And it is February already......

The days, weeks and now months are flying by at speed. The weather is totally off course here, and we have spring bulbs in flower and the blossom on the trees is opening more by the day. Heaven knows what this will mean to the actual spring and planting, and BUGS....

These are photos of flowers in my garden, taken in January. The garden should be in winter sleep mode in January, and wouldn't normally be photographed, so please excuse the dead stuff and empty pots. It is not supposed to have flowers in bloom either. 

I wonder what would happen if winter rolled in again? And here I am thinking that soon I will have to take the winter decorations down in the house and get out the spring boxes. Time flies....

I keep repeating myself.

Not a great deal of note has been happening here - well, apart from the normal for us - medical appointments, dentist visits, paperwork, trying to get things ticked on the ever growing to do list. Things which cannot be put off. The start of the year heralds the phone contract, the mobile contract, insurances, car services etc and I loathe having to do battle each year. It really is a battle. We are expected to shop around to get good value, and old fashioned things like customer loyalty are seen as a licence to print money by companies here - and I am sure all over the world. If you do not challenge a new quote from an existing supplier, they make a fortune. 

For example, my home insurance renewal arrived. I looked at it - up nearly £80 from last year. So I went on line, and got some cheaper quotes, then called my existing supplier. The quote immediately dropped substantially. To below what I paid last year. So why didn't they just do that in the first place? It enrages me, and then I sit here resenting the fact that I let myself become enraged. And then I resent the fact that I resent the fact. You get the picture. 

I should be all sweetness and light and skip happily through the process, treating it as a sweet game. Only no. I am not that kind of skippy person. 

Still, the flowers are pretty. And once I wade through the mess, I can relax until this time next year. Unless I have forgotten something vital. 

So, on to more sunny subjects. 

We have blue skies and sunshine again in Middle England. And the sun makes such a difference to one's mood. Until one sees the state of one's windows in the sunshine. I apparently lack Vitamin D. I suspect we all do in winter months. Ironically, we probably do in summer months too, given all the advice to keep out of the sun and the associated cancer risks. I see that rickets has re-emerged in some children once again. Interestingly, your face and hands only have to be exposed to sun for 15 minutes a few times a week in Spring and Summer to get enough Vitamin D. 

This is England. Sun is usually in very short supply. 

I have no idea how I ended up googling rickets. 

Last week, I went to see Jersey Boys at a local theatre. It was an excellent performance, even if I struggled to understand the Jersey Boys' accents initially. The singing was superb. The volume was very loud, and the theatre is not the most modern, so seats were rather thin, and consequently, I made some decisions re my next attempt at a musical outing. 

I will take the wheelchair, with cushions in place to minimise vibrations, and that way I will, hopefully, manage the entire performance. I absolutely loved the first half, but called it a day after the crashing booms of the finale, and left. BUT I went to the theatre and saw part of a show. This is huge  progress. 

We are getting there, people. 

Ear plugs, cushions, wheelchairs. Whatever it takes. 

It would help if the road surfaces were smooth, of course......

Happy Tuesday, to all of you!