pigeons and Margaret

we have a lot of pigeons around our unit block.  there's always dozens on the roof above my bedroom and i can hear them most mornings.  noisy as they are.  i thought about getting my grandson to throw a rubber snake up there to see if it will deter them but i probably won't.  Margaret, an old lady who lives on the corner, feeds them, as does another neighbour, and there are lots of young ones around.  i usually don't mind them too much.  an old work friend had terrible trouble with them on her fence as they pooped everywhere and her young daughter played in the back yard.  never mind.  talking about Margaret, she's 89, i was at the letterbox the other day when she got a visitor.  i actually hadn't seen her and her gates were shut so i assumed she was out with her friend who calls almost every day.  the visitor rang the doorbell three times and i called her home phone.  no answer.  later that day i noticed that the house was dark.  most unusual.  she wasn't there the next day and i got worried.  i didn't see her friend's car either.  i used to have his number but it didn't transfer to the new phone.  note to self, write these things down. anyway, i didn't see her all morning so called the police.  they came and said an old report mentioned her friend's family name so i looked in the white pages online and found an address that might have been him but when i rang no answer.  i gave the address to the police and they said they'd check.  luckily it turned out to be him and he rang me soon after to explain that Margaret had fallen in the garden again and broken her arm.  she's in the hospital and they are talking about respite after hospital.  she's got dementia and is getting so frail.  it's unusual to not see her in the garden when i go down there and there's always a light on at night.  so i rang her yesterday and will go and see her today after old people's exercise. 

nothing in particular

i've got nothing of much interest to report, just stuff.  i've been pottering around in the garden.  the handy man has mostly finished the shadecloth and it doesn't look bad.  he put a big blind up at one end to, hopefully, block out the summer sun.  it's horrible having a westerly facing back of the house. never mind.  he fixed my hose reel which broke again today when i turned on the water.  a build up of pressure i expect.  i've tried to fix it and he's coming back tomorrow to look at it.  he took my old washing machine out of the shed (rat house) and will fix up the floor.  my son came over the other day to help me put out some hard rubbish.  there wasn't much and i found the piece of hose with fittings on it i needed for the hose reel.  i thought i'd thrown it out.  it was buried under the bamboo litter.  no wonder i couldn't find it.  it's suppose to rain again over the weekend so the garden will be happy :)

a very fancy hose reel.  mine is nothing like this 

Happy Mother's Day

another not so good day

but i survived and let's face it most of the issues were first world problems and not important in the long run.  firstly, i went to quilting class and it did not go well.  i wanted to chuck the quilt in the bin and just go home and go to bed, everything that could go wrong did.  this tiny quilt has been frought with problems, all of them human error.  mine.  ahhhh. after all of that i got my corners done with the binding and packed up.  my sewing machine is extra heavy and hurts my back to carry it around.  i use the wheely thing sometimes but it's so hard to get in down the stairs and into the car and then into venue.  so the binding is machined on, i finished it last night, and i'm going to hand finish the back.  that should go smoothly.  i hope.  then after several other problems i started the dishes and my knife dropped to the floor.  i was amazed when i went to pick it up and it was broken in half.  my favourite knife Maz gave me years ago.  it never needed sharpening, it was nicely balanced and i don't think i'll be able to buy another.  oh well.  i do have another knife to use.  it's not the end of the world.  Kevin came and finished the shadecloth and the outside blind so that's good.  i made miss Lan two pillowcases today.  i'm afraid one might be a bit small.  i did french seams and that might have taken up more seam allowance that i allowed for.  they are not too bad.  and someone from my past smsed me to meet for coffee.  it didn't end well and i've been so undecided about going or not.  i will see.