Friday 7th January
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| 7/365: texture of rose petals |
Yesterday was a much more positive day!
I spent the morning with Joy as arranged, catching up with all that's happened since we last saw each other. It's so good to meet a friend face to face instead of via Zoom, especially a friend you can laugh with.
Back at home I made a quick lunch (veggie curry leftover from the day before) and settled down for the Indian cookery class. This week's recipe was Tadka Dal but cooked using a pressure cooker rather than the method she demonstrated a few months ago. I am seriously tempted to add a pressure cooker to my wish list! As much as anything I like that M shows us how the food she cooks would be served in an Indian home, which is very different to how it's served in most Indian restaurants.
The afternoon was spent searching online to see what options are available to allow me to purchase a new piano and to see what sort of timescale I'm looking at. I'm waiting to hear back from one store today and then I can make a decision but I'm feeling more hopeful that I can replace the piano very quickly. My first and probably best option is that the store I will probably buy from will take other instruments in part exchange - it can be any instrument(s) - so it may be that I can kill two birds with one stone and get rid of the instruments I have already decided to sell. I still have six more instruments to sell, not including my tenor horn and my flute, so I have asked them for a quote (the info I'm waiting for) and can offset that money against the cost of the piano. If I were to sell the tenor horn and flute as well the combined value is probably enough to offset the entire cost of the new piano, but I'm not sure that I'm ready to let those two go just yet. The second option is that the same store also offers interest free credit but I'm not sure that it's an option I really want to do unless as a last resort. The final option is to pay a deposit and reserve a piano in my name and then pay the balance when the instrument is due to be delivered which means that I could delay delivery until I have the money ready in May. The first two options means that I could have the replacement piano by the end of the month and the final option, while allowing me to reserve the model I want, doesn't actually solve my immediate problem of needing a piano that works.
So I need to puzzle out what to do, but I didn't spend too much time pondering as yesterday saw the long awaited release of the 1921 UK census information. I've been waiting for this for at least the last two years so am really disappointed that there is a cost to view a copy of the original records. It's free to search the database but that only provides limited information so it's not going to be a resource I use regularly. I did pay to view one record though as I'm stuck on that branch of the family so was over the moon to glean one important piece of information from the census record; the 1921 census details a person's age in terms of years and months so I've been able to narrow down my grandfather's date of birth to March 1864 so I now stand a much better chance of tracing his birth record and, from there, his parents.
Today it's the nutrition class learning about nutritional support for sleep and then I'll carry on with the family tree until I hear back from the piano store. Hopefully I can get the order placed today, whichever option I choose. It's also my nephew's birthday so I'll fit in a phone call to him ... no visiting allowed as he has Covid!
I like your photo of the rose petal. My mother used to use a pressure cooker and as a child I was scared of it and I've never been tempted to own one myself. I hope you get a good quote for your instruments and that way you won't have long to wait for your new piano. I'm really disappointed with the census only being available on Findmypast and I'm not tempted to pay to look at anything just yet. That's wonderful you have discovered your long sought after information about your grandfather and hopefully broken through that brick wall. I hope your nephew recovers quickly from Covid and he has it on his birthday too, that's really bad luck.
ReplyDeleteThanks Eileen. I've used a pressure cooker before but it was really old and we eventually got rid of it. I think it will be a useful addition to the kitchen but I'll wait for a while to see if I still feel as keen to buy one in a couple of months time - trying to stop impulse buys!
DeleteThe piano is ordered and I'll update on the details in tomorrow's post.
The access to the 1921 is disappointing. Some of the website reviews suggest that it will become free to use in about three years time, but that's a long time to wait and I don't even know if that is true. I'm happy to have that extra bit of information on my grandfather, not that it's helped much so far!
Hopefully my nephew is near the end of his run in with Covid and he'll be well enough to celebrate with his wife and children. xx
That picture is so beautiful! Sending all good vibes for the piano. Perhaps you will get a stroke of luck somewhere.
ReplyDeleteThanks Lyssa. The piano is sorted so I'm a happy bunny. Just waiting for a delivery date now. xx
DeleteA most interesting photo perspective of a bloom (rose?). Trading one or two instruments for the piano sounds like a great way to strike a deal. I have also been thinking about getting an Insta Pot (aka pressure cooker) but I just don't know where I'd make room for it. I use my slow cooker (aka crock pot) a lot & would not want to give it up to make space. My sleep coach told me that pistachios are a good bedtime snack because they contain a lot natural melatonin. Have fun with the family search & happy weekend.
ReplyDeleteThanks Mary-Lou. The piano is sorted, but a different combination of the various options ... see tomorrow's post.
DeleteIf I do get a pressure it'll be a choice between an Instant Pot and a Hawkins. The Instant Pot obviously has more uses but I don't really know how much I'd use it to merit the expense ... I had a large Instant Pot before and sold it because it was too big for my kitchen.
She didn't mention pistachios for a bedtime snack but did mention nut butters with almond being the best of the lot for addressing the melatonin.
Thanks, hope you have a good weekend too. xx
How nice to see a friend face to face, I have such an outing on my schedule for Monday. Do clue us in on what nutrition can support better sleep, we all could use more of that.
ReplyDeleteSeeing the important people in my life face to face really helps to refill the happiness levels and is something I need to do more often.
DeleteI'll add the sleep advice to a post, probably next week some time. xx
Lovely photo of the rose petals! Glad to hear that you have the new piano sorted! That was quick! Will read that post, next!
ReplyDeleteGood to know about the almond butter and the pistachios that Mary-Lou mentioned! I have a jar of almond butter...I must tell my daughter to have some because she's worse than me when it comes to falling asleep! And then, she has to wake up early morning to start work!
Thanks Bless.
DeleteEating a small amount of nut butter or nuts is more to do with when you always wake in the night and can't get back to sleep. To help when you find it difficult to fall asleep, a big help is to establish a regular night time routine - avoid screens for an hour or so before bed, dim the lights, soak in the bath, avoid caffeine after early evening. If you do the same thing every night, your brain will recognise the signs that it's time to sleep.