My Panasonic DVD/CD player has bit the dust. Well, not excactly, the remote control has stopped working and it wasn't the batteries. It was twenty years old and it was quite sophisticated. I think it cost near £100. "There were a lot of functions on it that I never used." The worst thing about it was that it only had a scart connection (that old!). So I had to use a scart to HDMI connector. I went to Curry's this morning and I've now replaced it with one made by Sony (same as my TV) It's half the size of the Panasonic, it's pretty basic, with HDMI, but it will also play "sticks." I can channel the audio through my vintage hi-fi. Handy for CDs. It will "save" your place on about half a dozen DVDs. I've a lot of CDs and DVDs but none are Blue Ray. So it's good enough. It sits on top of my vintage VHS machine. The definition is near HD and even on a near eighty year old film I have on DVD, the picture is quite good. It took about five minutes to unpack and connect this morning. Cost? £34.
Well done you! We also have a VHS player, and lots of films to play on it too. Today has been spent ironing a big tablecloth and twelve linen napkins. We have also polished the silverware. I inherited a lot from my mother and we didn't unpack it until yesterday. Frankly I didn't know where I had stashed it because in my wisdom I had decided against labelling the box in case of burglars or something. It's now ready for use next Sunday when we have our annual pre-Christmas family get-together. It's our turn to host it this year. We cancelled last year.
I made a nine day supply of dog food. The recipe is basically 5 pounds of chicken thighs, one pound each of green beans, carrots, squash cubes, half pound of spinach, two apples, two cups white rice and 1 cup brown rice. I precook the chicken thighs in the slow cooker over night, use the broth from that to cook the rice and veggies in the Instant Pot. I have to split it into two batches because the Instant Pot isnt big enough for all at once. Then I portion it, one cup each into 18 containers. He gets two containers a day. Three days supply goes into fridge and the rest into the freezer. Each day I use two and remove two from freezer to thaw. Rufus gets to lick the bowl. The vet says he's a very healthy dog. The green beans, apple, and squash come from the garden when possible.
I've been "off-line" since Tuesday, when I had to take my laptop into "the local menders" as it was hard to start. I'd had it since February 2020, a second hand HP Probook which replaced a Lenovo I'd bought there several years before. They assured me the HP was a good machine. It needed a new motherboard. I think they were a bit embarrassed about it going wrong. Anyway, part was ordered, received and the laptop repaired by Friday afternoon and they only charged me £70, so I was quite pleased about that.
A married couple across the road from us have got Covid. We thought that they were a bit quiet over the holiday and the lady came out to take her Wheely bin in because it was collection day. They're about 30 years old and had the vaccinations and the lady had the booster as well, don't know why the man didn't have his but he was worse than her. She said that it's like having a very very bad cold but the man has a very bad cough. Of course I didn't get close to her about 12 feet or more. It was their wedding anniversary and they were planning to go away but had to cancel. When we were doing the walks we met a couple and they said that their daughter had it so I started backing away from her but she didn't live with them and I don't know if they had seen her before then.
We de-decorated the house today. Took down all the garlands, the window candles, the door wreath, and wrapped and stored the nativities. Tomorrow we take the ornaments and take down the tree, which we put into a corner of the yard for a wild bird shelter. Things will look a bit bare for a few days, but then the house will look normal to us.
We'll remove all trace of Christmas tomorrow. That's just the lights around the front door and the Christmas cards. I wind the lights around a square of thick cardboard and put them in a box, so there's no problem unwinding them for the next year.
We're leaving up the lights for Chinese New Year. Today I'm making dog food. That's how I mark the passage of time LOL.
I've dragged my little grey cells out and have been trying to devise a home made fountain in a big blue pot. If it all works I will post a photo....... if it doesn't we won't talk about it any more OK
I tried that once, it's about trying to find a pump with a low enough pressure that there isn't an overspray.You think you've got it, but over the course of a few hours you can have a damp patch around it. I gave up in the end. But I hope you are more successful.
Thanks. I sent for a pump that can be adjusted for flow, but I wish I felt confident it will work. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I have to try!!
