… in Ireland. Well, in Ireland spring time begins on Saint Brigid’s Day, the 1st of February. Quite frankly, it feels more like a typical winter day today. It’s wet, windy and cloudy today, with temperatures of 10°C, so I am not quite in spring mood yet. But I have started my spring cleaning. Of sorts. I have a nasty allergy. Against cleaning. Ahem. So I cleaned my Mac instead. I was effectively forced to do so because Apple demanded an OS update to Monterey, and once I had complied with that, the new OS suddenly did not recognise my Libre Office program anymore. Slight panic ensued and much research later I had installed a Mac maintenance program that cleans up my disk at the touch of a button. And yes, I also got my Libre Office back after re-installing it. *All* my documents are Libre Office files, so I needed it back in order to do my usual first-of-the-month invoice writing. Phew. But yeah, that is the extent of my spring cleaning so far.
That’s my little desk calendar, btw. The Harry Kennedy caricature is by fan artist extraordinaire Ani. I hope my lovely friends will forgive me for cutting up their beautiful cards but I wanted a little desk calendar with RA images and thought it would be nice to rescue the images from the cards.
With the new month I am embarking on another typical spring project. I need to shed the winter Covid pounds. It’s not even that they sneaked up on me. I just comfort-snacked too much over the last year, and now I feel I am in the right head space to try and lose some as the weather is (hopefully) getting warmer. It’s mainly a health move. I feel that some of my ailments (general unfitness and sciatica pains) are made worse by the excess weight I am carrying around. But part of the motivation is also the forthcoming trip to Germany. I haven’t seen my mother for two years, and there will be a big family occasion while I am visiting, so the pressure is on to control some of the damage and get back into better shape. I am back on my protein-shake diet for a couple of weeks, which I hope will be the quick kickstarter that provides a few easy successes to spur me on to general better eating with no snacks and extra fat. We’ll see. There is always hope, right?
This gorgeous “angel of hope” was given to me by Adina, and I think she is already working her magic. In my mind she is mainly looking after Mr Guylty’s health woes, but I think she is also guiding my own health journey. Thank you, Adina – she is beautiful, and I find it gives me some kind of reassurance to know that she is here…
It’s not really the start of the spring season that is forcing the little steps, it’s all about headspace, embracing the challenge and simply getting down to it. But I like neat little dates like the first day of spring as a springboard and starting point for changes. It’s time to come out of hibernation and get a little more active. Stop watching countless DIY and crafting videos on YT but *make* something myself.
I’ve started a little project. I am creating a little library for my mini books. (That was the project that went tits-up at the weekend.) It’s a book shelf hidden in a book, and the mini books are going to sit in there. I haven’t made all my books yet, and I will have to furnish the space a little bit, but at least the start has been made.
Ray is surprised…
On the subject of Ray – and in order to get a little bit of RA content into this post – I have to let you know that I got completely absorbed by fan fiction over the weekend. It has been a while since that has happened. I tend to go through phases with fan fic – either I read like a maniac, or I don’t read at all. After linking to several new fan fics in my round-up *without* having put them through GQC™️ (Guylty Quality Control), the time had come to put them to the test. I launched into Damaged Goods by middleearthpixie first – and only surfaced after I had read the whole shebang! That’s already a review in itself. If I voraciously devour a fan fic in one sitting, that means it is a page turner! This one I can heartily recommend. The fan fic takes you to a point several months after Ray has left Blackpool to try his luck in the US. He is sharing a flat with OFC Theo, a forty-something personal trainer and feisty female. This wouldn’t be fan fiction if there wasn’t a love story involved, so I won’t spoiler you if I am telling you the two of them get it together. This is quality writing, with well fleshed out characters and easily flowing prose and an OFC that is easy to identify with. Not least (for me) because she is not a spring chicken but a middle-aged woman. I am not the greatest connoisseur of romance novels, but imo this would stand up as such. It has the right amount of well-written sex, and let me tell you, Ray is quite the dreamboat there. *coughs* If you haven’t read it yet, AO3 is your friend: Damaged Goods.
Quite the ham sandwich…
Happy spring time! Let’s make it bloom!
Guylty Pleasure 
Spring time? If only… I love your calendar and the library project btw and I always wonder when or how you find the time for crafting etc… My desk is shouting for an intense spring cleaning – I hear it well… 😁
Fingers crossed for your diet plans and thanks for the link!
My first act of virtual cleaning is some sort of digital detox by having a twitter break. Don’t know how long I’ll keep to it…
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Oh, that Twitter detox is coming soon, too. I will use Lent to give myself a bit of a Social Media break.
And when it comes to cleaning and tidying – even with my “allergy” I can say that it usually takes much less time than I envisage. It’s really just overcoming that first resistance, right?
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Exactly! 👌😄
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I’ve been putting off that update myself. Blerg. I hope things start to look up for you!
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I ignored that update for a while but I know from experience that it eventually catches up with you 😕. Meh. But well, now it is done, everything is running again, and gimmick-fan that I am, I like some of the new functionalities and designs.
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This is a horrible moment for me as culturally I never like updates. There was one I ignored for three years on my previous machine. But I promised myself I wouldn’t do that any more 🙂
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I don’t mind change so much but I still have a certain amount of distrust and suspicion when it comes to these updates. More often than not they do not go as smoothly as promised. Or lead to further expense because they need upgrades down the line. That promise, I know it well. And I *still* find excuses to postpone updates… 😬
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Hello you!
I NEED to watch Mr. Ray Levine. I’m kinda afraid to because… well… fanfiction. I’ve updated Gary at Dreamer Fiction, but between the move and Mom and Dad… my Muses have gone to the beach, where it’s cold and aren’t really speaking. Maybe if I read some, it will help.
Either way, happy Spring cleaning!!!!!
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You definitely need to watch Ray. Without spoiling it for you – he is a really good character for a change, and there is plenty of scope for fan fiction.
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Liebe Sonja, gut von dir zu hören. Der Bücherschrank und der Kalender sind wunderschön geworden 😍, du warst sehr tüchtig in den letzten Tagen.
Du sagst Frühling 😊 …das wäre super, aber grade ein Schneesturm hier. Da ich aber Frühling sehr mag, können wir versuchen, ihn irgendwie auszudehnen. Immerhin ist der 1. Februar ein guter Tag für einen neuen Start. Zwar bin ich nicht so stark wie Ray, aber vielleicht ist es wert es mindestens zu versuchen.
Protein-shake Diät klingt schrecklich, brr… Leider werde ich wohl auch damit Bekanntschaft machen müssen, nach zwei Jahren Homeoffice in der Nähe der Küche ist es bei mir eine Katastrophe von einem Ausmaß, das ich nie vorher erlebt habe. Ich passe nur in zwei meiner Hosen rein und die eine sollte ich wohl lieber nach dem Lesen der Besprechung und der Kommentare zu der ersten Episode zu The Stranger wegwerfen 😂 (hmm, wenn sie mehr rot als rosa ist, kann sie vielleicht doch bleiben 😂).
Wirst du Anfang Mai immer noch in Deutschland sein?
Bin so froh, dass der “angel of hope” von Adina mit dir ist 💗.
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Weia – Schneesturm???? Nun ja, auf dem Kontinent ist das Klima ja im Februar wirklich noch tiefster Winter. Ich habe mich immer darüber amüsiert, dass die Iren traditionell am 1. Februar den Frühlingsanfang feiern. Aber im Laufe der Jahre habe ich dann wirklich gemerkt, dass das Wiedererwachen der Natur hier weitaus früher stattfindet als zu Hause in Deutschland. Anfang März sind die Osterglocken hier schon fast verblüht, und die Bäume haben definitiv schon Knospen, während in Deutschland noch alles kahl ist. Und dann überholt Deutschland auf einmal im April/Mai mit Riesenschritten Irland und ist wesentlich wärmer als Irland…
Ich kann meine Gewichtszunahme leider nicht voll und ganz auf mein Home Office schieben. Da arbeite ich ja schon seit 12 Jahren. Aber ich muss zugeben, dass ich mich in letzter Zeit wirklich ungezügelt dem Genuss hingegeben hatte – mit großen Portionen beim Essen und abendlichem Knabbern vor dem Fernseher 😬. Schluss damit. Meine Protein-Shakes klingen allerdings schlimmer als sie sind. Ich habe da mittlerweile ein Marke entdeckt, die wirklich leckere Sachen macht und nicht künstlich schmeckt. Grundsätzlich finde ich solche Lebensmittelersatzdiäten eigentlich auch nicht so klasse. Um langfristig abzunehmen, braucht man eine Ernährungsumstellung und nicht Ersatzmittel. Aber ich nutze diese Shake-Diäten gerne als zweiwöchigen Einstieg – um erste Fortschritte zu erzielen, die ich dann nicht wieder aufgeben will, sondern die mir helfen, im “normalen Essen” die Balance zu finden. Mal sehen, ob es klappt.
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So happy you were able to find the time to read Damaged Goods. I have been singing its praises for some time, here and on FB fan pages. Glad you enjoyed it. We must have the same taste in erotica. I share your feelings about Ray falling for a woman of a certain age (rather than a 20-something). It takes no effort at all to insert myself in the story. Heavy sigh.
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I am definitely hooked on DG now and have been checking AO3 for updates on an hourly basis 😂. I really liked the Ray she “invented” – he was a credible continuation of the film. But better 😁.
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Hmm, maybe I should delve into that fanfic. I’m not a huge fan of Stay Close but I did like the character of Ray, so for him I would try it.
I love your little bookcase, what a great idea!
Good luck with the weight thing.
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If you have a few free minutes, I would definitely recommend the fic. Ray is one of the few characters in recent years that have a slightly more positive side to him. He’s nicely developed in the fic, so a good read. Plus – there are 34 chapters of it, so it is a nice long read, easily broken into daily snippets if you want.
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