Blog - Ivor’s Daily Gallivant

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Thursday August 31, 2023 To do list (1) Phone double glazing contractors (it was too late when I got back) (2) Housework (did half an hour) (3) Work on painting (4) Go for blood test (done) (5) Free Community Lunch (went) I woke up late about 10.00 and realised I would need a taxi to get to my blood test appointment. It was raining heavily, and my knees ached with rheumatism. Fortunately, I was able to arrange the taxi to get me to my appointment on time. When I was outside the surgery and had paid with my card. I dropped it in the gap between my seat and the centre of the car. The driver told me to get out as he moved my seat forward and got my card. The test went okay, although I am not sure if I had drunk enough water before it. I’ll get the results in a couple of days. I ran to the bus stop and waited outside of the shelter. There were two prams and a group of preschool children with their mothers waiting inside.It seemed a long wait and when the bus came, I got on, but found what’s the wrong bus. I got off at the next stop ran back to the previous stop. As, I was running another bus approached, I held my arm out, it stopped just after the stop, and I got on. When I got off the bus, I bought some chicken tikka pasta in One Stop came home, had a few messenger chats, and made today’s ‘To do list’. By 14.30 I had done a little housework. It says in the Which Guide to Housework that if you want to do the absolute minimum housework ensure your food preparation surfaces and loo is clean. So, I set to work in the kitchen cleaning the top of the cooker and cleaning the microwave. I worked for just under half an hour but what I did made a difference. I went for the free cook up at Blackfield Baptist Church, where I had a vegetable curry and apple crumble washed down with two cups of tea. And took a packet of coriander leaves with yesterday as their sell by date, and put them in the freezer, use later use. When I get back home I had a cheese and tomato sandwich with black pepper and mayonnaise, with another tea. I tried to set up an Instagram page promoting ‘Ivor the Unique Artist‘ at the suggestion of a friend from Gina (Salifu) this morning. It will be an ongoing project.

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Wednesday August 30, 2023 In a couple of recent exchanges with friends I have described the value of making ‘to do lists’ and think a rough indication of what was said might be of interest to my readers. During a seminar for setting up a small business someone once said that they are the most important ‘time management tool’ there is. Everyone is short of time, everyone has too much to do and too little time to do it in. You can’t ever do everything so do the most important things. A ‘to do list’ establishes everything you need to do, so that prioritised plans can be made. Here’s my ‘to do list’ for today. (1) Write blog. ( (2) Housework (not done) (3) Work on painting (not done) (4) Scrabble (I lost both games) (5) Post letter I collected from the Herald and Advertiser office to Jim Hanger. (Done) (6) Continue phoning double glazing contractors. (Not done it) (7) Organise September Diary Adventure (can’t find the diary) By 10.05am having begun my day at 7.00am with a chat to an insomniac friend from Florida I had begun writing today’s post, had breakfast, taken my medication and blood sugar (which was nice and normal) wrote and posted a letter to a friend in Poole. (running to the post box and round the block for exercise) It has been remarked by an overseas that she would like to taste my chicken curry and I thought I’d include the recipe in today’s blog- It’s a low budget flavoursome meal that’s a great favourite of mine. Ingredients I’m not overly fussed about measuring the quantities of the ingredients and find it comes out okay regardless. Chicken thighs (4) Onion (diced) Garlic Fresh Ginger Olive Oil Mixed vegetables Tin of tomatoes Garam Masala Cumin Chilli Power (or fresh chillis if possible) Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and add the diced onion, garlic, and ginger. (One of my time saving tips is to dice a batch of onion and put them in the freezer ready for when I’m cooking) When the onions are translucent add the chilli powder and other herbs and then the chicken, finally add the tomato rinsing out the tin to ensure nothing is wasted and there’s enough liquid to cook everything. Add the frozen mixed vegetables towards the end of cooking. This recipe made four portions one of which I had midday today and the other three are in the freezer. Unfortunately, when I did the cooking yesterday, I forgot to include the ginger but learned from a piece on Google that ginger is okay to freeze. Despite not having ginger my curry was sill, good. At lunch time I had the first portion of Chicken Curry After my meal I noticed I’d missed my blood test today and rebooked it for 11.30 tomorrow. Andy came round arriving at 2.30pm we discussed our trip to Cornwall and have arranged to go on the New Forest Tour meeting in Lynhurst at 12.30 on 16/09/2023. As usual he won both games of Scrabble. Down to my last tea bag I ran to the Coop and back, and bought some more and a reduced price canister of milk. When I got back I had a cup of tea and wrote up today’s blog post.

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Tuesday August 29, 2023As usual my I didn’t stick to my ‘To do list’ although having one is still useful. I went into Hythe early afternoon to pick up some printing from the Herald and Advertiser and Max their chocolate brown Labrador waggled his tale at me when I said- ‘Hallo’. The market was in the process of being taken down, and I was drawn to the selection of specialty cheeses in Harvies and bought a small block of Lyburn to try and treated myself to a vanilla ice cream.On my way to the bus stop I stopped off at Be Be’s for a cup of tea. It would have been nice to do a few suspicious sketches but when I looked in my rucksack, I’d left my sketchbook at home.When I got home, I had fish pie with baked beans wrote up todays and yesterday’s Gallivant posts and cooked enough chicken curry for four days.Please

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Monday August 28, 2023- Bank holiday Monday Things to do. (1) Sort out razor with Remington. Ordered spares. First thing (2) Buy tea bags.(not done) (3) Plan a trip out if the weather is good. (It was, so I went to Lymington) (4) Do some more to my painting.(not done) (5) Housework (didn’t touch it) (6) Email Diabetes UK about password (not done) The first thing I did this morning was to make my to do list. I got into a messenger conversation first thing and my alarm sounded to tell me to start painting and realised I hadn’t done any creative writing. It was a nice day and I wanted to make the most of it and went to Lymington and did some sketching. I made a cheese and tomato sandwich and took out some chickpea curry to thaw The bus stopped at Rushingdon Roundabout for me to change buses for Lymington but there was an hours wait. So I ran to Coffee Oasis to kill use up the time. In Coffee Oasis there were landscape photographs by the Southampton based photographer Ian Holloway and some quirky miniatures called ‘Litter Bug’s’ which were models of butterflies made out of ammonium cans (unfortunately I didn’t note the artist’s name) They were in sealed frames and very reasonably priced.. After I did a sketch and made my way back to the bus stop where I did another sketch. In the mood for sketching I did some more on the bus and more still on Lymington Quay and bought fish and chips at Deep Blue. There was an exhibition of paintings by the local art group which I had a look at and was struck by the use of mixed media in some of the paintings which sampled of text included in the pictures design. Extremely tired I caught the bus home and slept soundly until early next morning.

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Sunday August 27, 2023 After being late getting to sleep last night, I was late getting up this morning and finally emerged from my pit at around 10.00. I wanted to try something different today and decided a meal at Adams Café in Hythe would be a possibility. As I’ve only been there once before. At the bus stop in Holbury- I had a chat with my disabled friend Lee who was on his way to stay with his family in Southampton. Later at the Hythe Pier stop Peter Thorp from Waterside Writers got on and we had a few brief word’s until I got off at The Adams café stop. I went into the café and ordered the liver and bacon and a coffee. I tried getting an Amazon card in Lidl, Waitrose and Superdrug but without success. After eating I did some shopping in Lidl and went for a coffee in Back Wax Coffee and records with its customary background soundscape of 70’s heavy metal music. It’s a place that brings to mind a verse from a song parodying the Beatles. The children of rock and roll never grow old. They just fade away. See how the good times roll, See how the good times roll away. In Holland they have period villages for their older citizens so they don’t have to much interaction with the modern world, so that people can live like they did when they were young. Black Wax Coffee and Records does something similar for people of my age group. It is wrong to try and always be up to date and it maybe nobody is on top of everything. Finally, I managed with help to get a gift for Miranda, a day late but better late than never. I didn’t do much for the rest of the day just rested on my bed got up and drank tea and had a tin of Broccoli and Stilton soup.

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Saturday August 26, 2023 It was my friend Miranda who lives in Florida birthday today, I went to a lot of trouble to try and get a gift card for her, but despite of my efforts wasn’t able to. I tried buying an Amazon gift card but there’s something wrong with their system so I couldn’t manage that. Next, I tried a Google Play card, which I bought but was completely useless. I struggled to get my money back and hadn’t managed it by the time I wrote this blog post. My plan is to go to the bank and see about getting the payment stopped. My electric razor hurts when I shave so I took it to the Repair Café in Blackfield Baptism Church this morning for them to have a look. The cause of the problem is probably that there are two holes the foils. I will need to contact Remington to get them replaced. On my way, out of The Repair Café Robbie, Lucie Mann’s oldest son came and had a word. I told him about my exhibition at October Books in October (with its reception on 2/10/23 there at 19.00) and he said he’d read and enjoyed some of the previous editions of The Gallivant. At midday I had lasagna, jacket potato and salad at Wendy’s café. I then caught the bus home and very tired so had a sleep until about three in the afternoon. I went to the Coop to see if there’s anything that can be done about the Google Play card, and it looks like it can’t. As I waited, I bought some spinach leafs, raspberries and sweet peppers in the clearance section and a bar of dark chocolate.

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Friday August 25, 2023 Got up when my alarm sounded at 7 o’clock. It was a bright, cool morning and did an appraisal of my efforts yesterday and make a realistic timetable for today. But the most immediate thing on my agenda was breakfast and a morning run. I had my run and felt amazing- this evening there’s a creative writing class at October Books which I have to prepare for. (Well meant to prepare for) Yesterday, looking back today was productive after all- I’d set up my Facebook Business Page for ‘Ivor the Unique Artist’. Did some hoovering and had a couple of runs to tire myself out, and slept well. To an extent I followed the alarms I’d set on my organiser and did some writing after breakfast and worked on my painting. Unfortunately, one of the legs on my easel kept collapsing which was frustrating and after a while I gave up. I sat down sometime before 9.00 in my armchair with a cup of tea, I felt totally exhausted, and almost went back to bed. I ran to Boots and collected my repeat prescription and bought some cloth tape in the hardware store next door to fix my easel….and ran home. At 12.00 I microwaved a portion of chilli and boiled some rice to go with it. Another morning I would never have again was gone and it was lunchtime. Then, I hunted for the cloth tape I’d just bought and found it next to the door where I’d left it on my way in. And fixed the leg on my easel. Some time later I attended the Creative Writing Class in October Books but didn’t get much out of it. The work the others had done was sent via email but I’d read very little of it and not sent any of my work to be discussed. After the meeting the others went to one of the local pubs but as I can’t drink because of my epilepsy and blood pressure and don’t like pubs because drinking brings the worst out In people I came on. I sat at the back of the bus and my alarm sounded telling me to take my blood sugar reading and I explained this to a couple of ladies who noticed it.

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Thursday August 24, 2023 To do list (1) Free cook up Blackfield Baptist Church (didn’t go- the weather was cold, wet and horrible) (2) Contact double glazing contractors.(phoned and emailed 1Z Energy and Trust Mark…the second and third contractors on the list from The Environmental Health Agency) (3) Continue with painting. (4) Housework (about half an hour hoovering) (5) Pick up printing from Herald and Advertiser office( didn’t go). (6) Check through October Books Newsletter (7) Continue writing guide for setting up a business. (8) Set up Facebook Business page.(done) (9) Read Chess for Dummies (10) Email Clair from October Books about exhibition (done) and Neil about Artist Union Today started with an unaccountable outburst of activity where I took action to achieve one of the tasks listed on my to do list. I took steps setting up a Facebook Business Page promoting my artwork called ‘Ivor the Unique Artist’. I was messaging a lady friend who asked if I wanted to set up a small business in a messenger conversation last night. I started my reply by saying if was thrifty, I could manage reasonably well with my pension and setting up a small business would require a lot of effort and be stressful. I went on to consider the extra money I would get and the sense of achievement it would give me. Soon I talked myself into setting up a Facebook Business Page called ‘Ivor the Unique Artist’. And now it’s online, with the launch event for my exhibition at October Books set for October 2ed at 19.00. By 17.00 I felt really tired and didn’t get much done today, despite having a ‘To do list’. It was no good trying to push myself too much . Tomorrow I’ll pick a few easy tasks from the list and do them. Better appreciate my limitations and just do a few tasks than being overwhelmed. I watch the TV, at 19.00 and it featured runners who were breathless after their races and I thought I bet they feel good for having exerting themselves, which caused me to go for a run round the block which made me feel good too. (flooded with endorphins) I finished off the this blog and did some work on my painting.

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Wednesday August 23, 2023 To do list (1) Andy scrabble (didn’t happen he felt down) (2) Contact double glazing contractors. (Phoned the first one on the list) (3) Continue with painting. (Not done) (4) Housework (no way Jose!) (5) Pick up printing from Herald and Advertiser Office (do it another time) (6) Check through October Books Newsletter (I think we better wait till tomorrow) (7) Write guide for setting up a small business (tomorrow’s another day) (8) Set up a Facebook Marketing Page for paintings.(I shall wait until the mood grabs me.). (9) Read Chess for Dummies (30 minutes)…..(not today, thank you very much) It must be a symptom of the aging process- waking up after your allotted hours of sleep and feeling like death warmed up. I got and took the washing out of the machine and put it out to dry, replied to a few messenger conversations but didn’t bother with my, to do list. I went for a run and felt energised for a while, but it soon pasted. Some useful ideas came to me as I ran but I don’t know what they were. Had a bowl of soup at lunchtime and scurried off to my room for a nap, before the Scrabble this afternoon. At 4.30 I emerged from my pit and treated myself to the ubiquitous cup of tea and ate four squares of dark chocolate with it, now well rested and rehydrated life was good. The Scallywag messaged and called today off. It struck me that as I’m retired and live alone , I can do exactly what I want- get up when I choose, go to bed when I choose, eat when I choose and what I choose. Time spent napping isn’t wasted and even if it was - it’s my time and I’ll spend it as I choose. I looked at my latest painting it looks promising, as I looked I remembered a conversation I overheard in one of the galleries in Oxford. There was an unfinished painting and someone remarked ‘how could the artist not finish a great picture like that?’ There could be many different reasons for not finishing a painting which might include just losing interest…..no great crime in my book. We all of us are entitled to lose interest in what we’re doing whatever it is. Leave a job abandon a relationship, whatever. Sometimes it’s best just to move on… Someone, I once knew briefly had emigrated to Australia. He was critical of the aborigines, who is a habit of going for Walkabouts every once in awhile. It seemed a good idea to me. Freedom is something that should never be given away.

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Tuesday August 22, 2023: Saved £916.92 on my energy bill. Late last night I had a hot shower in the hope it would put me to sleep but it didn’t. I did some work on my To Do List. To do list (1) Contact double glazing contractors. (Phoned the first one on the list) (2) Continue with painting. (Not done) (3) Housework (4) Visit Hythe Market (skipped it today because I needed sleep) (5) Pick up printing from Herald and Advertiser Office (not done) (6) Check through October Books Newsletter (7) Write guide for setting up a small business (started it) (8) Get best deal on energy (done) (9) Cook Chilli con carne (done) (10) Sort out picture into category files (made a file of the paintings for the exhibition) (11) Set up a Facebook Marketing Page for paintings. (12) Read Chess for Dummies (30 minutes) …. not, done. Unable to sleep I got up at 3.00 am and got to work on my to do list. The first thing I did was check my energy bill, my highest expense-found a price comparison site Switch-It by Ittria and have switched from E-On Energy at £196.49/month to Rebel Energy at f120.08/month. A saving of £916.92/year. It was incredibly easy to do. I put my postcode into a search box, choose between low, middle and high usage. And choose the type of occupancy of my property (owner occupier, rented, council tenant and so on) and a few moments later my recommended supplier was found. Switching to the new supplier was simplicity itself. On a winning streak I made a large frying pan full of Chilli con Carne. Which was finished by 5.00am. Had a shower and put on fresh clothes. At 9.15 I was finally feeling tired and decided to skip going into Hythe this morning and have a sleep. I didn’t want to risk being out and having an epileptic seizure through lack of sleep. I had a lay down on my bed but didn’t sleep. At 11.00 am the alarm sounded, telling me to catch the bus back home from Hythe (but as I hadn’t gone to Hythe in the first place so it was a false alarm). I’m not unduly concerned about my sleepless state, in fact I’ve never felt more joyous. I had been up since 3.00pm after all. It was too early to think about lunch about 11.30 but I decided to indulge myself and put the Meat Feast Pizza I’d bought a while back in the clearance section of the Coop, into the oven and sat drinking a tea waiting for it to cook. I missed breakfast this morning, so it was okay to be a little naughty this once. I was still in a dozy state and had another tea and dreamed a little dream. Today I’d done a lot. Phoned South Coast Building Company-they will get back to me probably Wednesday (tomorrow) Got some more contractors to phone but for today I’m going to leave it at one. Had my evening meal chickpea curry, ran round the block, ate an apple and had a cup of tea. Started doing some housework. And published today’s Gallivant.

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Monday August 21, 2023 Got up at eight after sleeping through alarm which went off at seven. I didn’t feel great, achy with a slight sore throat. It must be the beginning of a cold. As I might be infectious, I skipped Veg Out at October Books. To do list for today: (1) Check to see if I can save money on my most prominent expense Energy. (Started working on it but it looks more complicated than it at first seemed) (2) Housework (not done) (3) Cooking (cooked a fish pie and dried out mince for chilli con carne) (4) Continue working on improving my painting. (Took a photo of it as it is now) (5) Book blood test (done) (6) Check double glazing supplies about their quotes. (Not done) Dealing with my cold in accordance with of Old Wives Tale Mythology. In this the twenty first century it might be argued that we’re come a long way since the days of the old wives, which is doubtless true but nonetheless it remains that some of what they said was right. With the adage feed a cold and starve a fever, in mind- midway through the morning I had to a bacon sandwich. It is said with a cold- three days coming, three days with you and three days leaving you. I probably caught this cold on Saturday when I went to The Soul Café and this is Monday, if things go according to the predicted pattern, the worst part of this cold will soon be with me. Assuming that is true I cooked a fish pie and started cooking some chilli con carne for when I’m rundown…… I got a blood test appointment letter this morning and to ensure I’m not infectious when I booked it for 30/8/2023 (which is nine days after I caught my cold) During the morning until midday, I cooked some cheese, onion, mixed vegetable and fish sauce to be used as the filling for my fish pie and put them in the oven this afternoon after making mashed potato for the topping. At midday I stopped cooking and had a cheese and pickle sandwich with a cup of tea. I made some mash and put it on top of the pie filling in an uneven, rough manner so it would be crunchy when the pie came out of the oven. And put some mince in the oven to dry out which gives it extra flavour. Also I put some mince in the oven to give the chilli con carne more flavour. I set alarms on my organiser so my time is better organised.

Ivor’s Daily Gallivant Saturday August 19, 2023- I turned down $1,000,000 today. The day started off cloudy and I needed some milk so ran along to the Coop. As is my usual habit the first place I looked was in the clearance section. Where I found a canister of milk and some Maris Pippa potatoes which I immediately snapped up. (They shall be especially tasty) I made my way to the bus stop and caught the bus to Dibben Purlieu. During the journey I had a few words with Peter who I met previously in Holbury and told me about how he’d seen The Festival of Britain in 1951. Got to the Soul Café and gave Kathy the 60th Birthday Card I bought for her. I sat with Sarah, Rory and Phil and did some thumbnail sketches of some of the people. There were loads rambunctious of people there, it was marvellous. Rory has an exhibition of paintings on 7th September in The Soul Café which I noted down in my organiser. Phil invited me to join him and Rory for lunch at St Andrews coffee House. And we had homemade tomato and basil soup, it was delicious. Caught the bus home with Phil and Rory. And treated myself to a cup of tea when I got in. Then I set to work on improving one of my paintings by adding a mixture of sand and PVA to much of its surface. It’s starting to look more interesting. Yesterday, I had suggested to my friend Miranda who lives in Florida to try visiting a library and find something to read. She liked the idea, and today she told she’d chosen a novel by Anthony Burgess ‘Nothing like the Sun’ which read about 30 years ago. I got a message from someone who purported to from an American company (Publishers Clearance House) telling me I’d won a million dollars and a pickup truck which I simply didn’t believe and have reported for spamming. Also, I emailed the Radio 4 Consumer Protection programme ‘Call you and Yours’

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