The days grow short, when you reach September, but what about the tortoises?

 The tortoises have been pretty quiet for a few weeks.  But they woke up and were interested in life a few days ago, so I bathed them and fed them - one wasn't interested in the food, but the other ate.  I've looked for them every day since but, other than Fyodor the next day, they've stayed out of sight.  Yesterday, Wince spent the whole morning building them an inside run and I, today, bought a whole lot of topsoil and got it ready for them.  Then went tortoise hunting.  I've found one of them, the top of his shell being 3 inches underground, the other must be close by as the earth is hard or grassed over in the rest of their secure run.  

I'm hesitating.  It might be quite a shock to a sleeping tortoise, to be dug up.  Yet they stopped eating 3 or 4 weeks ago and it's a long time until March, if they hibernate the whole time.  I was hoping to feed them up for a month or six weeks, gradually wind them down for another month and then let them sleep.  I'll decide tomorrow.  Ronan and the children are coming over, so I'll ask him to help me take their cold frame away, so I can get to them more easily, if I want to wake them up.

We had thought of meeting in Norwich, but it's more time efficient for me if they come over here, I'll have an extra hour or so to get on with things.  I've got so much to do before I go away on Sunday.  But there's no point in fussing about it.  I'll do whatever I can and take my laptop with me.  Can one type on a coach?  I'm thinking of squirrelling myself away at the back and working throughout the journey to Cheltenham.

On another subject entirely, I have a nail that starts to split when it grows much beyond the nail bed.  I can't remember ever damaging it, so it's quite odd.  There isn't a visible crack, but it goes at the same place every time.  So annoying.  However, the success story of the summer is my eyelashes.

I'm going all girly on you, so apologies and I'll totally understand if you quietly leave at this point.  But it's one of the things, when you get old, that your previously lovely eyelashes stop being lovely, but are short and stubby.  Then I heard about eyelash serum - on the comments page of the Times (I've a feeling I've written about this, have I?) and bought some and, well, it's spectacular.  It took a few weeks, but they are now magnificent.  The other thing is eyebrows, which either get bristly and beetling or else pretty well vanish - mine were somewhere in the middle, but I'd resorted to filling in the gaps.  Friends, eyelash serum works on eyebrows too.  Only problem is that I now need them professionally tidied up as they're so thick. I've actually turned back time.  Three cheers for eyelash serum, which is actually one of the ingredients for a treatment for glaucoma.  I've stopped using it, because I was starting to feel like Dumbo, but with lashes rather than ears.  I'm not sorry that I haven't found a growth serum for ears.  I wouldn't mind having ears that rotated like a hare's, though.  Wouldn't it be great?

I have a lot of eggs, but I also have a small, but tempting cauliflower and a lot of milk.  Cauliflower cheese and a hardboiled egg?  I've also got runner beans.  I don't want to cook because of the difficulty of washing up, but - well, it sounds tasty.  And cooking is what Z does.

November is looking more promising...

 My darling friend Lynn's birthday is a fortnight after mine, so today is the midway spot between the two of us.  I have not yet bought her a present, nor thanked her for mine.  There was an exhibition of spinning and weaving in Yagnub the week before last and I'd hoped I might find her something there - sadly, I didn't make it there until the last day and everything that I thought would have really suited her was already sold.  I suspect I know what I'll send, but it's perishable, so I hope her beloved hasn't whisked her away on holiday.  I must deal with it soon, anyway.

Absolute chaos still at the Zedery.  I'm mightily pissed off with the kitchen fitter, who has been an arse.  Quite simply, because he hasn't kept anyone informed, so the kitchen units turned up the morning after the old kitchen had been stripped and he hadn't told Magnet - who had employed him on my behalf - that he had no intention of coming that morning.  He has been awkward and obstructive and he has one more chance, next week.  And I can't really talk about it because it takes a lot to make me angry and he has and I don't need to fan the flames.  I'd rather calm myself down.

My friends Pam and Peter have moved into a very luxurious nursing home in the town a few miles away.  I went to visit them the other day - I felt very bad, that I hadn't been before, but they're too stressed to want unannounced visitors and they haven't been answering their phone.  Anyway, they have a very nice room, but it absolutely won't do in the long term.  Poor Pam has a bed tucked in a corner, because Peter needs so much care that his has to take centre position, with room for a hoist and a wheelchair too.  I've talked to their daughter about the situation - Pam is woken every night when they come to look after Peter.  She's seriously thinking of going back to their house for a couple of nights, just to get some sleep.  For what they're paying, they should have a bedroom and a sitting room, at the least.  

In the midst of all, I'm working on the auction catalogue.  I've never been so behind, but I'll have to try very hard to spot all mistakes before the catalogue itself is formatted, so that it'll just be tweaking at that stage.  I'm running out of time, however.  I need the first draft ready by Saturday night, but I'm out most of tomorrow, on Friday morning and on Saturday; then I'm going away from Sunday morning to Thursday evening.  I used to be able to do paperwork in the evenings after everyday work all day, but I simply can't now.  Our old friend Dave East kindly came over to help with the photography yesterday, as I'd sounded so distressed on Facebook.  I don't usually show it when I'm that agitated any more, but I'm glad I did, because I appreciated his help and friendship and enjoyed his company.  And today, I didn't cancel my visit to Norwich - which I would have done, back in the day, when I put work first - but then stayed on for lunch (I've learned to like going into a nice restaurant and asking for a table for one) and then bought clothes - nothing interesting, just jeans and sensible shoes for my trip away next week, which will involve a lot of walking.  

I also dealt with some bank admin.  I now need to write a covering letter and post stuff off.  I've also got to book Tim's car's MOT and, before that, get a chip in the windscreen repaired.

In short, I'm coping, but there's a lot to do.  

Z will be back

 Thank you, I'm sorry I've worried you lovely friends.  I'm fine, I'm quite harassed and I'm also very busy.  At one time, I'd still have blogged, even if it had been from my phone at 11.55 pm and I'd been nearly asleep.  It's not a bad thing that I've moved on from that.  

In short, I don't have a kitchen yet, I do have a bathroom and a cloakroom floor, I'm okay, my family is okay, I'll blog as soon as the catalogue for the next auction is under control.  

Z's Scottish holiday 4 I think. Returning home

Honestly, everything was wonderful.  Apart from the minor detail of my phone wanting me to walk in rough grass next to a very busy dual carriageway, which was more than redeemed by a lovely woman turning her car round on a side road, to come and check where I wanted to go and put me right, everything was perfect.  Except leaving my bag in the taxi, having to run - and retrieving it, woo hoo - which gave me two migraines; but that was completely my fault, so doesn't count - it was fabulous.  When I'm not so busy, I might upload some photos, but they'll just be random snapshots, so you won't miss anything if I don't get round to it.

I'm so far behind the daily blogging that I might have to do a précis.  Now it's Tuesday 2nd September and it's Dilly's birthday.  I sent her a card, but that's all, apart from an affectionate message.  I've asked what she would like and she's told me, which is alarmingly practical, but I'm completely out of imagination,  Son in law Phil's birthday on the 5th and at least I've posted the card today...

The kitchen is no longer there, it's a bare room with an Aga.  So this should also be a kitchen post.  I trust I'll do better tomorrow.  I have got some extras done today, including the first steps to retrieving my other blog.  From now on, all posts will be put on both.  I'll talk to Ronan about the possibility of filling in the gaps here, too.  Belt and braces is the least of it, at the Zedery