turps | (no subject)

Had a bit of a hiccup to the start of today.

I'm an early riser, especially on light mornings so was up at 6. Though I'd get a start on everything so had a whitewash on soon after waking, made James' packed lunch, had coffee etc, went up to wake him at 7 and to get his shirt from the wardrobe, a shirt I'd ironed and put away last week only to find it was an old uniform shirt. This was an issue as the old ones are just that too small to wear and all the new ones were in the process of being washed. So, I had to stop the washer, drain it, pull out a soaking shirt and tumble it. It was dry when James set out to work, but yeah, they really do need ironing, body heat really doesn't cut it.

What's worse is, I ironed a shirt when I didn't have to. Stupid old style shirts, I've no idea how it got mixed up in the to-iron pile. Because the shirts are NHS/ambulance service branded you're not supposed to give them to charity shops or recycle, so I guess I'll have to shove it in the back of the wardrobe with the others.

But, apart from that, it's been a good morning. I had an early morning walk to the doctors to pick up a prescription and called into Lidl on the way home, where there was no queue and everything was in stock, so that was good. This afternoon I'm going to plant out more tomatoes and no doubt read my book in the sunshine.

I finished the fence yesterday, at least, mostly finished as the paint ran out. I knew it was going to and had to make the decision to either paint the last section on the outside or the inside. In the end, I went for the outside as I figured the plants would help disguise the inside for now. The plan is to get more paint when it's available, even if it does come in a big tub and I only have one small section to finish. James suggested we use the remainder to paint the wooden raised bed and also made noises about the decking, but I'm not sure about that.

Which reminds me, we have a bee nest under the raised bed. They're not bothering me and it's cool to watch them go through a gap on the corner of the bed, their legs heavy with pollen, but of all the places they could pick it had to be the courgette bed.

I think Murphy and Milo have a cunning plan going as I came across Murphy playing with the syringe I use to give Milo his crushed tablets, and watched as he pushed it under the TV unit. No way would I have found it if I hadn't caught him in the act.

To end, some photos of Milo, Murphy and the fence,

Milo is a distinguished old man.

While Murphy is an idiot showing off his toe beans and the coffee stain under his chin.

I took this on the way back from the doctors this morning. That ivy is a pain, on one hand, it stops people looking in and helped keep the rickety fence up, on the other, it grows like crazy and James is allergic to the stuff so it's up to me to cut and bag it every month or so. I do like the red colour, but keep seeing places I've missed, like that post near the ivy, and when I looked out the upstairs window, realised I hadn't painted the top of the boards.

The wild area at the end of the garden. My hip is still aching from painting under the honeysuckle yesterday due to standing in a crouched position for so long, there may also be a few red strands of honeysuckle now too /o\ The miner was mam's, she was so proud of being the daughter of a miner and loved that statue.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

shadowhive

Aww no, that’s easy done.

Good work with the fence, though that’s annoying with the paint. It’s always the way with painting

Yay for bees!

Oh Murphy you sneak! They both look adorable

Aww pretty!💚

From:

turps

I was so annoyed when I realised what I'd done. Stupid shirts that are almost exactly the same.

Yeah, I had a feeling it wasn't going to last, but, I guess it'll be nice to have the raised bed matching.

Bees are cool, as long as they keep away from me!

Murphy is a total sneak.

From:

ephemera

your garden looks so smart with it's newly painted fence!

From:

topaz119

Laundry is the bane of my existence, t. There's always something that isn't done, no matter that it feels like the machine is going non-stop.

From:

dine

I like the fence (and the statue)!!!

to bad you wasted your ironing time. is there a reason to keep the obsolete shirts? will they possibly switch back to that style? if there are patches attached, can you remove those so it could be worn for casual, around the house times? or can they be used for rags?

From:

frausorge

Oh how frustrating about the extra ironing!

Good for you for finishing (at least this bout of) the painting. The fence looks really nice!

And Milo looks very handsome, if a bit sober. And Murphy looks so energetic and playful!

From:

turps

I was not impressed when I realised I'd ironed an old shirt.

Despite having no choice about colour, I'm pleased with the fence, the red looks smart, especially against the green of the honeysuckle.

Seeing the photos of Milo and Murphy together, it's very apparent they're very different ages. Milo looks ancient against Murphy.

From:

turps

Thank you. I like the statue too, even though it's not something I would have gone out and bought myself. I'm actually lucky to have it as someone tried to take it from mam's garden when the house was being cleared. Thankfully it's really heavy, like, three strong men had to carry it to my house heavy, so was only moved a few inches.

No reason to keep them at all really. Normally I'd donate but the branding put paid to that, however your suggestion made me look at them again and it looks like the NHS and Ambulance patches are stuck on with really good glue, I'm assuming anyway as I can't see any stitching. So I'm going to attempt taking them off as it's a shame to have good quality clothes hidden away and unused.

From:

turps

I hear you.

But what surprises me is, only two people live in my house, so where does all the laundry come from? Yeah, I don't wear things more than once, but still, I end up washing most days.

And it must be so much worse for your house of boys.

From:

turps

I do like how it looks, I really like how the red turned out and seeing it now makes all the hard work worth it.

From:

wenchpixie

kittttttttttties :D :D <3

The fence looks great - bloody annoying that you have to buy a huge lot for the teeny bit that remains, but it really does look fab (and the honeysuckle will recover ;))

How sodding irritating about the shirts - I get why you can't put them somewhere that someone could pick them up and use them to impersonate, but I'm surprised they don't do a reclamation of them, our lot do and it means they don't end up accidentally at the tip...

Excellent with the lidl shopping, it's a very useful victory to have these days!

From:

turps

I'm proud of the fence, it was tedious to do but I do think it looks nice. Just a shame about the unfinished bit, and that I'll need to buy a huge tub.

You know, they could have a scheme like that, they should have anyway as just in the time James has worked there they've had three uniform changes, and that's a lot of branded stuff to hang onto. I'll have to ask him when he gets home and he'll ask when he goes back in. If they do that will be great, and give a lot of space back in the wardrobe.

The impersonation thing surprised me when I first found out, it seems so pointless, then at the beginning of this pandemic, they were warned to tuck branded lanyards away as some people had had theirs snatched from their necks. I guess priority spots and free drinks were too tempting for some.

I wouldn't say it felt normal to walk straight in as they still had distancing marks inside and the screens at the tills. But it did feel like a victory, like some steps forward have been made.

From:

dine

I googled and there are some tips online for removing patches - maybe you can find one that works on that adhesive.

From:

glitteryv

Ugh, ironing the wrong shirt is such a frustrating thing! I deffo understand why you were so annoyed. Also, it does seem like such a, I dunno, waste that you can't return the now-obsolete shirts back to James' workplace. Especially since they can't be donated. >:(

Oh, noes, Milo and Murphy are frenenemies! That means double the pranking and/or shenananigans, I'm sure. XD

A+ job on the fence. I know that your eyes are drawn to whatever patches you missed, etc, but it looks really good!

From:

turlough

That must have been such a frustrating start to the day for you! You clearly need to do something about those obsolete shirts. Maybe they would make good cleaning rags?

Hi Milo! You're indeed looking very "elderly statesman". You, Murphy, on the other hand totally look like the hooligan you are :-)

Your newly painted fence is looking very smart! The colour harmonises perfectly with the greenery. And look! You have a miner coming up in your garden!

From:

brandywine28

More shirt drama! I'm sorry. Laundry mishaps are one thing, but when they happen first thing in the morning? Gah.

Milo's serious, fuzzy face! Murphy's plump, little toe beans! Excellent cats. EXCELLENT. Even with the naughtiness.

Your paint job looks great to me! And I love the statue!

From:

turps

Those shirts taunt me I'm sure!

I agree with your assessments, they are excellent cats, but yes, Murphy is naughty for sure.

Thank you!

From:

turps

I have to admit, using the old shirts as cleaning rags would feel very satisfying.

Hooligan is such an apt description for Murphy, and yeah, Milo is an elderly statesman too. He looks so aged and dignified against Murph.

Thank you! I do like the end results of the painting, though it was much more tedious and fiddly than I was expecting.

From:

turps

Also, it does seem like such a, I dunno, waste that you can't return the now-obsolete shirts back to James' workplace. Especially since they can't be donated. >:(

He's going to find out if they have a return scheme. I just find it ridiculous that all those uniforms must be going to waste if they don't have a scheme. Every person who works there gets new shirts, fleeces and trousers each year if needed, and they've changed the uniform three times since James started working there. That is a lot of good quality clothes that can't be used hanging around for no reason.

Frenemies is right. I felt sorry for Milo yesterday. We'd bought Murphy a ball you fill with treats to make him work for them a bit. Milo decided to bat it around too, so Murphy whapped him on the head with his paw. Jealous thing that he is.

Thank you! I'm pleased with the fence, even if it did take a long time to do, and was very tedious getting all the sides of the boards done.