Various ramblings by the small hobbit

Week 4 had a creative theme, so I wrote a tanka:

Counting garden birds
Filling up the water bowls
Walking through the woods
Small steps to gentle progress
Building a lifetime's habit

And I downloaded a knitting pattern from the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, to knit a bittern - a 'knittern' for making later.

In addition, I downloaded 14 spotter sheets for use during different seasons (and therefore encouraging me to go out), plus masks and colouring sheets for our after school club.

Finally, I made a bumblebee felt craft brooch from a kit I'd myself a while ago.




Looking back on the 30 Days Wild challenge, it's been fun and hopefully will encourage me to do more - I always feel it would be a good idea, but finding the necessary motivation is important.  I've become a member of the British Trust for Ornithology (it's not very expensive) and have submitted two weeks' worth of garden bird sightings.  And I'm currently watching the house martins flying around catching flies.

Frame Cross Stitch

I finally got around to buying some picture frames.  And since it wasn't just my cross stitch projects that needed framing, but my two latest production posters from New Adventures dance performances, I did those two:

   

And here are Klimt's Sunflowers and Klimt's The Kiss

   

Listen to Delius

There are still Delius' pieces I want to listen to, but for the purpose of this challenge I have listened to several works.  

North Country Sketches
La Calinda
On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring
Twilight Fancies (song)
Marche Caprice
Sleigh Ride
The Song of the High Hills
The Florida Suite (my favourite so far)
Appalachia
Hiawatha
Brig Fair
Cello Concerto
Spring Morning
Dance Rhapsody No 1 & No 2
Sonata for Strings (both original and Eric Fenby arrangement)
Violin Concerto
Evening Songs

Book Leger holiday for 2026

Daughter and I had been trying to decide on which Battlefields Tour we would do next year.  There was one destination we were looking at, but neither tour quite fitted the bill properly, so I suggested instead of making that one work, she might like to look at something different.  Normally she's been really clear on what she's selected, so the fact that we weren't certain had made me wonder.

Anyway, yesterday she messaged me, and we had a chat, with the result that this morning I booked our tour for next April.  For anyone who knows their classic WWII films, this fits perfectly, as we're off to Germany, scene of The Dambusters, Colditz and the Great Escape.  It should be very interesting, not because we're relishing triumphant films, but in looking at the history and what made people behave as they did, something which doesn't change.  Among other places, we shall be visiting Dresden, Berlin and Hannover, which will be really interesting.

Due to the kind assistance of friends who have requested cards over the last few months, my pile of them is reduced, but there are still some available (including a further six which I found in another box), so if you would like a card, or if you've already received one and would like a second, then do let me know.

Comments will be screened, so please leave your address - unless I already have it - and cards will arrive at some point, depending on the vagaries of your and my postal systems and when I can get to the post office for non-UK cards.

Second Quarter

10 - Obtain refund on our Oyster cards
We used to use our Oyster cards (issued by Transport for London) on tubes and buses when we went up to London.  However, we no longer go there nearly as often, plus it's easy to simply use a debit card for the tube.  And since we have bus passes buses are free and often the more direct route.  Refunds are available online, but our cards are so old it doesn't work.

11 - Change phone provider
Something I've been putting off for ages due to the hassle - let's see if I can finally get it sorted!

12 - Visit Jersey
That's booked and we go next month.  I'm including it because it's definitely something different for 2025 as I've never been before.

13 - Frame cross stitch
I've stitched a couple of Klimt pictures which really deserve to go on show, so it's about time I did something.

Second Quarter Plus
Two things which will take more than three months, so April to September

14 - Read book on Brueghel
I was given a lovely books of Brueghel paintings for Christmas 2023 which I've only dipped into a few times.  It's not the sort of book to be tackled over a month, but one to enjoy the paintings, so that's my plan.

15 - Tackle stitching projects
I have a large number (16) of mostly cross stitching but also a couple of felt craft kits, some of which I've been given as presents, some I bought, and some are free gifts with my magazine, but all of them I'd like to do.  I'm going to aim for completing three of those in the next six months, taking into account not knowing how long each one will take, plus already doing two SAL and cards for various occasions.

Drink at least one litre of water a day 

Some days this has been a bit of a challenge, but I have been successful every day.



Every day I fill my one litre bottle (present from Daughter) and drink my way through it.  And if we've been out for a meal, I make sure I drink a glass of water so I can reduce the contents of the bottle accordingly.

Some days it's still a bit of a struggle - and I wouldn't say it's become a regular habit yet, but I shall keep going.

Halve my current list of OpenLearn courses

When I first set, this target, I had 19 courses on my list, this increased to 23 at the end of January, and has now reached 26.

However, I have been making good progress, in January I completed 6 courses, in February I completed a further 6, and now having finished a further course yesterday, I have completed 13 courses this year, and therefore half of 26!  Obviously, some courses are very short, but that is not relevant.

I now have 12 courses left on my list (and before anyone points out 13 + 12 = 25, not 26, this is because one course was well above my level of physics understanding, so although I read through and absorbed some of the information, I didn't 'complete' it.  It can now legitimately be removed from the list.)

My intention was never to clear the whole list - new courses come out, or current courses point to something else, but I'm pleased with how things are looking at present.

Having originally decided to split my year into six things every quarter, plus the overall goal of achieving 25 things in the year, I then found two things I wanted to add, but felt it would be better to start them now, rather than wait until April.  So since it's my list, to be run my way, I've now added them as Two Things to be achieved in the first half of the year, because they may well reasonably take more than three months anyway.

8 - Reduce pile of greetings cards
I was sorting through my greetings cards to see what I needed to buy for this year and realised I had a large number of odd cards from previous packs.  And the best way of reducing the number is by sending or giving them to people.  Currently I have 28 blank cards, plus 2 birthday cards (probably inherited from my mother) and 3 Easter cards.

9 - Listen to Delius
AnnaFan writes Lord of the Rings AUs on AO3 and her current story is a music college AU.  Every chapter has a piece of music mentioned and a couple of weeks' ago this was Delius North Country Sketches which I listened to as I read the chapter.  I liked it and realised I'd never really listened to anything by Delius, so for the next few months I plan to listen to a number of his works.

Replace my current mobile phone

Like my laptop, my phone was showing signs of aging (well, so am I, but I'm not being replaced with a new model!) and some of the apps had stopped working, plus the banking apps were not going to be usable for much longer, so having sorted my new laptop it was time to do the same with my phone.

I went to look at some of the latest models, with the intention of sticking with Samsung, and having decided that that's what I was indeed going to do, and staying with the bottom of the range model - because I really don't need all the bells and whistles and would only get confused if I had them, I came home and ordered it, again through John Lewis.  The phone is pale green, but you can't actually see that as I've again gone with a bright red cover.

I had it up and running before my trip to London and so far I'm quite happy with it.  

But no more electronic changes for the moment!