Tuesday

I thought yesterday was going to be a bit of a disaster after a bad start but it turned out to be just the opposite. The disaster part was walking into a door (don't ask!) and causing a nosebleed which thankfully I was able to stop very quickly, only to realise that I had trailed blood through the house so there were bloodstains on the living room, stairs, and landing carpets. It obviously couldn't be left so I abandoned the plan to start spring cleaning in the playroom and spot cleaned the carpets instead, fortunately an easier task than it sounds as there is a scotchguard type protector on all the carpets. This worked as it should have done and the stains didn't soak into the fibres so could be wiped away. I still had to wash each patch but the end result looks fine and there's no sign of the bloodstains.

That all took longer than I'd planned for the daily housework slot and I thought at one stage I wouldn't be finished before the diabetes prevention course started so I contacted them and asked to join a different group for this week. As it turned out I finished in plenty of time so could have joined the original group but decided against it and settled down with a coffee to check my emails. This turned out to be a good move as there was one from Goldster, the organisation behind the online classes I've been attending each week, notifying this week's classes and advising of some new ones ... I've signed up for three of the new ones just to see what they are like: Photography (Monday), Happiness (Monday), and Life Coach (Thursday). There was also a French course which I considered doing as a refresher but decided against it as I thought it better to wait until I am more proficient with the Italian language.

The photography one was advertised as being for beginners so I wasn't sure that it was the right course for me but I joined the session anyway as I was intrigued to see how a practical subject like photography would be taught in a Zoom class. It wasn't at all what I was expecting and the instructor, Rhodri, adopted a completely different approach which is enlightening for any ability level. He concentrated on how to develop your 'eye', getting us to make a viewfinder from card (basically a 30cms x 90cms oblong cut from the centre of a piece of card) and looking at an object through the hole, watching to see how the 'picture' changed as you moved your position and how the light changed on the subject. He then used a powerpoint presentation of some of his own photos and talked us through the changes in each photo as he'd altered his position. This may all sound a bit boring but it sparked my enthusiasm and I will join in with future sessions. He suggested some practice for the week which is to repeat the same exercise and observe the changes, so I will have a go at that.

I enrolled for the Happiness session (a positive psychology class) as well but only caught the first ten minutes because G phoned and asked if she could come round straight away. However, in that short time I heard enough to believe that this class will go a long way towards helping me to develop better techniques in dealing with the depression, so I will definitely try again next week.  

G arrived and work her magic ... I feel human again! I hadn't realised just how much my unruly hair was getting me down but I now feel tons brighter and have gained some energy from somewhere!

The first couple of parcels arrived - the printer inks and some prescription meds - so I can sort out the printer today. My printer has bulk ink tanks so refilling the tanks is a bit more involved than just changing over ink cartridges and it's not my favourite job; I'll be glad when it's done and that's the first job for today, no procrastinating! Once that's finished I'll carry on with spring cleaning the rest of the room. 

There's nothing else in the diary so I'd like to attempt the photography practice, although I intend to actually take some photos rather than just observe. In the class the first object we observed was a pair of scissors so I will try the same and then look for something outdoors to attempt the same exercise on a larger scale.