My March in Numbers

Joining in with Julie's idea of sharing the contents of the last month, I have to tell you that I ended the month much older than I started it.  A whole year.  That's what happens when you have a birthday in the middle of the month.  You can't possibly expect me to share the actual number though, can you?  Just because the meme is called My Month in Numbers?  OK, if I must share, it was 58.

 

It was actually a month of eating and drinking - a lot.  What with Mother's Day, Birthday and Easter I think it's fair to say that I may have eaten my own bodyweight in chocolate in the last month.  Plus I may have been in danger of over indulging in my favourite foods (if you're planning a dinner party and you are thinking of inviting me, a good menu would be a main course of anything involving lamb and a nice lemon dessert). 

 

We have a tradition at work where every half term, the people who have had a birthday in those 3 weeks all get together and bake cakes for everyone else in the office.  It kind of takes the pressure off having to individually cater for about 16 people - plus all those teachers who just 'happen to be passing through the office' as soon as a cake tin opens.  So the early Marchers chose a date  and I spent part of my day off on the day before cooking a lemon drizzle cake and some double chocolate chip cookies.  I took them into work the next day, only to realise that I'd got the date wrong and had baked a week early.  Surprisingly, the ladies in the office selflessly offered to eat what I'd taken in, just so I didn't have to bother taking it home again, you understand, they're so kind!

 

 

It was the month we bought a Aeroccino milk frother to go with our Nespresso coffee maker.  We ummed and aahed a lot before buying this.  Was it a bit of an extravagance?  Would we use it much?  What difference would it make to heating up a bit of milk in the microwave?  And the answers are Possibly.  Yes. and Lots.  Let's just say if my school secretary gig comes to an end I reckon that I could update my CV to include Barista and apply to join the local coffee shop.  This little piece of kit is amazing.  It heats the milk to the perfect temperature and froths it like any self respecting Italian coffee expert would do.  My cappuccinos are the talk of the town now.  Well, the talk of inside our house is probably more accurate.  If you like cappuccinos and you don't like giving your hard earned money to overpriced coffee shops - this piece of kitchen gorgeousness is well worth considering.  In fact, if you need convincing, next time you're in my area, pop in and try it for yourself!

 

Liberating Art

 

I signed up to join in the Liberate Your Art project, where you print off some postcards of your art and send 5 to Kat of Kats Eye Studio along with some stamps.  She then sends yours to 5 people elsewhere in the world and you, in turn, receive 5 back from other people taking part in the swap.  I've received four postcards, and now wish that I could ask for mine back so that I could tweak them and improve on them to get them up to the standard of those I've been sent!  There's such a variety of 'art' being shared, from photos to pictures of mixed media projects.  One of those I've received is a photo of the sender in her band, saying that her 'art' is music.  A clever twist!  I love joining in with anything like this, and think that I'm starting to show my age, because there really is something special in receiving something in the post that isn't a catalogue, a bank statement or junk mail.  (Since reaching my advanced age, there seems to be rather too much coming my way that refers to stair lifts and Saga cruises.)

 

Being a bit of a knit

 

One of my more 'are you sure that's what you want?' birthday presents this year was a ball of wool and some double pointed knitting needles.  Having seen Sian's amazing socks I knew this was something I had to try (who knows, she may one day organise a sock swap project and I need to get a bit of practice in) I love learning new crafts and although knitting wasn't new to me, juggling 4 needles and going round and round in circles was a novel experience.  As soon as I had casted off the final stitch, I knew that I wanted to make another pair; this was just a prototype, a practice session to see where I could improve, and I also needed to have a go at ditching the 4 little needles for one long circular one.  I was soon browsing the Wool Warehouse website and am now the proud owner of some rather gorgeous wool and a shiny new circular needle.  I would put money on the fact that by the time I go to bed tonight, there will be stitches on that needle!

 

Food glorious food

As for meals out, that happened 3 times.  The best one was a Puddings and Pies evening at a local restaurant.  It was exactly what the title of the menu suggested, every item on the menu was either a pudding or a pie.  This is my husband's idea of heaven.  We don't often have pies at home, due to my messiness is the pastry department.  Even if I don't make it myself and use ready made, my kitchen always looks like an explosion has happened in a flour factory. 

Mum's the word

The biggest number to share this month is 17.  The number of weeks into her pregnancy that my daughter has reached.  You can see the picture of Junior's scan in the photo collage above.  If you look carefully, you may be able to guess what she is having!

 

So that was March; I think the saying is 'In like a lion and out like a lamb' and weather wise it certainly lived up to that expression.  At the time of typing this, the sun is out, the dog is sunbathing, the husband is doing something that involves building a 'raised vegetable bed' in the garden and it's clearly time for another cappuccino! 

My Month in Numbers - May

May.  You sneaky little month.  In the words of Gloria Gaynor 'Go on now go.  Walk out that door.  Don't turn around now.  You're not welcome anymore ...'.  You waited until we had nicely filled up our diaries with things to do, places to go and people to meet.  You smirked with amusement as you watched us plan and prepare, let us get ourselves organised and just as we were walking across that shiny marble floor in our high heels - you pulled that rug from under our feet.  You watched us wobble and lose our balance and then grinned as we tumbled to the floor.
 

May - the month where 

8 hours were spent in A&E

24 hours Rachel spent in hospital

48 hours before she should have flown out to Spain

After 7 days she went to see a doctor who quite frankly looked so young I think he may have been on work experience (now am horrified that I have reached the age where policemen and doctors look young.  Dammit)  He said that she was fit to fly out to Portugal 10 days after the op.  I see her recovery as testimony to the many hours of Greys Anatomy that I have watched over the years.  Eat your heart out Meredith Grey and Christina Yang, there's a new medic in town.  However (spoiler alert) not all hospital doctors are as handsome or charming as McDreamy.  Guess you have to live in Seattle for that!

Talking of hotties - 

24 degrees - hottest day of the year so far.  Dinners outside with friends until late in the evening, chilled wine, salads, good times. I even had to put the air conditioning on in my car one day! Summer sandals out of the wardrobe and I accidentally arrived home from town with a new pair too.  There was a sale, they were in my size, I'd been thinking of getting them when they were full price, it was a match made in heaven how could I not bring them home?

May is the month that I am the lucky recipient of the friendship quilt blocks and I've now received 4

The postman is starting to avoid eye contact with me now, as I watch him walk up the front path, I gleefully open the door before he has chance to put anything through the letter box.  I'm not sure what he thinks I'm expecting in the post but I practically snatch anything that arrives in a jiffy bag with a ridiculous grin and an 'oh how exciting' as I quickly slam the door and rip open the packaging.

37 pre-schoolers at my Goddaughter's 4th birthday party.  I only went out to sort out chairs and decorations but ended up staying to help prepare 37 hot dogs in boxes and gallons of apple squash.

And finally - the month I joined Slimming World.  'What's your target to lose?' the lady in charge asked as I jumped on the scales while she worked out BMI values.  And before I could say 'oh just about 7lb would be good' she worked out that 13lb would be perfect.  Watch this space.

 

 

So that was my month in numbers - why not pop over to Julie's to see who else is joining in this month?

My Month in Numbers - April

You see that whirlwind that wooshed past you on your way in?  That hurricane that almost knocked you off your feet as you walked up the path?  That was April.  It went by in a flash didn't it?  I decided to use the Tagxedo programme to make a shape out of my blog posts for the month and this is what it came up with

Let's see what it picked out, sewing, fabric, crochet, dog, photo, quilt.  Yes, that seem to have summed it up fairly well but let's get down to the nitty gritty.
Just a moment while my trusty secretary gets into position to type for me and we'll be good to go.

OK, she's ready - Let's start with a lovely surprise one:

• 25 - the number of pounds I won on the Premium Bonds.  That was a good number to record.  {note from typist - you'd have thought they could have bought me a new collar or something with that new found wealth wouldn't you?}
• Talking of records CDs.  There were 3 CDs in the Trevor Nelson collection that I bought.  There are so many great tracks on this collection and it is getting much airplay as I drive to work in the mornings.  If you're ever in the car in front of me and you see me in your rear view mirror singing along at the top of my voice, this is probably what I'm joining in with. {note from typist - I've been in that car with her, and all I'm saying is that she won't be joining any choir anytime soon} 
• 2 - the number of weeks holiday I had for the school Easter break. {note from typist - lovely to have the humans around to tend to my every need for two weeks.  I think it's time for her to retire to be my full time carer} 
• Factor 15 - the SPF of the suncream I needed whilst sitting in the garden during those Easter Holidays. And if anyone was wondering, suncream on your legs is irresistable to Cavapoos.  {note from typist - I can't help myself it smells AMAZING}
• 18 people commented on my 1000th blog post.  I still can't believe I have posted so many.  I remember starting my blog and wondering if I'd ever actually use it - if only I could have known how many blog friends it would bring into my life. {note from typist - I wasn't around for the first few years but all those blog posts have done wonders for my typing skills}
• 5 days of antibiotics for the dog.  She is a monster for picking things up on her walks and munching on them.  Goodness only knows what she had eaten that made her tummy rebel.  I think she does it on purpose to get lots of attention and not to mention home cooked chicken/rice/pasta/fish.  {note from typist - Uh oh, I've been rumbled}
• 1 quilt made as a runner for my bed.  72 squares of fabric in total. {note from typist - runner for their bed!  Oh they crack me up.  It's not their bed, it's mine and it was so nice of her to make me a new quilt to lay on} 
• 3 the number of granny squares I have finished. There's a fair few I've also started but NOT finished due to tension issues but let's ignore those for a while. Tension as in loose stitches followed by tight stitches as opposed to tension as in 'grrrr I can't do this' tension.  Although, to be fair, there was a bit of that before I realised US instructions are different to UK ones. {note from typist - she was a bit tense, trust me.  And yelling at the youtube lady to slow down or hang on is ridiculous, just press the pause button. Humans eh?}

So here is the month in pictures, and whilst we watch April disappearing over the horizon, let's pop over to Julie's to read about what happened to her in April. {note from typist - no, let's celebrate the end of the month with some chicken and a couple of gravy bones}

My Month in Numbers

Time to join in with Julie Kirk's Month in Numbers. How can we possibly have got through to the end of March already? 

It's been an eventful month. There's been blood, sweat and tears.  Oh yes.  Don't let anyone tell you it's uneventful over here in Deb's World.

 

This month I discovered a sad, neglected Wii fit machine lurking amongst the cobwebs beneath the tv.  In a moment of madness I ran upstairs, changed into joggers and switched it on.  I then spent a further 15 minutes trying to hunt down new batteries as it's been so long since I last used it, the batteries had run out.  However, despite it telling me that in the 1120 days since I last used it {oh the shame} I have got less agile and more heavier, after doing the fitness test it gave me a Wii fit age of ... drum roll ... fanfare of trumpets ... bring on the dancing girls ... 34.  Which was a bit of a shock because I had a birthday this month and I'm pretty sure that it was my 56th.  Clearly that birth certificate is wrong - happy days!

 

I'm not the only one with a March birthday, my son was 24 on the 5th and my great nephew was 2. So add us all together and we make 82. Unless we believe the Wii and it's 60.

 

Talking of sons, ours came home twice this month. One visit was only for 4 hours as he was en route somewhere else but every minute counts!

 

I've been in the wars this month. I needed up with 10 large blisters following a cryotherapy appointment at the doctors. Let's just say the nurse got a bit 'trigger happy' with the canister of liquid nitrogen.  Don't ask! Then I had a pretty impressive fall while walking the dog which resulted in two grazed hands, one bruised finger and a cut and bruised knee. Also one confused dog who couldn't understand why we returned home so quickly after setting off. Before she had even had the opportunity to do what a dog needs to do.

 

I made three cushion covers and sent off one patchwork quilt block. 

 

We had a fire drill at work and managed to get 1123 students and over 70 staff safely out of the building and into the school field in about 10 mins.  Fortunately this was the day before my fall otherwise I would have had to ask matron to give me a lift in the emergency wheelchair. 

 

So how was your March?  Why not join in and see what numbers you can come up with too?

 

 

Month in Numbers - February

For the shortest month of the year, February does seem to last a very long time.  

I downloaded an app called Collect which gives you a calendar page and each day it prompts you to add a photo taken on that day. So it was really easy for me to look over the month this time.  Kind of like a very mini Project Life without the journaling! Here's my month in pictures:

The highlight of the month was booking our summer holiday. 7 days in Lake Garda. Well, not actually IN the lake, but a hotel overlooking it. So in preparation for it, the husband and I are learning Italian via a free app called Duolingo.  It was recommended by the IT coordinator at work and you can learn many different languages - I'd really recommend it. At the time of writing this, I have completed 11 Of the lessons. And have mastered all the essentials like ordering pasta for lunch with a glass of white wine, and the Italian for ice cream with chocolate cake. Along with other, hopefully non essential, phrases such as 'The snake is in my boot'. 

  

I had 5 days off work as it was half term. And remembered how much I loved being a SAHM. 

 

I made the 4th and the 5th sample block from the Love Patchwork and Quilting magazine and sent off the Friendship Quilt square off to Amy who is the 4th person on the list.

 

I've made 2 cakes, one 'just because it's half term and I've got time to bake a cake' cake, and one 'Jon's home for the weekend and although it's not his birthday until the middle of next week it's an early birthday cake' cake.

 

I went to my monthly cookery club where I learnt 4 vegetarian dishes and tried 2 glasses of wine. Although one of the dishes was dessert and I'm pretty sure that most desserts are vegetarian. 

 

There was only one birthday in February, my nephew's.  32 candles bite the dust.

 

As you will see from the final photo in the collage, the pre-birthday cake which we will be having tonight is bordered with 2 packets of chocolate finger biscuits and about 200 chocolate M&Ms.  I can hardly wait for dinner time!

 

This is brought to you as part of Julie's Month in Numbers meme.  She's had a busy month with kitchen appliances ganging up on her, having her bumps felt and getting an extra head.  Go on, pop over there, you know you want to. 

My Month in Numbers

Whats the strangest thing anyone said to you this month? Mine has got to be the comment "Oh Debbie, you're looking very Irish today." Irish? Is that a compliment or an insult? I know I'm small but did I have the look of a leprechaun about me? And the teacher who said it is Welsh, so it's not as if she saw me as a kindred spirit. And before you ask, I can assure you that I was NOT doing Riverdance round the staff room either.  So anyway, here I am, not being Irish, sharing my Month in Numbers as part of Julie's meme. 

January has not been the best month, with post-Christmas slumps, the numbers on the scales looking a little higher than they did in December, and oh my goodness, it seemed to take a very long time for payday to come round again.  So, in an effort to get everyone in a good frame of mind for surviving a VERY LONG month let me share my absolute, most favourite song at the moment.

 

 

Everyone feeling upbeat now?  Those of  us looking and feeling Irish Riverdancing around the lounge?  Good, let's get down to the numbers ...

We had one lovely Christening this month. My great nephew was the star of the show and despite everyone's predictions, not one tear was shed. He looked pretty bemused when he ended up having a bit of a hair wash in the middle of the church but nothing that a whole bag of few chocolate buttons didn't put right afterwards.

We had a birthday too.  Just the one. But quite a big one, I think you'll agree. My mother in law celebrated 87 years; quite an achievement.  An on the subject of old ladies (ahem) I passed my driving test 38 years ago today. Let's not dwell on that length of time. 

The local river turned into a huge bubble bath this month.  Really.  Honestly, I know it's hard to believe but it's true. A mild chemical spillage in the local river meant there was a 16ft high wall of foam along the riverbank. I guess we now officially have the cleanest, shiniest fish in Hertfordshire. I can tell you can't believe me so check out the report of it in the local paper!

I've been busy sewing and I now have all 20 blocks ready for my quilt. Now if someone could just tell me how to join them together I'll be very happy. I've got to that 'really want to get it finished' stage. Swiftly followed by the 'Help! someone tell me what to do next' stage.

At school, we used to all bring in a cake on our individual birthdays but this ended up with us having cake almost every other week (I didn't see this as a problem but some other people did) and so now, once every half term the people who have birthdays in those 6 weeks get together and we have cakes on one day.  This week we had the choice of baked cheesecake, carrot cake, coffee cake, chocolate cake or fresh fruit skewers.  Over the course of two days I think I may have managed to try a tiny little bit of all 5 items (there was enough cake for a second round of 'left overs' the next day!) 

Now Julie suggested that the communal count should be the price of bread.  Which should be easy, right? But we're not huge bread eaters here. I do have a bread maker and have phases where I use it regularly at weekends but on the whole we rarely eat a whole loaf during the week.  So we tend to buy one of those small sized whole meal loaves, the ones that cost about 85p. Now, how many 'new' things did I try?  Well.  I tried some new recipes - the most requested 'please make that again' one was biscotti.  But I also found a great oven baked risotto recipe that does away with all that stirring and adding a spoonful of stock every five minutes. The other thing I tried was a sports therapy massage.  Don't be taken in by the relaxing sound of the word 'massage'. My goodness there were moments when it was pretty painful.  Apparently my knee problem isn't in my knee, but the muscles that go down the back of the knee from the thigh to the calf.  We discovered this when the answer to 'does this hurt?' as she pressed and prodded all around my knee changed from 'no' to 'aaaarghhhh'. Hopefully the pain I went through over the following 90 mins will mean that it gradually gets better now.  Watch this space!

My month in numbers - December

So as December disappears over the horizon taking with it the whole of 2013, it's time for the last month in numbers as organised by Julie Kirk. 

I normally end with the communal count but as it's the end of the year, let's shake it up a bit and do it first. How many Christmas movies is too many?  Well, apart from watching Love Actually in the weekend before the big day - and let's face it that's almost compulsory in our house - I saw bits of many a Christmas film but no other whole films. This was due to the discovery of a new channel on the TV called Christmas 24. Non stop, back to back Christmas films. All manner of films, and whilst I didn't actually watch a whole one from start to finish but dipped in and out of various films, it did help get into the Christmas spirit while I was catching up on the ironing or wrapping presents. How many it too many?  Probably a late morning and whole afternoon of films you wouldn't otherwise have chosen to watch if you didn't have a basket full of ironing and a pile of presents to wrap.

How many Christmas events did you attend? - well apart from the actual Christmas Day and Boxing Day, I didn't actually go to many events. My husband's birthday is on the 12th so we had a big meal out with friends then, can I count that as a combined celebration? I did wear a dress with sparkles on it and there were lots of Christmas decorations in the restaurant.  Oh, and we did go to friends on Christmas Eve for wine and 'nibbles'. So I'm going to claim that too. But one of the more unusual events was watching the 6th Form Entertainment on the last day of term.  Historically, the Year 13s organise half hour's worth of sketches for the rest of the school to watch.  Typically they do sketches with them doing impressions of the teachers, and this year there was also a 'promotional video' for the school.  The last item is always musical.  Always something that has been a sensation during the year.  Every year they promise that a)it will be suitable for all age groups and b) the boys will not take their clothes off.  {That film 'The Full Monty' has a lot to answer for - that's all I'm saying.}  I kind of had a feeling that they may not have totally understood the rules when the first few bars of 'Blurred Lines' came over the amplifiers.  A girl, strutting her stuff in black and white  striped leggings and a black and white striped jacket took the part of the male singer and behind her were two rows of 17/18 year old boys dressed only in white t shirts and black rugby shorts. You can see where this is going can't you?  Oh yes, at the end we had her singing at the top of her voice and about 25 boys 'twerking' behind her.  Swiftly followed by 25 boys and one girl getting a telling off in the head's office. 

So what can we count for the last month? We could count the number of chocolates I've eaten but it's going to be too embarrassing so we'll pass over that.  Number of sausage rolls? Now you're just trying to make me feel ashamed.  

For those who enjoy a good pattern in dates, my nephew's son was 10 on 11.12.13.  That's a good one to record isn't it? We had five birthday celebrations. Including one on Christmas Day. 232 candles. 

 

My son drove 375 miles to come home for Christmas and he's just driven 375 miles back. One half of that sentence makes me happy and the other half makes me sad.  Thankfully we have the annual Keyworth Christmas photo to record the visit. 

 

So that is it for the last month of 2013.  I only joined into this project mid year so I am looking forward to completing the whole 12 month set in 2014. 

Farewell to December and Happy New Year to all!  

 

My month in numbers - August edition

Brought to you in conjunction with Julie Kirk's Month in Numbers challenge - you can find out all about it here ...

So as we pull up the anchor of August and set sail into the sunset it's appropriate to start with a photo of that sunset

which was the last in the 21 photos needed to complete Rinda's Scavenger Hunt. 

This month I had 31 days of not working and yet still being paid.  The major perk of being a secretary in a school.  The downside is that I am not allowed time off at any other time of year other than the official school holidays but let's not dwell on that.

The month started with 7 days in sunny Ibiza.  According to the in flight information screen that's just over 900 miles.  When we arrived at the hotel we were allocated room 101.  Hang on a minute.  According to the TV series, isn't room 101 where you put things you detest?  Didn't George Orwell invent room 101 as the place you put people to endure their own worst nightmare?  Well, my nightmare is lifts - can't bring myself to step inside one, so any room number that starts with a 'one' means I can walk to it via a staircase so that is fine by me.

For someone scared of lifts, staying in a hotel set into a hillside means there are a lot of steps to negotiate during the course of a day.  21 stairs between our room and reception.  32 stairs down to the dining room.  Another 19 stairs down to the bar/pool area.  Then another 21 to the terrace we used to like to have our sun loungers.  So with all that exercise how come I returned home to find I weighed 2lb heavier than when I left?

Number of books read - 4.  Quite a variety too.  First off was The Great Gatsby because although I had seen the film three times in my Robert Redford phase in the 70s, I had never actually read the book. Next up was The Abomination by Jonathan Holt.  It was one of the best books I have read this year and I strongly recommend it.  First of a trilogy, I can't wait for book two to be published.  Then I read the Little Coffee Shop of Kabul by Deborah Rodriguez which was an easy, good read and read within 2 days. The third was The Rose Petal Beach by Dorothy Koomson.  So good.  If you saw the Ice Cream Girls on tv, this is from the same author. Quite a few twists to the story. 

Moving on swiftly - I may be responsible for a wax candle shortage this month.  235 candles would bite the dust in August! 27 of them to a very special girl - my daughter.  How can I possibly be old enough to have a 'child' that age?

Meals out this month.  7 in Ibiza and 3 in England.

And a late inclusion.  16 butterflies found sleeping in our garage. The discovery of these was followed by the hysterical scream of 'We've got baby bats nesting in the garage - get them out!!!!'  Which was followed by a proper investigation, a sigh and a slight shake of the head and 'They're butterflies, Deb.  They aren't going to harm you.'  I'm still not totally happy about them being there but extremely happy that they weren't bats. 

☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼

So onto the communal count for this month. 

I'm throwing my hat in the ring for the earliest time I got up this month.  3.50am.  That was a night of very little sleep.  But in a good cause because I was booked in for an early flight from Stansted Airport! 

(It wasn't the earliest I was awake that night though and anyone with grown up children may understand this.  R had gone up to London with friends for a night out.  They had booked a minibus to take them back to a friend's house.  She was planning to stay overnight with that friend and then get a taxi home the next day. At the last minute she decided to come home after all.  The mini bus would drop her at the station and she would get a taxi home at about 2am - or 2.30am at the absolute latest.  I went to bed at 10pm to get a decent amount of sleep before the alarm went off at 3.50am.  At 2.45am I woke up.  Don't know why, just wide awake.  I knew that R wasn't home because she cannot come in the front door quietly and tends to put all the lights on in the house as she comes upstairs.  Looked at my phone.  No messages.  Wonder where she is. Lie wide awake for about 10 minutes.  Look at phone again.  Maybe I'll just call her to see how far from home she is.  No answer.  Whoever invented the silent button on mobile phones?  Then at just before 3am I hear the engine of a taxi outside, the slam of a door, the loud 'Thank you', the crunch of footsteps across the gravel path.  I get out of bed, tiptoe downstairs to try not to wake the dog and hear her mumbling outside as she searches for her front door key.  I open the door for her. 'Awwww Mum!' she says as she sees me, 'You shouldn''t have waited up.  'Night')   

Number of visitors to the house.  19.  Not bad considering we weren't here for a week of August!  However, 12 of them came in one batch for pre-going out drinks for our daughter's birthday.

So come on then, let's pop over to Julie's to see what numbers other people have come up with this month.