It is the Autumn Equinox on Friday. Time to think about taking stock.

Admiring: my friend who went sailing with her son and grandchildren at half term. I’d be so nervous of moving about a pitching/ tossing vessel!

Bookmarking: another Blog to follow. I already follow Little Room of Rachel so now am adding Pip

Buying: LED light bulbs. They are an expensive outlay but should last and I am hoping to reduce my electricity consumption.

Celebrating: This week I walked a total of 48000 steps – so achieved my goal of at least 6000 steps daily.

Cooking: supper

Deciding: It is time to prune my roses. I need to tie back the climbing roses to train them along the fence.

Drinking: Haven’t any gin so it’ll have to be a nice cup of tea.

Enjoying: the warmth of a hot water bottle tucked behind my back. The autumn evenings are growing very nippy now that we are approaching the Equinox.

Feeling: ready for bed. It is getting late and I am growing tired.

Hearing: Nothing – just silence. Such a relief. My ears are still suffering from the onslaught of the high-pitched voices of a family who talked loudly non-stop all the way on the train from Barking to Southend. I should have changed carriages!

Hoping: and praying for my friend’s daughter who has battled cancer for about four years now. She is trying a new drug this weekend to alleviate her symptoms.

Liking: My walk-in shower. Am so pleased that I decided to replace the bath with a walk-in shower.

Listening: to “Last Word” on Radio 4. This programme of obituaries reveals the lives of such interesting people.

Looking: at my calendar for next week. The Equinox falls on Friday and that is when I replace my Summer duvet with my winter one. Also put always my thinnest summer clothes and take it my winter woollies.

Loving: the enthusiasm of my granddaughter who sent me the most interesting email from uni outlying the courses that she is taking and including half a dozen photos.

Making: a pair of socks – slow progress.

Marvelling: at the perseverance and persistence of the family I met today at the Thames Sailing Barge pop-up museum in Docklands who have spent the last four years restoring and living on a barge.

Needing: A white black-out blind for my bedroom. The security light in my neighbour’s back garden shines directly onto my bedroom windows and wakes me every time it lights up. I guess a fox or cat triggers the movement sensor.

Noticing: I have to wear coat and gloves now when I go outside in the morning to practise my Tai Chi.

Pondering: a way to display/hang the banner that my local WI Committee wants made from squares stitched by members. Shall have to visit the D.I.Y store . . .

Questioning: the wisdom of the way the USA seems to be baiting North Korea. Would either leader really launch a nuclear missile?

Reading: “Rattle”, a macabre story by Fiona Cummins – who we are going to meet at the next WI meeting.

Smelling: OMG! I can actually smell the vinegar. After a bad cold back in the spring I completely lost my sense of smell. The worst aspect was not being able to rely on “smell” to tell if fish was “off”.

Thinking: My friend is working on goals and objectives for her “10 year plan”. Now what would I write if I were to compile a 10 year plan? What goals would I have? Number one has to be “keep healthy and active”.

Wearing: the apron I made two years ago to celebrate the Women’s Institute’s centenary.

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