seems to have left the garden for good, taking his parents with him.  Good luck to them all.  I love the quiet but Andy keeps asking if I've seen the little guy.  Seems he may be missed after all.

We got the new tyre and wheel yesterday and it is all over but the paying of the credit card bill.  My only question/gripe is that Andy didn't do it on the old tyres.

Since I moved the furniture I've been enjoying my stitching again. I'm really happy about that.  Trouble is - I'm back to staying up late with it again.  Ah well.....

because  I've just used my electricity and time to shred some of it.  And had to tear off the window bit of windows envelopes that our council won't accept in the paper recycling stuff.  It "contaminates the paper and they have to throw it all away".  Well, that's what the lady from the council told me the other week when she called to do some survey or another.  What nonsense.  Do they want me to recycle or not?  Why make it harder than it has to be?

Back to the junk mail.  Why do firms think they will get more business from me when I have not replied to any of their previous offers?  Why do they have to put so many of my details on them?  I can't just bin them like the junk they are.  Oh no, because of identity fraud I have to shred them.  What idiot boss in what firm came up with the idea that if an appliction form is partly filled in it will make me more likely to finish it?  Hey, Stupid, if I want to fill in a form I can and will fill it all in.  And if I'm too dumb  to do that properly, then why are you willing to lend me money or whatever it is that your are trying to flog me?

Apologies to those who have disabilities including illiteracy and dyslexia which make form filling difficult.  Come to me and I'll fill in your forms for you willingly.  As will many other good folk out there. (Having said that, can they read the stuff they get anyway?)

I do NOT want to tell you that my car insurance is already paid for the next ten months so you can contact me then.  It is none of your business.  If I want to insure with you, I will contact you.  I have internet.  You must know this 'cause every damn piece of paper you send me has your web address on it at least once.

The government wants to cut our use of resources.  Let's start with a ban of the amount of stuff that is unsolicited mail that needs shredding.

I'm happy to shred receipts from shopping, bills, letters from companies that I deal with, medical letters and that sort of stuff.  I am referring to the box of junk mail that comes through my door every fortnight.

And that includes pizzas, doners, burgers, and anything else that comes through the door.  Your leaflet may look good but unless someone tells me your food tastes good and is good value, I don't even look at it.  I bin it.

This lunchtime I wrote a whole lot for this using my kid's laptop.  Don't know how, but I lost it all.  Maybe it will come back, I don't know but I was pretty disappointed.

I wrote about going to a party on an empty stomach and little to drink all day.  No prizes for guessing what happened?  Yep.  And I didn't feel to brilliant yesterday either.  Ah well, of such is life.

The bird seems to be gone.  The first day he left, he stayed away for about 24 hours.  Then he left walking through the gate the same day.  While he was away we staked up the magnolia and hung bits of coloured plastic from the branches that he liked best.  When he arrived home the next day he was not very happy.  Kept squawking and looking at 'his' bush.  He tried another nearby bush but it is fairly prickly so he abandoned that smartly.  Damn fool bird didn't grasp the fact that the garden is surrounded by other bushes, did he?  Anyway, he left of his own accord this time.  Not sure where or when or how he went but the neighbour asked us to collect him---as if! Finders keepers is the story I'm sticking to. Long story short, we don't know where he is or how he is.  It has been so quiet at night as well as daytime now since his parents are not visible either.   I hope he hasn't come to any harm and has maybe started to fly.   The neighbour did say that he flew a bit in her garden so here's hoping.

Since I stopped eating the wholemeal bread etc my weight has gone back down to where it was.  Still too high but in the range I'd expect.  It was so disheartening to see it going up when I was actually eating less quantity.  So now I seem to be doing okay.  And since I want to help the Other Half to shed some spare pounds I am trying to cook more and earlier.  Chel can cook for herself when she comes in if she doesn't want what I've cooked for her earlier.

I had a brainwave this moring and am so pleased.  I couldn't see to stitch so took my work over to the window and it was totally different - I could see it clearly.

A few weeks ago I moved the furniture around - something I do frequently - and put my chair across the room.  After my trip to the window, I shifted Himself off the sofa and said I was moving it.  He even offered to help me, which was very appreciated.  I'm happy with the result and I CAN STITCH again.  Which is what I've done most of the afternoon.  It was wonderfully relaxing after a stressful weekend.

On Sunday am Andy had a bit of a prang on his way home from work.  No one else was involved, he swerved to miss a pair of cats (he has always hated cats which just made things worse) and hit a bollard in the middle of the road.  Bang.  A hole in the side of the new tyre we bought on Friday, a dented rim, and two of his fave wheel trims bust to bits.  This has not been a happy man!  And I feel so sorry for him.  I did all the research I could for him and he's asked around at work for the cheapest options, and we'll deal with that tomorrow.