Ongoing setup

Picture this week is literally only because I find I haven't taken any other photos. A better photo would have been my phone, but I take the pictures with the phone! Life can be complicated. This is the view I see of the dog every day when I'm working. She curls up and snores next to me to make working life even more depressing. I'd love to swap!

Recently at work I got a new laptop. This creates ongoing pain because I think I've done everything to setup and then I'll go to use something for the first time in a while and have to try to remember my password etc.

Last week my new mobile phone turned up, nothing posh, I really don't need a posh phone for what I use it for. However, my old one was one update away from being obsolete. It really hurts me replacing tech that's not yet dead. I just can't get my head around it. I'm of an age where you continued to use something until it was irreparably broken. Surely that's got to be good for the environment.

I did the setup on Friday and I've spent the entire weekend having to put in passwords and things like that, there are also random bings and bongs that I haven't yet worked out how to stop.

Though I would say that setting up a mobile phone has definitely got easier over the years. Most of it was simply done through smart switch. You used to have to upload everything to one area and then download it and do this for every app.

There are a couple of apps where I've lost my progress, but nothing significant enough to bother me....... yet.

The mornings are now darker and in fact today is the first day since spring that I couldn't take the dog out before work. I didn't realise just how much I need that walk to clear my cobwebs, I feel distinctly fuggy. Son is on half term and he's kindly agreed to take dog out for the week - then on Sunday the clocks change and so this should buy me a few more weeks until it becomes too dark again.

Don't even get me started about the fact that I don't feel safe going out on my own at night. It's not the monsters I'm scared of it's being attacked by men. It's absolutely disgraceful to be made to feel like this. I know it's not every man, in fact it's only a very few men. But having to look constantly behind you and then feeling tense if there is actually a man near you - especially if they don't have a dog. Means that a walk feels like a minefield.

And I'm not being pathetic, like every woman there have been instances where I've been followed and even in the past year a man walked past me on a remote path and said morning. I smiled but didn't engage and so he squared up to me and started shouting at me for being rude. Nuff said. WANKER - it's people like you that give men a bad name.

I've got a baby tooth, just one - nothing ever pushed it out so it's still there, but the root is now just a few mm. It's causing me some grief, I think something may have got stuck under there. I'm currently treating it with difflam, but I have a horrid feeling I'm going to have to make a dentist appointment. I'll leave it another day before deciding. It's not agony, but it's a dull ache and hurts if I press the gum (so I'm not pressing the gum). Who knows, I may lose some weight because I think I'll be on soup for a week.

Mum and dad came over on Sunday and my brother joined us as well, which was nice. It was a really good fun lunch actually, lots of giggles. I made a tagine, I haven't done one in absolutely yonks. It was very tasty. I must remember to do them more it's so easy. Though I cooked enough for us to live on for a week and so we may be bored of it by the end. I also did an apple crumble that was 100% dairy and gluten free.

Son keeps getting itchy - whole body itchy - we are dropping different foods to see if it makes a difference. First was dairy and now we're doing gluten. I'm amazed how much gluten free stuff is out there. I even managed to get gluten free flour for the crumble, which I mixed with oats. I used some of the dairy free spread instead of butter, but that was literally just to get rid of it. It tasted yuck. The only gluten free thing that son has found so far that he doesn't like are gluten free wraps. We've tried a number of different 'flavours' but they are all a thumbs down. In fact he's said that he actually prefers gluten free bread to normal bread. So we'll see whether this gluten free thing helps. Gluten free pizza on Wednesday - it could be a deal breaker.

Mum and dad bought along 3 big boxes of apples with them. So once they'd left I spent 2 hours in the kitchen peeling the apples and then stewing them. I ended up with 10 freezer containers of stewed apple. I only just managed to find space for them in the freezer. I'll be looking for a million different things to do with that apple now. We will quickly get bored of apple crumble. I did manage to find a recipe for apple and onion chutney. I'll deffo give that a go.

It's pumpkins next week, so the next big cook is going to be pumpkin soup. A once a year event.