This and That.

 It's been a busy old week.  With the rendering well and truly finished I've now taken to getting the garden ready for winter hibernation.  I tidied all the dead tomato plants from the greenhouse and picked the very last of the chillies before discarding the plant.  I planted some winter lettuce in the greenhouse but I don't hold out much hope for it to be honest.  I'm notorious for forgetting about the greenhouse in winter so the chances of me remembering to go out in bad weather to water it are fairly remote!  However, I have good intentions.  While I was tidying the greenhouse I saw something large move in my peripheral vision and turned to find a large frog looking back at me!  I was going to lift him and put him out but he ran off under my little shelves before I could do anything so I've now had to leave the door open a bit in case he wants out.  I suspect he's been in there a while feasting on the many slugs I came across.  I hope he finds his way out, I really don't want to find a frog skeleton in there next spring!  I've cut down lots of dead or dying folliage and rescued the last of my leeks.  Most of my leeks sprouted and went to seed this year however I came across three small ones that hadn't so they are now in my chicken soup.  I planted some garlic for next year and I've still the cooking apples to pick.  When I cut the grass this week I was expecting to find a few fallen apples but none have fallen yet and I feel it's quite late for them.  I've not got an inch of space for any in the freezer though so I might have to resort to putting them in jars once cooked.  There is a part of me wishes the tree would produce apples every second year rather than yearly!  We can't eat enough apples.  It was fine when the children all lived at home, we ate loads of apples and I made lots of apple crumbles but now there is just the two of us, its getting harder to use all the apples.

I also got to see a doctor face to face this week!  Not that I was thrilled to be there but a huge egg sized lump had appeared very suddenly just below my knee on Thursday night.  It wasn't painful but it felt quite solid and I must admit it gave me a bit of a fright.  Anyway the doctor told me I have Clergymans Knee! Bursitis is the official name for it and it's probably been caused by all the kneeling I did when I was doing the rendering!  I suspect it was partly to do with kneeling on a sharp stone right at the beginning of it then continueing to kneel several days after that.  On the day the lump appeared, I had been kneeling in our spare room tidying out a cupboard and I guess it was that straw that broke my knees back!  I've been told not to kneel (have you any idea how many things require you to kneel once you're told not to?!) to put ice on it and if it gets red or sore call the doctor but meantime, leave it alone and it will go away on its own.  I'm only glad I don't wear mini skirts of tight jeans as it really does look like I've got an egg in my leg!  

I've read a couple of christmas books.  One More For Christmas by Sarah Morgan and Christmas at Claridges by Karen Swan.  I enjoyed both even though they are very predictable.  I've also watched a Christmas movie which I also enjoyed.  Last Christmas with Emilia Clark in it.  I do like her, she has the most expressive eyebrows in the world I think!  

My mum had her Covid booster and flu jag and was absolutely fine after them and I downloaded the app that has my Covid passport on it so I know to the day when I had my jags!  We're not likely to go anywhere to need the passport but it's one less thing to worry about if we unexpectedly go somewhere I suppose.  We are going to a James Taylor concert in January and we may need it for that so I'm really just being ultra organised!

My son has posted some video on Facebook of him and his friends enjoying there freedom after months of lockdown.  They had a weekend on their boat and it looked wonderful and made me miss being with him enormously.   Fingers crossed for next year.

And that's that for now.  Life is plodding along, nothing very exciting happening - just the way I like it!