Paperback Reader

Thanks to being the youngest child and being read to by Bigsister and our doting Grampa (we all lived in the same house) I can’t remember a time when I couldn’t read.

I do remember when I realised I could read ‘inside my head’ rather than out loud and didn’t have to follow the words with my finger.

I love reading but once I open a book I’m fairly lost and nothing gets done.   

So reading is confined to holidays, weekends away with Pearl, hot summer days and, last year, sitting by a bedside in hospital.

I have far too many books so I’ve now started a one-in-one-out system.  

Most of my paperbacks come from and go to a charity shop, with the ones I’ve really enjoyed passed on to family and friends.

From Facebook Archives

2 February 2025 at 22.40

Saturday morning lie in until the boys have all gone out.

Ferretfingers gives me his 1st of the month £5 (don't ask)

Faff about on facebook and online.

Phone Middlesister who's has had a virus, is recovering slowly but not feeling great and getting bored.  I offer to send her the last four books I've read and she in return will send me a jumper that is too big for her now.

Check when FourLaneEnds Post Office shuts on a Saturday: 2.30pm.

Deal with a small domestic emergency.

Get dressed, wrap books, pick up rag-bags for St Oswalds, leave the house about quarter past two,

Outside the Post Office at 14.18 (by my watch which is a couple of minutes fast) door shut and locked, despite sign saying Saturday closing is 2.30.

Stomp around to St Oswalds Hospice shop, dump ragbags and scour bookshelves. 

Come away with four Anne Cleves (3 Veras and a Devon one) and Mel Geidroc's first novel*.

So that's 4 books almost out, 5 books in this week and 2 Ian Rankins Fester got me in a charity shop last week.

Which brings my paperbacks to read up to 20.

*The Best Things, which I thoroughly enjoyed and have passed on to Mrs Leftfoot.

 

A Different Day

Not this hat

I didn’t blog on Friday because we have to be out by nine.  I did prepare something for yesterday but it didn’t get posted, and here's why.

I needed to go into town to go to the bank to pay Ferretfingers LD:NorthEast Outreach and Ouseburn invoices, and my WI subs, and to pay in a small Ernie win.  The bank is open for self-service customers until 12.30 on a Saturday, and there are always a couple of tellers hanging around asking if they can help.

Saturday is my lie-in day.  By the time I woke up (9.30ish) the boys were all out on their travels.  

I opened the curtains and, lo, it wasn’t raining.  

In fact it was dry (ish).   So, before it could change its mind, I dressed, breakfasted and went out in my puffy purple raincoat and red rain hat.

nor this 

I’ve promised myself that when I have a win I shall buy a little something, a treat, for myself.  Sometimes Yardley toiletries but mostly I take myself to Waterstones and explore their “buy one get one half price” tables.   

This time I took myself into the children’s department and bought something for the griblings.  A lovely girl assistant helped me find it and I found myself saying “I feel a bit like MissMarple, it’s for my great nieces and nephew .”

Sometimes the treat is finding something for someone else.

Waterstones is in a lovely Grade II listed building and has the original 1902 doors.  No automatic opening here.   

As I exited a gentleman on the way in held the door for me.

nor this one either

“I like your hat” he said.                    

“I like yours too” I replied, even though it was a Newcastle United bobble hat.

I like to outfit dolls at Christmas to give to the foodbank so that at least one little girl has a new dolly from Santa.  But the dolly has to have a nice face so I like to get them when I see them.

At Twixtmas, when Thunderthighs and I did the next-year’s-Xmas-card trip to the charity shops on Shields Road, I saw some naked baby dolls in Barnardo’s.   

But Thunderthighs gave me ‘the look’ when I started looking at them so I thought better of it.

Heading to the bus stops on Blackett Street I thought “If one of the sixties comes first I shall go home, but if it’s a 12 or 40 I shall get off in Byker and pop into Barnardo’s.”

Which I did.

At first I didn’t see them, then I noticed a box with cuddly toys on top and had a rummage.  Underneath were four lovely faced baby dollies, who came home with me.

Having been cooped up by the rain so long, with the weather continuing dry, I spent the rest of the day in the garden.

Once Ferretfingers was home and had had his lunch we set the saw-horse up and filled up the log store.  We were at it until after four, by which time I was quite cold so treated myself to a hot chocolate.

I had a happy evening knitting and watching black & white films, until both cats came and sat on me.

It’s dry again today – so far.

 

Calendar Spending Mending Farewell

From Facebook Archives

Sunday 29 January 2023 at 16.34

Updating the diary/calendar…

February has 11 things in already!

Ms Exlibris  I’ve got 15 and work!

Sunday 29 January 2023 at 18.53

Have just spent >£100 on things just for me!

FifiD  Good!!!

Mrs Walker  Well done Ben!

Paganess  Excellent

Tylebach  Don’t it feel good!!!Xxx

Mrs Jeremy  Good for you, Ben! It's about time!

Cousin Daisy  About time. !!!

Bentonbag  Mrs Bun  I'm getting myself a pair of those pink tights like wot you wore.

Mrs Bun  Good for you xxx

29 January 2024 at 16:48

This afternoon I got out the sewing machine and patched 8 of Thunderthighs's jeans, patched and rehemmed a pair of his denim shorts and patched a pair of Fester's lightweight summer trousers.

Which shows how long it is since I last got the sewing machine out.

Two new pairs of jeans arrived from Atlas-for-Men today so Thunderthighs has been instructed to sort his trousers into:-

    new/nice/put away for best/holidays

    ok for everyday wear

    many patches, use for work-experience/Ouseburn Farm until they finally die.

Shows what I can get around to once other people help get the chores out of the way.

The thing is the ones Thunderthighs has on today will be straight onto the repair pile once they're washed.

29 January 2025 at 09.17

A shout up the stairs

"Hey Ben, I'm off."

"I know; I can smell you."

"It's the way I walk."

And the door slams...

 

Mental Eyeworm?

From Facebook Archives

28 January 2021

Took the old computer to Monkseaton yesterday to have the data downloaded, not too bothered if they can't fix the on/off switch.   

We'd had a discussion about the useless mike on my el cheapo webcam and he gave me a headset (free!) and lo!  People can hear me at a reasonable volume and I don't sound too much like a Vogon.

Thank you Sheamus for all the facetime working out how to sort it out, hope your hearing wasn't too damaged.

So I'm available for facetiming, skyping or zooming - if you can catch me near the pc.

But beware there's likely to be a less than fully dressed bloke in the background.

I'll leave you with that happy mental image.

Sheamus Murphy  What's the visual equivalent of the eyeworm of that cheesy music hit that keeps going round in your head all day?!

Bazoukiboy  Notice the lack of shock in the comments... Fester was the new normal before it ever happened.  Rest of society catching up

Mrs Walker  A glimpse of a less than fully dressed bloke would certainly perk up a Zoom meeting.

Bentonbag  He says "Not so much this time of year mate"!