Celebrating #Samhain 2023

Despite still feeling pretty unwell, I was determined to try and do a little something to celebrate Samhain )otherwise known as Halloween, or Nos Calan Gaeaf in Welsh).  So we hung up an Autumn themed reef on the door...

Kelly helped me make sure there was a Mr. Pumpkin-Head (what I always call my carved pumpkins, ever since I wrote the poem of that name years ago) to put in the window...

And I enjoyed some tea in my new 'Witches Brew' cauldron-shaped mug (brought a couple of months ago, but not shown to you at the time, to match the teapot I got a couple of years ago)...

 

 

While we watched episodes of "Wednesday" on Netflix and waited for trick-or-treaters.

 

There were very few trick-or-treaters (even when compared to recent years, when we've had less than there always used to be when I was young) between the rain and our minimalist approach to decorations, but I'm sure Kelly doesn't mind finishing off the Halloween chocolates.

Of Transport Companies, #AutumnEquinox Celebrations, And Medical Mutterings

When we took the dogs to the groomer a couple of weeks ago, we used the transport company we’d used to take them to the vet.  They’re useful, and much cheaper than cab fare, but not particularly great at being reliable at timekeeping, and seem to keep forgetting I’m blind even when I’m standing right there.  We couldn’t book a ride back from the groomer with them though, because they didn’t have an available car (even though I’d tried to book a couple of weeks in advance) so I had to look for an alternative option for picking the dogs up.

 

Luckily, as it turns out, there’s a second transport company recently been started up in the area, which works similarly to the other one, and I was able to book the second trip with them.  So far, I’m more impressed with this second company, since they arrived on time to pick me up, and were a lot more helpful to me (which makes me feel better about any time I might need to use them without Kelly joining me on the journey).

 

 

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The Autumn Equinox was a couple of weeks ago, as I’m sure you know.

 

With my lack of energy and not feeling great, we didn’t do much, but we made some apple pie and had it with ice-cream (dairy-free ice-cream for me, of course).  So at least we did something nice for the day.

 

I’d have liked to do more.  But between how I’m feeling in general and having been out to take the dogs for grooming the previous day (even if the trips there and back weren’t long ones) I didn’t have the energy.

 

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I went to the sleep clinic (eventually – after the hospital transport got sent on such a stupid route we were all late for our appointments, so grateful the hospital takes responsibility if we’re late on their transport and fits us in when we finally arrive) and got the device they wanted me to wear for the sleep study.

 

Hopefully they got something from that device, because Kelly helped me make sure it was turned on (because, of course, it was all visual and not accessible to me) but when we got up in the morning it was off.  We don’t know how, or when, it got turned off, but it happened some time while I was sleeping.  Anyway, I’ll find out in a few weeks, when they say I’ll either get asked to do another sleeve study or told the results of this one.

In the meantime, my MRI appointment came through, so I have that on October 11^th.

#AmWatching + #AmReading + #AmWriting + #Beltane + A Birthday + Weather

I finally started watching “Anne With An E” on the weekend.  Ended up watching all of season 1.  I think it’s obvious to anyone who knows the books reasonably well that they’ve made some changes to the plot to keep things action-packed and dramatic for viewers, which I was a bit disappointed about given how many times I’ve heard people insist it’s so much like the books.  However, I am enjoying it well enough – even if I think the old version I had on VHS was better, and the books were better still.  Still, I am enjoying it, as I said, so I will give it a four out of five stars.

 

*~*

 

I enjoy seeing people’s posts about what they’ve been reading, and I keep meaning to tell you what I’ve been reading too.  But then I forget.  Maybe I’ll do a mid year round-up of what I’ve been reading at the start of July?

 

In the meantime, if you’re interested, I’m currently reading “The Borrowers Avenged” (the 5^th Borrowers book) by Mary Norton, and “Go Tell The Bees That I Am Gone” (the 9^th Outlander book) by Diana Gabaldon.

 

Plus, I'm about to start reading “Villette” by Charlotte Bronte, and “The Chocolate Cat Caper” (the first book in the Chocoholic Mystery series) by JoAnna Carl, which are this month’s reads for the book clubs I’m in; those books are the May books for the 18^th and 19^th century book club and crafters book club respectively.

 

I’m also slowly – very slowly, since I’ve been focusing more on new to me books, so not picking it up often – reading the “Harry Potter” books by J K Rowling.  Yes, I’ve read those multiple times, but they’re something I enjoy re-reading; they're my comfort read go-to books.  Besides, this is the first time I’ve read them in Braille, and I have to read them in Braille too, because then I can say I’ve read them in all formats (I’ve already read them in print – in the case of the first book, in both English and Welsh - as eBooks, and as audio books).

 

Yes, I have a lot of books on the go.  I guess it's what happens when you're trying to read for two book clubs, and still want to read something you're just reading for your own pleasure rather than because the group is reading it.  It's a good thing I can keep things straight even when I'm reading multiple books, isn't it?

 

*~*

 

I actually got some writing time in.  Yes, I know, it’s a miracle! I mean, it was only a few minutes, so it wasn’t much, but I’ll take it!

 

I didn’t get any work done on any of the stories I’d like to finish writing, but I did add a couple of poems to the ones I have yet to publish, which brings me a little closer to having enough to publish a new poetry collection.  I still have some way to go to have enough poems for it, but every poem I write brings me that bit closer.

 

Like I said, it wasn’t much, but I’ll take it!

 

 *~*

 

We had two reasons to celebrate during this past week: Monday was Beltane, and Tuesday was Kelly's birthday.

 

~

 

Beltane - or "May Day" - actually fell on the early May bank holiday this year, so a lot of people were considering it a holiday, even if they didn't celebrate Beltane, since they got a long weekend because of the bank holiday.

 

Our Beltane celebrations were very minimal; all we really did to celebrate was to have a themed meal.  That seems to be how a lot of our celebrations have been going this year.  That and whatever ritual we decide to do (mine usually consisting of some kind of meditation ritual, since that's the kind I prefer) but I don't generally mention those, because we learned years ago that it suits us - me especially - better to do rituals quietly and privately, mostly not even including each other in them.  I shared a couple of rituals we did together on here several years ago, but these days I keep them to myself.

 

Anyway, our holiday meal was most definitely a really simple one.  It consisted of cheese on toast (vegan cheese for me, of course, but it's the symbolism that counts) and oatmeal biscuits (as in cookies, for those outside the UK).  A simple meal, like I said, with minimal cooking, and minimal cleanup, which we were both in favour of.

 

~

 

Kelly wanted chocolate cake for his birthday, but I don’t like chocolate cake and he didn’t want me to not have any cake, so we brought him some chocolate cake and I made myself some blueberry and lemon cupcakes (with fresh blueberries).  That way he got the kind of cake he wanted, but neither of us got left out, so everyone was happy.

 

Kelly also wanted to order pizza for dinner.  The pizza place he wanted to have from doesn't do anything I can eat - we have that issue with a lot of places, to be honest - but I told him to go ahead and have it anyway.  Besides, I was making spicy buttermilk tofu on the cooking call that afternoon (veganizing the chicken recipe that was officially being done this week) so it would only be a matter of cooking up some veggies of some description to go with it to turn it in to a full dinner, which I could do while the tofu was cooking.  So, Kelly got his birthday dinner of pizza, and I got to try a new tofu recipe, which made us both happy.

 

*~*

 

The weather still hasn’t quite settled, but even the wet days have been warm-ish.  The temperature fluctuations have been enough to irritate my asthma, but it’s been consistently warm enough to make my already low hopes they’re wrong about a hot Summer fade even more.  Oh well, so it goes.  At least I can be grateful for fans and freezers, which will mean I can do something to help me deal with the heat when it comes.  At least, I can be grateful for them right now, even if I’m going to struggle to remember to be grateful for those things while wishing we had air conditioning when I’m actually in the position of dealing with the heat.

 

In the meantime, since I was washing the blankets we have in the living room now that my brother has the other sofa (most of which then either got put back on the sofa and chair we still have, or put within easy reach for those days when I just want to curl up with a blanket on the sofa and read) and the weather has been staying warm even on the days that are kind of rainy and damp, I just kept going and washed the blankets from the bedroom too, and then put away the heavier ones we only need in colder weather.  They’re easy to grab should the weather get cold again, but right now we definitely aren’t using them, so don’t need to keep them out.

 

*~*

 

I think, all in all, it was a pretty good – and fairly busy - week.

 

 So, how was your week?