The CKR Files

Look at me doing a timely update.

I know lots of people aren't doing great right now and it feels pointless to crack on with the mundane aspects of living when the world seems to be on fire on all fronts. Not sure how everyone else is coping but I'm trying to channel my anger, rage and frustration on other slightly more visible platforms and pointing it at people who might be able to do something. So I'm aiming to keep my DW as a bit of a refuge.

#ORJENISE100 run by the lass on Insta is happening again this month. I'm 3 days behind but have already shifted 114 items. Not sure I'll beat my January total of using, donating or chucking 401 items but I'm well on the way.

HOME: chaos still reigns in my bedroom and living room but my kitchen, hall/stairs and bathroom have been cleaned and tidied. Still need to fix the new airvent in the bathroom but that will be done when I've finished sanding and varnishing the external side of the bathroom - which is why I hope the forecast for a sunny Friday will hold! Also on the docket for external fixes are sanding and painting the front door and front gate before the weather gets too bad. I've also still got winter pots and window boxes to finish planting.

HEALTH: overall pretty good though my arthritic knees are not happy. I took a tumble on site last Monday and despite landing on my padded posterior I apparently wrenched my knees and hit a pipe on the way down which has left a gigantic bruise on my shin. Ouch! For the first time in my life I filled out a proper accident form at work just in case my knees get even worse.

LIFE ADMIN: slowly picking away at long outstanding tasks like a grown ass adult.

GARDENING/ALLOTMENTING: I spent a chunk of last Saturday and Sunday afternoon down on the plot (not this weekend which has been too wet) and harvested courgettes and started the great pre-winter clear up. Still need to pick up windfall apples and harvest the rest when ready. Hoping to get the shed,tidied and sorted if we have a sunny weekend in October!

COOKING/EATING: doing a bit of a pantry/freezer challenge this month and using up items. My storage boxes are staring to look a bit depleted but I really DO NOT need to buy ground coffee or honey for a good few months. The coffee will go down quickly especially if I replace my morning cafe coffee with home made. The honey situation is out of control. I haven't counted how many jars but I estimate around 30. Apparently when I go away or visit a farmers market I buy honey, lots and lots of honey,

READING/LISTENING: Not reading/ listening at the moment - have run out of processing power! Have bought some good books from Bookbub and Bookdrop though and am going to try to get back to reading for 30 mins every evening to wind down.

WATCHING: all my usual weekly shows. Summer feels like it's been a bit quieter for new TV. Having said that I am loving Chief of War and S3 of Foundation and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Very sad that we only have 16 eps of ST: SNW before the show ends.

CREATING/LEARNING: summer has been nuts at work so hardly any time for crochet club or other creative endeavours.

CATS: all good.

VOLUNTEERING: all few committee meetings but no work days and we had to postpone the end of seasons BBQ because of the weather.

SOCIALISING: it's been a busy summer at work so social activities have beens bit limited. At work the allotment group did a show allotment at Hampton Court which was a 5 day build, exhibiting for 7 days and then a 1.5 day take down. They won best allotment and I am very proud of them. I was there for most of the build and take down and helped out on one show day. Tremendous fun. I helped out gingerpig with Steve Carlson's summer gig, again fun and a chance to catch up with friends, and I went to see Born with Teeth the Marlow & Shakespeare play with Ncuti Gatwa and Edward Bluemel. Which I have many thoughts about but can be summarised as I thought the writing was weak in places but Ncuti and Edward were obviously having heaps of fun with it. I may see if I can pop back at the end of the run.

WORK: Summer has been very stressful and - for the first time - I seriously wondered about quitting or taking retirement. I like the job most of the time, love the people in the Parks team and and the volunteers on the sites but I've taken on triple the amount of work my predecessors did and we're chronically under resourced. All of which led to a bit of a meltdown over the last 10 days. I'm getting too tired to work ridiculous numbers of hours in excess of my contracted hours and I want a life back!

Next week is a busy week too with a potentially challenging meeting on Thursday night but I plan to take Friday off because - as usual - I'll be about a day in hand by then!