Soledad's Journal

Shopping, mending and other simple things

wiseheart — Mon, 15 Jun 2026 18:08:33 GMT

I did a bit of grocery shopping today - I'm trying to reduce the weight I carry at any given time, which means more shopping days. I don't really mind; leaving the house is always good, even if it eats up my precious morning time. Perhaps I'll try to switch the extra shopping to the afternoon.

Aside from groceries, I also bought a new frying pan as the old one had lost lots of its teflon coating and I had gotten rid of it. The old one had a diameter of 26cm. Guess what? There were lots of various pans with a diameter of 20cm, 22cm, 24cm, 28cm and 32cm. Not a single 26cm one. After some silent cursing I bought a 24cm one. That ought to be large enough for the two of us, even though I usually cook for two or three days in advance.

The initiation of the new frying pan has to wait, though. Lidl is having American days, which means pulled pork for us. Starting tomorrow and lasting for at least two days. Yum.

I got barely home when Ilonka, one of my former colleagues, called. She and one of her twin daughters (who used to be in my class) were on the playground next to our house, with the two grandbabies, cour and two years old (if I'm not mistaken; I tend to mix up all those grandkids around me, none of them mine). So I went down to meet them, and we had a fun time, albeit a short one. Grandbaby #2 had thought that sitting in a puddle would be a good idea; only to realize that wet pants and wet shoes aren't fun. Still, it was nice to meet them.

My only crafty activity was starting to mend a nice, strong textile shopping bag another former colleague had sewn for me as a gift. The straps started to give in, so I had to sew them back. One half done, three other halves to go. But I'm not on any schedule here, fortunately.

Writing-wise there was a tiny bit of progress. I wrote about two or three sentences to kick off the new chapter. But it's better than nothing.

Congratulations and felicitations!

wiseheart — Sun, 14 Jun 2026 18:02:39 GMT

Happy Birthday, dear disthrainsdotte!

I hope you had a lovely day. A lifesign from you would be very welcome.

Me, I had a busy day. Gave Mum her weekly shower, cleaned the balcony, mended one of Mum's nightshirts and finished the second little purse.

Here are both little darlings in their rather modest glory. Size and shape are different, as the original shoulder pads were different, too.

I tried to have a nap in the afternoon but - for the umpteenth time since my visit at the eye doctor - I couldn't fell asleep. Apparently, I'm too full of tension all the time. At least I can sleep nights; it would be terrible if I couldn't.

Trooping the Colour

wiseheart — Sat, 13 Jun 2026 17:34:49 GMT

... was impressive as always. Even though the only TV channel showing it was ORF2, where the commentators annoyed me into the next incarnation. They all had very unpleasant voices, they were clearly full of themselves and never shut up. The fact that I only understood every tenth word of what they were speaking was actually fortunate. I mourn our lost RTL, where their resident royal expert, Michael Degassi, was a true delight to listen to.

Other than that, I finished my first little purse, cooked lunch, emptied the balcony for tomorrow's cleaning and even managed to write a little. All in all, I'm not complaining.

Oh, and BTW, the new chapter of "SD5 - The Old Terror" has been posted to AO3 and to otherworlds_lib. Enjoy!

Our last concert

wiseheart — Fri, 12 Jun 2026 18:58:52 GMT

... went reasonably well. We did make a few mistakes, mostly because we can't hear the piano half as well in this church as we hear it at school, in our practice room, but I doubt that many people would have spotted them.

There weren't many people to begin with. We had to move the concert from Saturday to Friday at short notice, and our usual audience (mostly current and retired colleagues) probably had other plans already. Plus, there was a long and arduous conference at school all day, so the still active colleagues probably were completely exhausted. So, it came down to the parents of the children's choir, and those definitely didn't fill the church. Ah, well, there are worse things in life.

Other than that I only did little things today. My major victory is that I managed to connect the new phone to my Wifi, which is a big thing, considering it's me. I also repurposed two pairs of shoulder pads and decided to make small purses of them; for paper tissues, make-up things or even cash, since they close with Velcro. Yes, that means I'm back to sewing Velcro, what a delight - not! But it's only four pieces, two of which I already done, so I'll live.

Tomorrow we're going to watch Trooping the Colours on ORF2 - unless BBC News is going to show it, too. We'll see. It promises to be long, but I can empty the balcony during it, one piece a time, for the cleaning on Sunday, so the time will be well used. And the potatoes will boil on their own while all these other things are going on, so there. Good time management is everything.

Pincushions as promised

wiseheart — Thu, 11 Jun 2026 18:55:53 GMT

Here they are! Nothing fancy, just putting some scraps to good use.

Now, the next project will be a smartphone case of felt, something like this:

Because I got my new phone today. Not for free, actually; for that, I'd have to switch back to a permanent contract with Telekom, which would be waaaay more expensive than using the Domino card as I've done for the last two years or so. Therefore I went to the Samsung shop and got me the simplest phone they could offer. Still not exactly cheap, but I calculated that it would cost me roughly the same as the permanent contract for one year. So I bought it. The friendly young man put in my Domino card, made the most necessary installments, and that was that. I made some tentative attempts at home and I think I've managed to set the alarm for the next morning and to connect the phone to my Internet modem. *fingers crossed* For the rest, I'll go to school next week and ask my colleagues (preferably those half my age) for assistance. *g*

Before the phone business I also had an appointment at the hairdresser's. Now I look halfway civilized again, which is important for our final concert tomorrow. I also went for a food run - a lightweight one, as I had decided to make more shopping days and less weight carrying for the sake of my eye. Let's hope that it helps postpone the inevitable.

With that, half the day was gone. We ate all leftovers in the fridge, then I peeled and pre-cooked the asparagus I bought. Tomorrow there'll be veggie soup, then asparagus with ham and roast bread crumbs and fried potatoes. Yum!

Taking it slowly

wiseheart — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 17:41:21 GMT

Both me an LJ at the moment, it seems. But yeah, I did take it slowly today. My face is still a bit tender from yesterday's dental adventure, even though I did put ice on it - well, actually a cherry pit pillow that spent an hour in the freezer. It is bearable, though.

Surprisingly enough, I managed to bring up the energy to sew three heart-shaped pin cushions. They turned out lovely; there will be a picture tomorrow. I also peeled the 200+ grams of ginger that I had bought because it was reduced in price at Lidl. It went into the freezer for later, when I'll make ginger syrup for the fair. So, those are two things that had been in the making for a while, and I'm glad to have them out of my hair.

No cooking was necessary (long live the leftovers!), so I took Mum out for a short walk after a late breakfast. We got as far as the selective bins; she was very tired afterwards as her knee feels both the heat and the upcoming rain/storm keenly. But at least she left the building again.

We watched a bit of telly (GBBO and related things), then I gave Erna, our art teacher and a friend of 31 years a call. We discussed our respective health issues (getting old and derelict is no fun) as well as the means of getting lavender for free. I'm planning to make lavender sachets for the fair again, but I'm not willing to pay irrational amounts of money for the dratted plant.

And that was, basically, my day. Now I'm going to study Harry Sullivan's (the one from Dr. Who) speech patterns for the story that really, really needs to be finished sooner rather than later.

A break in the dental drama

wiseheart — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 17:49:31 GMT

I got the tooth pulled today. It was relatively easy and painless. The worst part was that I had to wait for quite some time because the treatment of the patient before me took longer than expected. Not good for my poor, battered nerves!

Also, my phone died on me during the process - for reasons known only to them, Hungarian Telekom decided to take older phone modell off the network. They supposedly texted customers to inform them… I can honestly say that I never got such a text. Fortunately, customer sevice managed to switch my phone back on, but by then Mum had tried to call me six times and was beside herself with worry. I’ll have to go back to customer sevice soon-is; apparently, they exchange old phones for new models for free - I believe it when I see it happen!

Anyway, dental torture pauses until I heal. My next appointment is in September, when prosthetics will be considered. I can live with that.

Done for another year

wiseheart — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 17:59:59 GMT

The decluttering, I mean. Whatever we might have forgotten will have to wait till next June. But we are content with the results so far.

Other than throwing things out, I did a bit of grocery shopping, cooked lunch, which was a simple affair: ham and cheese rolls in puff pastry, plus a salad. I finally grated the zucchini I had bought last time and put them into the freezer for further use.

Between the shopping and the cooking I took a nice, long nap (an hour and a half), so I had enough energy for the latter. Always a good thing.

Not much else happened. We watched some telly, took out the garbage, and that was basically it. I'm trying to put my nerves together for tomorrow's dentist appointment where I'm going to kiss my other tooth good-bye. *sigh*

Decluttering and the Teddy brigade

wiseheart — Sun, 07 Jun 2026 17:56:56 GMT

Starting with the latter, here are all 12 Christmas Teddies in their full glory:

As for the decluttering, there is one day in each year when big pieces of rubbish are collected by the city for free. For our area it will be tomorrow, Juni 8. So, Mum and I put together three large bags of old dishes, ruined pillows, plastic stuff and the likes. I'll take it down tomorrow when I'm back from the grocery shopping. Always a relief to get rid of clutter.

Other than that, not much happened. We rested a bit, watched some telly, even went for a very short walk; this was the first time in a week or more that Mum actually left the building. She feels much calmer now that she'd had a bit of fresh air; and so do I, to be honest.

A quet day of reflection

wiseheart — Sat, 06 Jun 2026 18:31:36 GMT

Still absorbing yesterday's new. Reflecting about my chances, which are not numerous. Trying to figure out how I might live the rest of my life with the sword of Damocles hanging over my head on a silk thread. It is not easy, to put it mildly; but I have to play with the cards that have been handed to me. *sigh*

We had laundry day. I finished mini-Teddy #10 and sew together #s 11 and 12. They'll be stuffed and equipped with their little Santa hats and knitted scarves tomorrow. Life must go on.

I cooked lunch. Nothing fancy, just Topfenknödel. We only ate half of it. Mum's really upset, the poor thing, and when she's upset she can't eat much. So I won't have to cook tomorrow as we'll have the leftovers.

I talked to my friend Evie. She is great when it comes to moral support, but on the other hand, I did the same for her repeatedly in the past. Things like that can bring people really close.

H. called afterwards. Sent a few pictures about little Emma saying good-bye to kindergarten; that's always a festive occasion. That girl starts school in September - where has the time gone? It is strange that H. is the only family that still keeps in regular touch, even though she and my cousin divorced ten years ago.

Catching up with things

wiseheart — Thu, 04 Jun 2026 18:29:00 GMT

I did the grocery shopping in the late morning. It was... crowded, as usual. Lidl happens to have the best prices, plus Thursday is when they bring the new offers, so all old people come and throw themselves at the wares. Including me, as Thursday is usually when we have run out of milk, bread and other essentials. *g*

To my pleasant surprise, they had asparagus - the good, thick ones. Still abysmally expensive, but what the heck. I bought one package, peeled them, pre-cooked them and they'll go into the freezer as soon as they've cooled completely. Zucchini were in offer, too, which means on Saturday I'll make Mary Berry's stir-fry with zucchini, rice and chicken breast stripes. I forgot to buy tomatoes, for more diversity in the dish, but tomorrow I'll have to try my luck at the optometrist anyway, so I can get some - unless I forget it again.

I labelled my jams and finally got around to do a bit of crafting. Mini-Teddy #9 is completed. Only three more to go, then I can go on to the next project.

And now I'm going to type up some of the previously written stuff. I've made woefully little headway writing-wise lately. *sigh*

Much ado about (almost) nothing

wiseheart — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 18:43:09 GMT

Well... the dental news are not good. The root canal specialist worked an hour and a half on my last remaining upper right molar but couldn't find the supposed root canals. Apparently, what the CT shows is where those used to be before they would calcify completely.

In other words: the tooth must be pulled, after all. I am not happy. At least she got the barbed wire out of my mouth, which is an enormous relief, but when the tooth is pulled next Tuesday there might be stitches again. Considering that out final concert of the school year takes place next Friday, the timing is... inconvenient, to say the least. Singing with barbed wire in one's mouth isn't the fun people might think it is.

On my way home I tried to get an appointment with the eye doctor. The reception told me that they are full until the end of August and won't start giving out appointments for September before July 15. Joy, joy. So, I'm going to this optimetrist my friend Elise recommended; at least they can do more in-depth examinations than a simple seeing test. Should they find anything serious, I might have to go to a private practice... which will be expensive again, but I only have these two eyes.

The paint job to remove the stains of the water damage from earlier in the year will have to wait. Budget issues and all that. *sigh*

I went to choir practice. In one of the pieces we practiced the contraltos are split in two groups and sing two different melodies. I was alone in my group today. I managed, but it isn't easy to carry an entire part alone. I hope the other two will resurface; especially if I'll have barbed wire in my mouth again next week.

At least one of my young (ex-)colleagues called today. We had a very nice chat. Social life can be nice.

Oh, oh! I forgot to mention that on my way home I looked around in a small shopping centre that I don't usually visit and found a newsagent's that sold German crossword puzzle booklets; the small size (Din A/5) that I prefer. I foresee further visits to that place!

I'm BAAAAAAAACK!!!

wiseheart — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 16:41:52 GMT

On my desktop PC, I mean. Yay!

My friendly neighbour, the PC guy, did show up last evening, after all, and tried to overhaul the old girl... with mixed results. The original plan of installing a new hard drive and copying everything from the old one didn't work, despite several attempts. Apparently, Windows 7 can't deal with the necessary programmes. So, as a temporary solution he downloaded Avast for the time being; later he'll install Windows 10 on my PC. We decided against Windows 11 because it apparently sucks from such a Luddite user's point of view as I am; and since I don't do anything else but a bit of browsing, YouTube watching and Solitaire playing, Windows 10 will do well enough for a while yet. *fingers crossed*

So, until that happens, I can at least type on a proper keyboard and read on a suitably large screen, which is a true relief for my poor eyes. With which I'll go and see an optometrist, soon, because my left I is doing weird things. Like seeing vertical lines in a Salvador Dalí version. So yeah, better sooner than later.

Other than that, life is peachy. Tomorrow I'll go to the dentist again, in the hope that the root canal treatment will indeed be possible - you never know until they go in deep - and that the barbed wire will be finally removed. I'm looking forward to proper eating and tooth brushing again. Such are the joys of an old lady.

We have a saying in Hungarian

wiseheart — Sun, 31 May 2026 16:14:26 GMT

… that states: “Help yourself and God will help you, too”.

In that spirit - since IT guy still hasn’t shown up - I took out Methuselah, the geriatric laptop and started typing up some stuff I had written in recent weeks. Now, a laptop’s keypad is still a lot less comfortable than a proper keyboard, but at least I can type on it using all my fingers. Since Methuselah can’t connect to the Internet, I then saved the stuff to a data stick and will upload everything to my desktop PC as soon as it is safe again. Granted, the method is a bit complicated, but at least I can make some headway.

In the rest of the time I gave Mum her weekly shower, washed my hair, finished Teddy #8, served leftovers for lunch and took down the dried washing. Other than that, I just lazed around, watching telly and YouTube videos and playing Solitaire on my iPad. More than enough for a single day, I think.

Tentative relief

wiseheart — Fri, 29 May 2026 16:42:17 GMT

I spoke with the dentist’s assistant today. It seems that my root canal(s?) showed up on the CT after all, so the treatment might be possible. Meaning that they probably won’t have to pull my last remaining molar on the upper right side. I still can’t fully believe it, problems can still emerge during treatment, but I am cautiously optimistic.

Not much else happened today. I was completely deflated from relief and let things slide. I cooked lunch, did a tiny bit of writing, watched stupid YouTube videos due to the total lack of brain power… and that was basically it.

Here goes nothing

wiseheart — Thu, 28 May 2026 16:48:32 GMT

The dentist didn’t call. IT guy hasn’t shown up yet - at least he might do so yet tomorrow. I’ll call the dentist myself.

I did the grocery shopping in the morning. I cooked lunch. Then I wanted for those phone calls that didn’t come. I am moderately pissed now. I hate it when people promise to call and they don’t. Especially as I still have those damn stitches in my months that feel like barbed wire. They won’t come out without the dentist.

This SUCKS! 👿👿👿

A bit of me-time

wiseheart — Wed, 27 May 2026 19:00:50 GMT

After yesterday’s dental adventures I decided to have a slow day. Especially as our brief heat wave peaked today at 32C.

Slow being relative, of course. In the morning, when it wasn’t quite that hot yet, I sorted out the upmost shelf ou our built-in wardrobe and got rid of some never-used bedlinens. Those will go to charity. I also made another mini Teddy and imprivised lunch from various leftovers.

In the rest of the day I was lazy: I had several phone calls, took a nice, long nap and watched some telly with Mum. I definitely could use more such days…

Oh, and IT guy supposedly comes tomorrow or the day after to sort my desktop PC! *fingers crossed*

Block answer

wiseheart — Tue, 26 May 2026 13:24:07 GMT

… to all your supportive comments from yesterday. Because I am still on iPad only and can’t type properly on the stupid touch screen.

So, root canal treatment started today… and stopped after forty minutes because the dentist couldn’t find the actual canal(s). Not even on the X-ray image. It might be completely calcified, in which case the treatment can’t be continued and the tooth will have to be pulled, leaving nothing in my right upper side beyond the canine.

To find out if there’s anything left from the canal, I was sent to have a CT. When the dentist has the results, we’ll discuss my options, as I still refuse getting implants. It promises to be… interesting, in the old Chinese curse sense of the word. And expensive, no matter what. All these examinations and the treatment so far have already cost me the equivalent of a day trip to Vienna, including the potential DVDs I might buy there. 🫨

Crafty days

wiseheart — Mon, 25 May 2026 17:09:03 GMT

I finally found time to work a bit on my mini Teddies: I made #5 yesterday and#6 today, so half of them are finished. I also did a little bit of writing, which is a rare thing in these days. Had a couple of phone calls from choirmates and ex-colleagues, too.

Today I cooked in advance, as tomorrow I have another dentist appointment. Root canal treatment ahead. Joy - NOT! But needs must. Wish me luck, I am really sh*tting my pants. 😖

Congratulations and felicitations

wiseheart — Sun, 24 May 2026 17:17:04 GMT

Happy Birthday, dear sallymn!

I hope you had a lovely time. 🍾🍾🍾

Virtual calories for a virtual party!

Listless

wiseheart — Sat, 23 May 2026 19:46:55 GMT

And I really had plans for today - plans for doing things for myself, like crafting and writing. Not much of it happened. I was just too low on energy. This week has taken a lot out of me.

Of course, we had laundry day, given that it is Saturday, and I managed to rearrange half a shelf in what counts as my pantry (basically four shelves hidden in a small niche between the bathroom and the built-in wardrobes), so that the jams made for the fair are all together now, with some free space for further sorts. The Christmas and Easter cookie cutters have moved to the upper shelf of the book cabinet in my study/craft room, since they only see action once a year.

I solved a lot of crossword puzzles, watched some telly with Mum and wrote about three measly paragraphs, mainly to calm my conscience. Then I called H. and we exchanged our dental stories. And discussed jam making. That is family life for us.

I even skipped cooking today, thank to creatively arranged leftovers. It is a good thing that Mum is fairly accommodating in this area.

The day after

wiseheart — Fri, 22 May 2026 17:55:15 GMT

… was a bit slower. I fetched the other doll from the doll clinic and my ancient wrist watch from the horologist. I did a bit of grocery shopping on my way home, so that I won’t have to do it tomorrow when people afraid of starving during the upcoming two day bank holiday will go berserk.
Other than that, I just rested. We had leftovers, so no cooking was necessary. The left side of my face is still a bit tender, and the stitches are mildly irritating my inner cheek. I hope they got removed next Tuesday. Apart from that, I seem to be healing well.

IT guy still hasn’t shown up. It has been another week restricted to the iPad. I miss my desktop PC and its proper keyboard. 😒

Dental drama

wiseheart — Thu, 21 May 2026 13:48:13 GMT

Well, my trusty 19-year-old dental bridge is gone. The big molar that had been holding it up on the far end was beyond saving and had to be pulled. It did not want to leave me, though; the dentist had to cut it in three pieces and remove said pieces one after another. Pleasant is something else. 😖

This also means that my bridge can’t be replaced as there is no tooth that would hold it on the far end. I am not happy. My dentist tried to persuade me to have implants but I won’t have that. I’ve seen people going through the procedure, and that was frightening enough, even without things going wrong. So I am going to have two missing teeth on the upper tight side - no big deal. I am still going to be able to eat on that side, once it healed, and I will smile less broadly if needs must be. I am nearly 70, for God’s same, I am not subjecting myself to unnecessary torture.

Congratulations and felicitations

wiseheart — Wed, 20 May 2026 17:03:43 GMT

Happy Birthday,dear mirasaui!

I hope life is treating you better than last time I heard of you. 😘
Here, have some virtual calories:

Like a headless chicken

wiseheart — Tue, 19 May 2026 18:29:59 GMT

I was running around town all morning. Had to go to school to deliver some strawberry jam to a friend. Then I went to the doll clinic to fetch little Madge (whom they had fixed beautifully) and to deliver Claire doll whose limbs needed new rubber bands. Then I did the grocery shopping at Lidl on my way home.

Having put the groceries away, I left again, this time for the bank and the post office. And since I was there already, I paid Tedi a visit and bought a few small things. And the other supermarket was there, too, so I bought other grocery items we needed.

It was 2pm when I got home the second time. Mum’s physiotherapist came half an hour later. When she was done and left, we had lunch - leftovers, of course - and watched some telly. I had a short nap, after which I emptied the bathroom, which is going to be tomorrow’s extra project, and Mum rearranged the living room surfaces for the big cleaning.

And now we are both dead on our feet.