A bed of roses

Had the whole family round today, except eldest grandson who was working. Younger grandson loves all our animal ornaments and picks them up and rearranges them. Granddaughter is still too young to really do anything other than sleep. When it was time for daughter & co to leave, younger grandson gave me a wave - and then his little sister! Sorry, dear - she goes with you :D

The morning was spent cleaning the living room and waiting for everyone to arrive. The afternoon was spent with the family. So, not really much 'me time' today. I played 30 minutes of ISS but, as far as I can tell, I'm heading for the final showdown and I didn't want to get embroiled in that tonight - so that's tomorrow's fun.

I watched 'Only Connect' with the boys and then an episode of Umbrella Academy... And that was my day...

Last night I finally found a Tilda Swinton film where I not only thought she gave a great performance - I mean, she does always give a great performance - but I also liked her character and the film! I thought she was great as the White Witch in TLTWATW - but she annoyed me in an interview by saying she didn't think the Chronicles of Narnia were religious. I mean... WTF?! Then there's 'We need to talk about Kevin', where I disliked her character even more than Kevin. Last night I watched 'Three thousand years of longing' about a woman who encounters a djinn (played by Idris Elba). The character was likable, relatable, and actually rather sweet. Very glad I watched it.

It's one of those days where it seems like a VERY long time since I got up but the day hasn't dragged at all.

Started with a bath. When I got downstairs husband was having a nap, so I cleaned the bathroom. When that was done he was awake, so we had breakfast - filter coffee and crumpets with butter. <3

Quick clean of the living room in preparation for daughter and grandson #2. He takes sooo much energy, even when he's sitting still :D He's also learned to climb the stairs, so that's going to be fun going forward.

We still don't have a name for granddaughter. The two new ones daughter mentioned today were... well, I wouldn't have chosen them. One of them was my maternal grandmother's name, FCOL! Who was born in 1905! And she hadn't chosen it BECAUSE it was my grandmother's name because she thought that was something similar but different. Anyway, at this rate she'll only have her middle name, which is my name :D

And daughter has less idea of what to get grandson #1 for his 18th than we do >D

I played an hour of Tunic and hit a very nasty boss. Again, I'm playing on the easier setting. Again, the game's definition of 'easier' is different to mine. Again, I will give it another go, but really...

Then I watched Doctor Who on iPlayer. OMG!!! The best episode so far by a country MILE. And written by two women. Just sayin'... Sharp dialogue, LOL comedy, tears, ol' skool monster of the week, another glimpse of Susan Twist... Just wonderful. Won-der-ful!!! My only down (channelling Whoculture!), was The Kiss. Not because I'm homophobic (obvs) but because, for me, The Doctor and romance don't work. Whilst I liked that Rose got her 'own Doctor', if Rose and The Doctor had been 'a thing', I wouldn't have enjoyed it. Plus, he already has the TARDIS AND River. There's being polyamorous and there's being... whatever The Doctor is being :D

The thing with the psychic paper is bringing back memories, too. Was it something with River...? Don't know...

So, after DW, I went down and made tea for me and husband - ham with cauliflower cheese. Which was tasty and perfectly edible but the husband is one of those people who eat with their eyes and I hadn't drained the cauliflower enough and it put him off, so he didn't eat it. Then he made himself a sandwich so he could have his tablets and insulin and it was one of those occasions when I hit a nerve with the needle. I decided discretion was the better part of valour and made myself scarce to do the washing up and clean the kitchen.

And after THAT, I watched Mrs Harris goes to Paris, which was just delightful.

Husband came up to bed half-way through and we had a nice goodnight kiss and cuddle. His days of holding grudges and sulking for days on end are very much behind us - one of the positive results of the memory loss.

So, an event-filled day!

Next week, I will swap out my editing sessions for writing a talk on mustard seeds for St M's on 16 June. There's the version that says the kingdom of heaven starts small and grows to be enormous. And there's the version that says the mustard bush is a weed and the birds nesting in it are pests - and the kingdom is FOR the pests (the outcast, the lost and unwanted, the people on the edge). And is there a person in the world who has NEVER felt like that? Hmm... Something to run with there, I think...

 It was an absolutely beautiful day, today, and we had a really lovely meal at Zorba's. The owners' granddaughter was having a party at the back, so service was a bit slow - but also, I think spending 2+ hours over a meal is what they'd consider normal :D Grandson #1 took the day off work to grace us with his presence and grandson #2 ate everything within reach <3 Oh, and had great fun dropping his dummy for grandson #1 to pick up >D

While the boys watched the football, I played the demo for One Piece: Odyssey, which I found a bit weird. I'm guessing it dropped me in the middle of the game because everyone was at level 40 and had lots of skills. It did explain how to use the skills, and the tactics around which character to use for attack, but I struggled a bit to connect the dots. I preferred FFXVI's approach where you play the first couple of hours of the game and learn how to play naturally, then you got a bonus section with some extra abilities. Anyway, I won't be buying OPO, mostly because I didn't like the visuals.

I've downloaded the demo for Stella Blade, so I'll give that a go tomorrow.

Rather than play anything tonight, I decided to watch something off my Tivo and went with The Father. Olivia Colman plays a woman whose father, played by Anthony Hopkins, is suffering from (I guess) dementia. He forgets things and people, and sometimes it was hard to know what was real - but I think that's part of the experience for people with dementia, isn't it? A small but brilliant cast - as well as the main actors it had Rufus Sewell, Mark Gatiss, Olivia Williams and Imogen Poots.

I'm planning a not-doing-much day tomorrow, with perhaps some gardening.

But now it's time to get ready for bed.

Church was interesting, today. The liturgy was prepared by our trainee Reader, who also did the sermon. Afterwards, three of our longer-term members came to me with a bit of a grumble about the theology of the liturgy. I pointed out that the Reader is probably having to tick some boxes for their course and it certainly doesn't indicate our future direction of travel. We still take our 'progressive' identity seriously!

We also had someone return who hasn't been around for a decade or more. But we're always there, ready for the wanderers to find us again!

I wanted to get into the garden but it was a wet and windy afternoon, so that was that.

Instead I finished EotF. I was hoping for more lore about the Fallen, but I get that SE threw it together really quickly, so I can forgive them. The final boss was challenging! But there were enough potions and high potions lying around to get me through. Very glad I stuck to 'Story Mode' though!

This evening I'm watching 'Vanilla Sky', which isn't what I expected it to be! I seem to be finding a lot of those, at the moment :D What are the stories we tell ourselves? How much would we go through to connect with 'the one who got away'? How do we tell reality from fantasy?

Tomorrow promises to be eventful, so now it's time for bed.

I woke up at about 7.30am and had my usual Saturday morning ritual of a bath followed by proper coffee and crumpets. I got downstairs at about 9am and it's now 10.30pm but it feels like this morning was yesterday! Days like this are good in one sense - I know I've had a properly restful day - but bad in another because time screws with my head and I'm not 100% sure I'm in the same day >D

Daughter, sil and grandson #2 arrived at about 12.30pm, closely followed by my parents. We were a bit disappointed that grandson #1 didn't come, too - he had a shift starting at 3pm but sil would have driven him to work. But teenage boys will choose bed over anything else, I suppose!

Anyway, we had fun giving the baby too much chocolate and cheering him on with his 'very-nearly-walking' efforts. He's such a sunny baby - no doubt his little sister will be a right little misery guts :D But still totally adorable, of course!

Daughter and sil have more or less given up trying to buy a bigger house. With two lots of nursery fees, their outgoings will be too high for a lender to take them on, at the moment. So they're thinking of extending the house they're in.

Grandson #2's nursery send daughter a photo of him 'reading' a book, with the comment that he was turning the pages himself, which she was rather non-plussed by. Of course he was turning the pages - that's what you do with a book! Then a few days later she saw something on the news about kids trying to swipe books because they don't know how they 'work' and the penny dropped. I'm a technophile myself, but I will never lose the love of a book in my hand - and I pray grandson won't, either.

After they'd gone, I played a bit of FFXVI, then went downstairs to watch 'Austenland' and have a take-away tea with husband. Then back up here for some more FFXVI. And somehow 15 hours have passed - but it's been a very restful day.

In FFXVI, I am now at Level 50 (started at 47) and have all the Eikons. I find the Odin battle much more satisfying than the Titan one. I know Hugo wanted to rule the world but he was also grieving, whereas Barnabas is a smug, self-deluded arsehole. I also cleared out some Class A hunts whilst I have Joshua with me - I'm saving up the Class S ones for the end game. 

'Austenland' was a bit slow to get started but I think it worked. I'm not usually one for romances but I can't turn down anything connected to Austen :D

And I've been thinking a bit more about 'Barbie', and the expectations of Western society. The fact that I actively resist, or even seek to upend, societal norms means I'm just as influenced by them as if I was trying to live up to them. This is a Troubling Thought.

My break is half over already! But last Friday seems like ages ago, and next Tuesday seems ages away, so I'm going to continue one day at a time.

Husband and I did some shopping up Park Road, today. I was going to head into town because I wanted red-skinned potatoes and Tesco don't sell them, but I remembered there's a Lidl up there and they do sell them. They also have the most adorable mini shopping trollies - presumably for children to use. We got the spuds and some more Easter chocolate for grandson #2 with a cute stuffed monkey in the box. From Tesco, we got a half-leg of lamb and Yorkshire puds and some other bits and pieces. The aisles of both Lidl and PR Tesco are wide enough to get the wheelchair round comfortably, which is a major reason for going up there.

The wind was stronger than I thought it was going to be and we nearly got rained on, but husband was glad to be outdoors, so I'm counting it as a successful trip.

I've parked the bathroom tiles until Friday, I think. Or possibly even Monday. I feel like I need a clear day with nothing else planned and I'd like to go to the Good Friday service. But I also wouldn't mind missing that, especially since Sunday's service is at the church at the top of Upper Parliament Street, which will require Timing and Effort to get to for 10am. Anyway, I traded the tiles for the fridge and kitchen floor, today. Remaining cleaning jobs are dusting this room (which is at the bottom of the list, priority-wise), the tiles, and the windows (would really like to get both done).

Tomorrow, I'm getting my hair cut! Judging by my PMs on fb, it's 6 months since I last got it done. I knew it had been a while but that sort of took me by surprise. Time flies, I suppose...

In FFXVI, I cleared out some more side stuff and a couple of hunts, and actually did some story :O I know! There's a plot here and everything - who knew?! I defeated the boss who shares his name with a legendary horse. He's just so smarmy and gives me the creeps - it's a particularly satisfying victory. Then the king showed up (even MORE smarmy and creepy) and we didn't defeat him. But he has his coming, oh yeah! 

As an aside, I've been experimenting with the different Eikon abilities, since I have all of them thanks to NG+, and I find Odin's the least useful and Shiva's the most (Diamond Dust is AMAZING).

And I've just watched another film off my Tivo - 'Maggie Moore(s)'. I think it's about the lengths people will go to for self-preservation.

I'd just about given up on the snowdrops I planted in 2022 but at least two have survived! I planted 25 originally and I think about half-a-dozen made it last year, but hopefully these two will keep going.

I'm also hopeful we'll have damselflies again. During the summer of 2022, about 30 emerged from our tiny pond (#itsapondnotapuddle), which I found completely amazing because it's in just about the coldest spot in the garden. Last winter, the pond froze solid for days at a time and the nymphs clearly did not survive. This winter, it's been frozen for just one day, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

I have reached the Collapsing Bridge of Doom in the Kasane run of Scarlet Nexus. Even though I now have a strategy for crossing it, I have just died about 7 times in a row. It's late and I'm tired, so I'll try again tomorrow.

And I've ticked another film off my Tivo list - Love Again. Yes, it's a romcom featuring Celine Dion, but it also has Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Russel Tovey and Celia Imrie! It was a nice little distraction and underlines the importance of honesty in relationships.

In this life, we have a part to play, a thing to do that's just ours. For some people, it's singing on stage in front of thousands of adoring fans. For some, it's creating an exciting (or sentimental, or puzzling, or horrifying, or... or...) video game. For some, it's selling snowdrops to herald the spring in the gardens of strangers. For some, it's to find joy in beautiful little insects shedding the skins they no longer need and knowing that they (the human) provided them (the insects) with the perfect environment completely by chance.

Husband and I decided to go for a meal at the Bastion Restaurant in the Shankly Hotel. I rang on Sunday night (because the online thing was being a pain) and booked a table for 2 at 6pm on Monday - 'all booked in' said the cheery voice at the other end. The next night, we arrive on the dot of 6pm. When I check the time on my phone, I realise I missed a call from them at 5.45pm. At the reception, three members of staff manage to stop their conversation long enough for me to give my name. 'Oh, we really needed you here half an hour ago.' What? 'We have a tour group booked in and the kitchen's closed for other guests.' I just look at her, speechless. 'I'll check with the chefs,' she says, then comes back a minute later. 'We can do you one course and we'll need your order in the next 5 minutes.'

At that point we leave.

I have no problem with them booking a tour group. They're a restaurant in a tourist-trap hotel (it's named after a former manager of Liverpool Football Club). I have no problem with them needing us there at 5.30pm so that they could treat us like customers rather than an inconvenience. But the time to tell us they needed us early was when we booked, because a 'tour group' doesn't rock up at the last minute!

So, we won't be going back and we're telling everyone who will listen about what a poor experience we had.

Had some catch-up sessions with colleagues I haven't spoken to in a while. I'm in a good place - I'm sad they aren't.

And I ticked a couple of films off my watch list - 'Don't Worry Darling', which was watchable but probably not as clever as it thought it was and felt like it was trying to make a point about Men that I don't agree with, and 'Crazy Rich Asians', which was a funny cross between 'Coming to America' and 'P&P' with an all-Asian cast.

I think that's about it. Catch you next week, DW!

Monday, the husband cooked and washed up all day. The only thing I needed to do was play LoD and make chocolate orange fairy cakes in lieu of birthday cake.

Otherwise the week is a bit of a blur - but a whole week off can be like that. There were walks with the husband and a bit of tidying up in the garden - and a lot of LoD :D

I also watched 'Queen Cleopatra', which was interesting. And the second series of 'Welcome to Eden', which continues to be intriguing; looking forward to the third.

Last night I watched 'Films Stars Don't Die In Liverpool'. Most of the filming was done in Liverpool, which managed to stand in for London AND New York :D

And today it's 'Last Night in Soho' - love Anya Taylor Joy <3.

Two weeks in and I'm still alive and still Covid free :D

Well, I'm going to do my weekly test after this, but I have no symptoms.

The office continues to be VERY quiet, which suits me very well.  I asked about where 'my' desk is on the seating plan but no response, yet.  I think the 'occupant' was a colleague who has just got a new job, so that desk will be free when I go in next week, but I don't want to go to the trouble of moving in to it if it's not the one I 'should' be at.

My first task on Tuesday was to get a headset that works!  I've even brought it home, so I can use the softphone VOIP thing.  Not that I ever get or make phone calls but the option is there.

Before the end of the summer, I will also arrange to bring home a proper monitor so I'm not squinting at my Dell all the time.

I had a couple of days off but nothing happened of note except a ridiculous amount of Genshin Impact.

Watched the 2009 Star Trek last night.  It's such a Boys' Club!  I mean, I know it's based on the original series and that was all about the Three Dudes but...  They made this big thing of an alternate reality.  How about some meaningful female characters?!  Although I do love Uhura in all her guises.  For some reason, my Tivo box captured ST: Into Darkness but not ST: Beyond, which is the one I haven't seen at all.  And the only way to watch it is to rent or buy - so it's now on my bookmarked list with the 2020 Emma.

I'm in the process of writing story #70.

The FF8 forum that I belong to on fb had a question about fanfic and...  There are two or three WIPs that I'm reading at the moment, but I couldn't remember the names of the authors for the life of me!  I did link my own account, though.  Cheeky?  Yeah but I like to have readers!  Speaking of which...  Rosa Heartlily | FanFiction

Apparently, I've just passed my 20 year anniversary on ff.net.  O_o  Wow...

ff.net is one of the many things I owe to Choco-Boco Booyaka.  lassarina is, of course, another!