Chrimbo Limbo...Twixtmas
Whatever 'this' is!
Today I am catching up.
After several days of doing not a lot, I’ve opened up my special Chrome profile dedicated to Substack and all it’s glory.
Firstly, I have 143 unread emails which is enough to give me a panic attack, along with comments, tags and messages I’d like to reply to, sorry! I am not someone that sits easily with thousands of unread emails, or all of them just sitting there in my inbox. Everything in it’s place and all that, I like to keep my inbox like I don’t like to keep my house, tidy. When you have 9 email accounts to manage plus 4 of your clients to check in on, inbox management is a key factor in my sanity. Not to the point of inbox zero, I don’t subscribe to that way of thinking, especially after reading Graham Alcott’s How to be a Productivity Ninja. Essentially all you’re doing is filing your to-do’s in another email folder, what is the point? Keep them in your inbox I say.
Anyway, long story long…here I am, still, with 143 unread emails, mostly from Substack…this is why I don’t get email notifications for new posts from publications I subscribe to, it would be over a thousand if I did I am sure!
Before blowing away the cobwebs on my inbox, I’ve been enjoying Christmas telly, bracing walks, a new jigsaw puzzle and an excellent book.
TV highlights have been of course, Gavin and Stacey, what an absolute delight, it’s on my list to rewatch next week. Other favourites include Outnumbered and Wallace & Gromit, both of which had me laughing at the subtle jokes and excellent delivery, yes stop-motion dogs have a real depth. We’ve largely avoided the Christmas versions of all the nations favourite reality shows - I had high hopes for The Masked Singer, which I generally find very tedious, because, hello, French & Saunders were on the panel, but what I realise is I only liked the bits where Dawn & Jennifer spoke and when the singers are revealed, so about 10 minutes of a 90 minute show. Not worth the pain, although it apparently made it’s fans furious because the clues were so hard. That in itself gives me some joy!
Next week I’ll be cashing in my 3 months free subscription for Apple TV and first on the list is the latest series of Slow Horses. Gary Oldman is one of my favourite actors, I’ve been pretty obsessed with him since the pills scene in Leon. We’ll probably be done in 2 days! You can easily binge watch all 4 series in a month, get it for 2 and binge watch Ted Lasso too!
After finishing My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell (still processing) on Boxing Day, I have started reading The Cure for Death by Lightning by Gail Anderson-Dargatz, 3 chapters in and already in love.
“The remote Turtle Valley in British Columbia is home to fifteen-year-old Beth Weeks and a community of eccentric but familiar characters. There, amidst a stunning landscape of purple swallows and green skies, strange and unsettling events occur: children go missing, a girl is mauled by a crazy bear, and Beth, too, is being pursued... The Cure for Death by Lightning is a rich and thrilling novel as filled with strange deeds and dark fears as with beauty and magic.”
High hopes.
I’m enjoying the slow progress of things during this period. The poor little hawthorne saplings are covered again after the last storm blew the guards around the garden, I have emptied more pots in Doug getting them ready for the season ahead and I am about a quarter of the way to reinstalling my cold water pod so I can start dipping again. This year it will be living in Doug which may seems a bit of a cheat, but we don’t have anywhere sheltered and it doesn’t get much above 8 degrees that I’ve seen over the past few weeks. As long at as the water temp keeps below 10 degrees I’m happy, but I would prefer it below 5 - only because the colder it is the less time I have to sit in it!
And now I should probably stop procrastinating and look at those emails that are still sitting in my inbox…
Doug is the Polycrub - you can find out more about him here. He is a regular topic of conversation!
Introducing the Polycrub
It's hard to believe that three months ago, we were waiting for our Polycrub to be delivered. I know exactly when it was because it arrived a few days before my birthday, Thursday 6th April. After an agonising wait, I got a call to say it was about to get on the ferry! That was it, I got nothing done until it arrived. I even cancelled a meeting.
Signs of Growth
It’s been a while since I introduced you to our Polycrub, Doug. Seven months in fact and I’d like to say a lot had changed. It hasn’t but it is beginning to.
Raising beds
It's been a busy few weeks in Doug, for E more than me, but we are seeing some REAL progress… raised beds. I cannot express how much joy this brings. So much so I have had a look at my feelings wheel and settled on euphoric! Yes, I am that passionate about gardening. I’m still not very good at it, and I much prefer tearing stuff down than building it up…
I love that you got joy from hearing about the furious fans of the Masked Singer 😉🤣
This is exactly how I use my inbox, so glad to have stumbled upon a fellow kindred spirit. It's a good way to organise what needs doing. I hope you enjoy the New Year TV, that seems to be where the BBC is focusing its energies. HNY.