"Maybe it's something to do with spring."

Yesterday was a hot day; today gales and rain and more of that to come over the next week.  I had my hair cut today and left the salon and into a gale.  By the time I got home I had to walk through the rain.  So much for expensive styling.

And as I walked up the main drag I was greeted by the Australia Post courier for the local area and that says much about my shopping habits which have escalated while I wait for my new glasses.  I have been spending more time than usual sitting in front of my computer and remembering things which I had planned to buy online when I got around to it.  A couple of days ago I made a list of the things which I have ordered online and there were seven items.

It is a bit of a worry but I have had one win.  I need a replacement for my regular handbag which is looking very tired but although I have looked diligently in handbag shops I have never found one with eleven pockets.  A few days ago I went into a new handbag shop in the arcade to see if they had anything (they didn't) but the assistant suggested that I should look on the zipper tag of the old bag where I would find the name of the maker, go online and see what they have to offer.  I did this and the maker's name actually was on the zipper tag so I went online and have ordered one which looks to be almost identical but maybe has a couple fewer pockets.

The cats have gone into hibernation and sleep for most of the day curled up together although some mornings I wake up to one or both of them either in or on my bed, depending on how cold the morning is.

Last night I unearthed my first MS Surface computer, charged it up and found that it was loaded with Win 8.1 which was one of my favourite operating systems because it is very decorative. The trouble was that it is so long since I have used it that after I had loaded the upgrades and scanned the hard drive I realised that I had forgotten how to turn it off and had to go to my Win 10 computer and ask.  If its battery can still hold a charge I will probably use it as it is small and light  -  about the size of my I-Pad.  

 The limerick:-

'Tis  favourite project of mine
A new value for 'pi' to assign.
I would fix it at 3
For its simpler, you see,
Than 3 point 1 4 1 5 9.

Today was Fingernail Day

Every three weeks I have to clip my cats' claws and for years I have had a problem with Poppy who resisted with everything she had.  I used to have to muzzle her and wrap her firmly in a big towel.  I realised that she had a painful right shoulder and  I am not sure how she injured it but the first time I boarded her back to the cattery where she was born the breeder commented on how aggressive she was and when I saw how the breeder's husband loaded them into his van the next time they went to boarding school I started to realise that the way he just threw their carry boxes into the back of his van was possibly a factor.

Needless to say they have never been back and I am not looking forward to the next time they have to be boarded out but will use the kennels connected with my Veterinary Hospital where I hope that they will be treated more gently.

Meanwhile, Poppy has been on anti-inflammatory medication for while now and for the last two times I have clipped her claws she has allowed me to do so with no hassles and has earned her post claw-clip treats very quickly.  It is such a relief to no longer have to dread fingernail days.  No muzzle and no towel; just tummy up on my lap.

The electronics in this place have gone berserk in the last few days:  the lift doors can't decide whether or not to close, the fob sensor to the door from the unsecure parking to the secure parking area will not open the door, my mobile phone has deleted D1's home phone number and my computer is acting really oddly.  I spent about an hour trying to get into my Hospital Benefits site because it no longer accepted my user name and password and wanted my membership card number as the user name (fair enough) but every time I tried to put in the new password which it demanded the site timed out and I had to start all over again.  I finally managed to get into the site and I just hope that whatever bug is on the system doesn't start on my bank.

I have visited my optometrist and am having new spectacles for everything with only the right eye needing changes  -  and he is going to try to have reading lenses put into my Randy Rainbow pink bejewelled frames.  Fingers crossed . . .

The Limerick:-

The principal food of the Siouxs
Is Indian maize, which they briouxs
And hominy make,
Or mix in a cake
And eat it with forks, as the chiouxs.

And that is the end of the Siouxs and almost the end of the book, which I inherited from my mother-in-law and which is falling apart.  I haved to visit Amazon so I will see about a new one when I order some cryptic crossword books (no longer available in Newsagents and bookshops).  It is over 50 years old and deserves to be honourably retired.

"Oh Happy Day"

I have started spinning again and it, so far, doesn't hurt at all  -  or hardly at all.  I have two cupboards full of fibre waiting to be spun and goodness knows what I am going to do with it all; spun or unspun.  Roberta had retained all her current settings but I had to replace a couple of small rubber rings and , of course, she needed some oil and grease.

My eyes are adjusting to their new status and the spectacles which I am wearing at the moment are working fairly well except for close vision.  I decided to try for the cheap pharmacy reading glasses promised by my ophthalmologist and found a pair which was great for the right eye but I couldn't see a thing out of the left lens so I have abandoned that idea and tomorrow I am off to see my optometrist and between us we are going to try for something which works. I will need reading glasses which work for both eyes and new computer glasses so that I do not have to sit a metre away from my monitor.

I am hoping that it will be possible to use my Randy Rainbow frames for my reading glasses but will have to let Mark be the judge of whether or not the technicians can get new lenses into them.  I'll use the frames which I already use for computer glasses and use the frames which I was using before the cataract surgery for one of the two for everyday use as I always need a spare pair.

The head of my local library has just had both eyes done and looked as unbalanced and unfocused as I was.  I know exactly how she is feeling.

And I am back to regular yoga and stretching out again.  To start with I was very stiff and sore but that is improving as I mobilise my joints and especially my back.

The Limerick:-

All new-fashioned boats he eschiouxs,
And uses the birch-bark caniouxs;
These are handy and light
And inverted at night
Give shelter from storms and from dyiouxs.

The spell checker is having some problems with this series of limericks.

A Bit Remiss

It is a while since I have been here and no excuse except that I have been having some problems with my new eye with its very variable focus.  This seems to be settling down now but I am still having to sit about a metre from my computer monitor and reading is difficult. I need reading glasses and probably computer glasses as well but for general viewing my right eye is much better than it was before (except for close work which is to be expected) and my distance vision in the right eye is better than the left one with correction lenses.

Now, of course I can see all the cat litter which the babies tread over the floor and I am vacuuming more often so have ordered a couple more filters for my Dyson Stick as, with all the rain we have had over the last couple of weeks the filter takes two days to dry and I can't vacuum again until it is dry.

I am back to doing yoga five times per week after quite a long break and am very, very stiff.  That should wear off in another week and I will be right back into it, albeit a bit wobbly in the lunges as my balance, never good, is not helped by my erratic vision.

I am still reading the Mueller Report in my e-reader but it is not very good at returning to my previous page after looking at a footnote so am swapping from Kobo to print and back to Kobo.  Reading glasses should fix that and since the e-reader version cost me (from memory) $0.10 it will be no loss to abandon the e-version if and when.

At the end of July I attended the Retired Physiotherapists Christmas in July.  Because I did not graduate here there are very few familiar faces but the man who runs the Café where we go used to be one of my assistants at one time.  I didn't recognise him the first time I saw him there but he remembered me and it took me ages to place him; it is over 30 years since we worked together.

The local Council wants our knitting group to knit Christmas decorations for the Council's fund-raising tree  -  donate and get a knitted Christmas tree.  I have opted out and will probably go back to knitting beanies ready for next winter and maybe some more wrist warmers if I can find suitable yarn.

And the Limerick:-

When out on the warpath the Sioux
March single file - never by tioux  -
And by 'blazing' the trees
Can return at their ease,
And their way through the forests ne'er lioux.