved; Vision: A Computational Investigation Into the Human Representation and Processing of Visual Information by David Marr. Probably way out of date.
 
Good morning everyone on an already busy start to the day here in the dark and dangerous north. The Ninky Nonks and Little Miss Pamplemouse were up and about at 6am and have already breakfasted. They arrived yesterday afternoon and contributed to today’s recycling bin collection with all manor of packaging from the stash of gifts left by Santa. Currently two of them are sat round the dining table with a jigsaw puzzle and the third is playing with a tea set and busily handing out cups of tea with instructions to wait until the contents cool down. Of course, all other grown ups in the house are still in the land of nod. Art bit, a bit more added. I can’t get to paints until visitors have left. Just remembered, I have to put the bin out so hope your day is good to you. I will venture outside but will not be some time as koffy calls.

1703748421303.jpeg
 
Fbg 6.7

Weather is hellish out there. Windy & rainy - far too much so to be able to put out the wheelie and my recycle bags out last night so I was up early this morning to put them out...recycle is usually collected before 7 am...

Back in my nice warm bed.


Wildlife nighttime video...oh dear oh dear oh dear...

Badger manages to make a big mess of the swing...the eyes watching him at the beginning are Jade's eyes...but half way through Badger stops tugging at the cushion, & goes to the end of the swing & the eyes looking over the swing are the badger's (reassessing the cushions?) & then he returns & gives an almighty yank to the cushion & pulls it right off despite it being tied with rope to the swing...he has either chewed through or broken that stout rope...
Many many clips that night, reduced to 2min19secs
Some of the clips have nothing on apart from a rocking swing, and then I know the badger unseen to me is chewing through the ropes at the back of the swing or under the swing before his frontal onslaught of that swing. That badger definitely thinks out his problems....

I have had a few YouTubers contact me and say they don't want me to stop the badgers getting on the swing because I have created apparently, a Badger hotspot with the cushions. I have a theory about men and their feather cushions/pillows (clue, an ex-boyfriend had over 200 feather pillows and cushions in his attic besides the myriad elsewhere, and when I left him I took some of my favourite antique designs), and that now that cushion obsession includes the species of male badgers. National parks (U.S.), apparently set out to create these hotspots where you can view badgers, but I unintentionally created a hotspot with cushions. And these YouTubers want the cushions to remain, and not for me to prevent the badgers any further, because it is a highlight of their day because they are rooting for that badger ...

What lives we lead...

So #Repellabadger project will have to be put on hold (for the moment, but I have a couple of sneaky ideas...)



Creative...a digital painting, painted with my swirling fingers...

I need a nap before I start the day again.

A cuppa tea now.

Have your best kind of day...

IMG_5079.jpeg
 
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dunelm said:
Good morning everyone on an already busy start to the day here in the dark and dangerous north. The Ninky Nonks and Little Miss Pamplemouse were up and about at 6am and have already breakfasted. They arrived yesterday afternoon and contributed to today’s recycling bin collection with all manor of packaging from the stash of gifts left by Santa. Currently two of them are sat round the dining table with a jigsaw puzzle and the third is playing with a tea set and busily handing out cups of tea with instructions to wait until the contents cool down. Of course, all other grown ups in the house are still in the land of nod. Art bit, a bit more added. I can’t get to paints until visitors have left. Just remembered, I have to put the bin out so hope your day is good to you. I will venture outside but will not be some time as koffy calls.

View attachment 65191
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Intriguing....
It looks almost like a moongate....
Enjoy that coffee @dunelm
 
gennepher said:
Fbg 6.7

Windy & rainy - far too much so to be able to put out the wheelie and my recycle bags out last night so I was up early this morning to put them out...recycle is usually collected before 7 am...

Back in my nice warm bed.


Wildlife nighttime video...oh dear oh dear oh dear...

Badger manages to make a big mess of the swing...the eyes watching him at the beginning are Jade's eyes...but half way through Badger stops tugging at the cushion, & goes to the end of the swing & the eyes looking over the swing are the badger's (reassessing the cushions?) & then he returns & gives an almighty yank to the cushion & pulls it right off despite it being tied with rope to the swing...he has either chewed through or broken that stout rope...
Many many clips that night, reduced to 2min19secs
Some of the clips have nothing on apart from a rocking swing, and then I know the badger unseen to me is chewing through the ropes at the back of the swing or under the swing before his frontal onslaught of that swing. That badger definitely thinks out his problems....

I have had a few YouTubers contact me and say they don't want me to stop the badgers getting on the swing because I have created apparently, a Badger hotspot with the cushions. I have a theory about men and their feather cushions/pillows (clue, an ex-boyfriend had over 200 feather pillows and cushions in his attic besides the myriad elsewhere, and when I left him I took some of my favourite antique designs), and that now that cushion obsession includes the species of male badgers. National parks (U.S.), apparently set out to create these hotspots where you can view badgers, but I unintentionally created a hotspot with cushions. And these YouTubers want the cushions to remain, and not for me to prevent the badgers any further, because it is a highlight of their day because they are rooting for that badger ...

What lives we lead...

So #Repellabadger project will have to be put on hold (for the moment, but I have a couple of sneaky ideas...)



Creative...a digital painting, painted with my swirling fingers...

I need a nap before I start the day again.

A cuppa tea now.

Have your best kind of day...

View attachment 65192
Click to expand...
I love the flow of this art and the blue-grey. It reminds me of a trip along the Appalachian trail before dropping down into Asheville to visit relatives.
 
Krystyna23040 said:
We picked up Archie's ashes and paw print from the vet today. He is in a lovely wooden cask. A sad day but good to have him back home.
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When mother died of a heart attack it was Marjorie and I did vigil night and day for over 48 hours. I had some special leave.
It was expected I arrange the funeral. I wanted her buried with my dad, who died in 1946.
No way said my sister who was fanatically opposed to anything related to church.

After my radio therapy 20 years ago I did not know whether I would live or die, I visited the family graves after we first had seen Marjorie's mum, then on to Hykeham to Joan's house and the feeling of malice could be felt by both of us as we arrived.
There was nothing we could say, we had a very difficult time, we were going to book into a hotel and she threatened me.

When we got home she rang me and cut me off, changed her will, was cying all the time and sent me the reciept for my dads grave in 1946.

With her crying my b.i.l. joined in, perhaps thinking I was saying things, I said nothing.

She cut off her neices as well and maintained how much she loved them up to then.

Apart from how cheap the digging and cost, he was put in a double grave ready to recieve my mother, when she died.

So when people speak of cremation or burial, I think of mother being turned into dust and my sister demented continually asking where was her mother and (driving her impatient husband to anger) wanting to see her.

Well if she had been buried with our dad she could have been taken to the grave and reminded.
D.
 
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lindisfel said:
When mother died of a heart attack it was Marjorie and I did vigil night and day for over 48 hours. I had some special leave.
It was expected I arrange the funeral. I wanted her buried with my dad, who died in 1946.
No way said my sister who was fanatically opposed to anything related to church.
After my radio therapy 20 years ago I did not know whether I would live or die, I visited the family graves after we first had seen Marjories mum, then on to Hykham to Joans house and the feeling of malice could be felt by both of us as we arrived. There was nothing we could say we had a very difficult time, we were going to book into hotel and she threatened me.

When we got home she rang me and cut me off, changed her will, was cying all the time and sent me the reciept for my dads grave in 1946.
With her crying my b.i.l. joined in p, thinking I was say things, I said nothing. She cut off her neices as well.
Apart from how cheap the digging and cost was he was put in a double grave ready to recieve my mother when she died.

So when people speak of cremation or burial I think of mother being turned into dust and my siser demented continually asking where was her mother and (driving her impatient husband to anger) wanting to see her.

Well if she had been buried with our dad she could have been taken to the grave and reminded.
D.
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Such sad and painful times that you and I suspect a great many people carrry. I know that I do, different but all the same. I hope that you have more joy in your life than sadness. Take care.
 
Fbg this morning 7.0

Son arrived from Oxford yesterday trip took a lot longer due to delays on the railway also the train from Birmingham only had two carriages and all the passengers who had missed out on cancelled trains squeezed in so he ended up having to stand all the way.

We were having a conversation about badgers last night and he said over in Ireland when he was there a lot of the folk had problems with them finding them very destructive one of the things they do is to stick a stick in the ground with an upturned bottle on it the wind makes the bottle rattle and make noise badgers being a bit nervous don’t like the noise and tend to shy away from it.
Another thing he was told is that a lot of them tend to walk around where they know there are badgers with sticks stuck down their trousers as when a badger bites they don’t stop till they hear the crunch of broken bone when the stick breaks from their bite they hear that and stop biting.
Though it’s rare for them to attack a human if they feel cornered they will go for you.
 
Morning all from a breezy LA which means the garden vac is needed for the front doorstep after having a long vac. Holy innocents day - thankfully we are more woke or just plain aware these days for the whipping tradition. @dunelm enjoy Christmas Day part 2 which by coincidence is happening here. Santa's deliveries were split between Manchester and 3 homes in this and an adjoining Parish - too much sherry en route. Thanks for sharing the art. Bin days are only delayed a day this year here. @gennepher shame the badgers are so determined but I guess the followers will be pleased - any mess or damage isn't their's to clear up or mend though. Thanks for the wonderful art - very calming. I'd say evocative if I knew what it meant. @lindisfel double hug - for your favourite tea being hard to source and the awful tale of your mother's funeral arrangements. I've kept lots of Uni books, oddly after 50 years they seem to be the new magical/radical thinking. Food and fashion also seem to be on the same journey. I guess that is what taking back control was really all about. Enjoy your day.
 
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dunelm said:
Good morning everyone on an already busy start to the day here in the dark and dangerous north. The Ninky Nonks and Little Miss Pamplemouse were up and about at 6am and have already breakfasted. They arrived yesterday afternoon and contributed to today’s recycling bin collection with all manor of packaging from the stash of gifts left by Santa. Currently two of them are sat round the dining table with a jigsaw puzzle and the third is playing with a tea set and busily handing out cups of tea with instructions to wait until the contents cool down. Of course, all other grown ups in the house are still in the land of nod. Art bit, a bit more added. I can’t get to paints until visitors have left. Just remembered, I have to put the bin out so hope your day is good to you. I will venture outside but will not be some time as koffy calls.

View attachment 65191
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The image is getting even more intriguing. I don't know where you get the patience to make such intricate strokes never mind the skill. Wish I had some of both.
 
gennepher said:
Fbg 6.7

Weather is hellish out there. Windy & rainy - far too much so to be able to put out the wheelie and my recycle bags out last night so I was up early this morning to put them out...recycle is usually collected before 7 am...

Back in my nice warm bed.


Wildlife nighttime video...oh dear oh dear oh dear...

Badger manages to make a big mess of the swing...the eyes watching him at the beginning are Jade's eyes...but half way through Badger stops tugging at the cushion, & goes to the end of the swing & the eyes looking over the swing are the badger's (reassessing the cushions?) & then he returns & gives an almighty yank to the cushion & pulls it right off despite it being tied with rope to the swing...he has either chewed through or broken that stout rope...
Many many clips that night, reduced to 2min19secs
Some of the clips have nothing on apart from a rocking swing, and then I know the badger unseen to me is chewing through the ropes at the back of the swing or under the swing before his frontal onslaught of that swing. That badger definitely thinks out his problems....

I have had a few YouTubers contact me and say they don't want me to stop the badgers getting on the swing because I have created apparently, a Badger hotspot with the cushions. I have a theory about men and their feather cushions/pillows (clue, an ex-boyfriend had over 200 feather pillows and cushions in his attic besides the myriad elsewhere, and when I left him I took some of my favourite antique designs), and that now that cushion obsession includes the species of male badgers. National parks (U.S.), apparently set out to create these hotspots where you can view badgers, but I unintentionally created a hotspot with cushions. And these YouTubers want the cushions to remain, and not for me to prevent the badgers any further, because it is a highlight of their day because they are rooting for that badger ...

What lives we lead...

So #Repellabadger project will have to be put on hold (for the moment, but I have a couple of sneaky ideas...)



Creative...a digital painting, painted with my swirling fingers...

I need a nap before I start the day again.

A cuppa tea now.

Have your best kind of day...

View attachment 65192
Click to expand...
Lovely creative as usual Gennepher. Reminiscent of mornings here sometimes, although our hills are less pronounced but the mist lays in the lower areas.
 
8.9 at 0630 today. I'll take that as a proper FBG. Surprised to have slept so long without feeling even stiffer than usual. Maybe one meal a day suits me. Not that that has stopped me having a whoelmeqal bread and cheese sandwich for breakfast. Thought I was short of time to go for my leg bandaging trip to town. I got that wrong because I still have 20 minutes in hand.

Good new is that I've lost 0.8 of a kilo this week. Now exactly 104 kg. Can't see where I have lost the weight, but my clothes are a bit less tight.
 
JohnEGreen said:
Fbg this morning 7.0

Son arrived from Oxford yesterday trip took a lot longer due to delays on the railway also the train from Birmingham only had two carriages and all the passengers who had missed out on cancelled trains squeezed in so he ended up having to stand all the way.

We were having a conversation about badgers last night and he said over in Ireland when he was there a lot of the folk had problems with them finding them very destructive one of the things they do is to stick a stick in the ground with an upturned bottle on it the wind makes the bottle rattle and make noise badgers being a bit nervous don’t like the noise and tend to shy away from it.
Another thing he was told is that a lot of them tend to walk around where they know there are badgers with sticks stuck down their trousers as when a badger bites they don’t stop till they hear the crunch of broken bone when the stick breaks from their bite they hear that and stop biting.
Though it’s rare for them to attack a human if they feel cornered they will go for you.
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Interesting information on a bottle on a stick...
I have some bottles...
I have sticks...

I always keep out of their way, no matter how cute they look....
 
ianpspurs said:
Morning all from a breezy LA which means the garden vac is needed for the front doorstep after having a long vac. Holy innocents day - thankfully we are more woke or just plain aware these days for the whipping tradition. @dunelm enjoy Christmas Day part 2 which by coincidence is happening here. Santa's deliveries were split between Manchester and 3 homes in this and an adjoining Parish - too much sherry en route. Thanks for sharing the art. Bin days are only delayed a day this year here. @gennepher shame the badgers are so determined but I guess the followers will be pleased - any mess or damage isn't their's to clear up or mend though. Thanks for the wonderful art - very calming. I'd say evocative if I knew what it meant. @lindisfel double hug - for your favourite tea being hard to source and the awful tale of your mother's funeral arrangements. I've kept lots of Uni books, oddly after 50 years they seem to be the new magical/radical thinking. Food and fashion also seem to be on the same journey. I guess that is what taking back control was really all about. Enjoy your day.
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Oh the followers will be pleased...

And yes the time and expense, mess and damage is all mine to clear up and replace...

@JohnEGreen made some observations in his post a moment ago...
Sticks with a rattling bottle on top...
I was thinking one by the way they come in through the front garden...and one in the back garden.
Worth a try...

I do not mind the fox however, although people want to watch our 'cute' European badgers...

Thanks for the art compliment.
 
Annb said:
Our house is usually quiet enough to be a library. We have bookshelves lining the walls of our sitting room, but I have thinned the books out considerably. I did sell a whole set of Patrick O'Brien hardbacks that I bought for Tom, some never even out of their protective covers. He liked them because, being a Master Mariner himself, he could tell that O'Brien knew about the sea, whereas many other authors who wrote about the sea, to him, clearly didn't. I still have the complete set in paper back. Those were the ones he read and those I've kept. I also thinned out his collection of nautical books, but not the ones he used for navigation. Some of his collection he asked me to give to a retired Bos'un he had sailed with, when he was gone. Kept a small number which, who knows, I might read one day? Got rid of some of mine as well - the ones I knew I wouldn't read again. There still must be 900+ on the shelves.

Neil has another 1000+ in his part of the house but doesn't really believe in getting rid of books. His are mostly bought from 2nd hand bookshops and some are quite venerable.

A few of mine are, as well. A few go back to my childhood and have stayed with me all these years. Will I ever read a 1950's edition of Hans Anderson's Fairy Tales? Probably not, but it stays. An even older copy of Robinson Crusoe? Prize for my dad aged about 13 (1928), very shabby because I didn't really respect books when I was very small but it is based on the story of Alexander Selkirk - who shares an ancestor with Neil and Alistair. Another "Astray in the Forest" - about the same vintage and also a school prize for my dad, in pretty reasonable condition - one of my favourite reads as a child. How about Black Beauty? I refused to read it first time around because it gave a human voice to a horse. Never could do with that. Some venerable religious texts as well and one book I love which was published by some petrol company and showed maps of roads in the early 1900's. There are actually quite a few books kept for their literary value, which I may read again sometime.

Then there are the mini libraries in the bedrooms, and the hundred or so catering/cookery books in the kitchen. We are awash with books, as we are with many of the other things I keep for their sentimental value. .:banghead:

Odd thing is, I didn't want to hang one to my Uni notes or books that I needed for my degree, or my Masters. Got rid of them very rapidly. The only remains of those few years are 2 graduation photos and (somewhere) a couple of certificates. Who needs them now?
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I thought we had lots of books but you have definitely got a huge amount more @Annb
 
5.5 this morning.

Just got back from Nottcutts Garden Centre in Norwich. Class members from one of my classes gave me a gift voucher for Christmas and we have bought a lovely artificial tree for our conservatory to go with the one they bought me last year.

We have real plants in our conservatory but these look real and stay nice all year round with no effort from us.

Poppy came along and really enjoyed the trip.
 
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