1 EAGLETON NOTES: Only Myself

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Wednesday 27 April 2022

Only Myself

I never ever say 'Never'. Well (to quote from 

That is how I started  a post last night at about 9.15. I'd had a long fairly physical day. I decided to vacate my usual computer position in the 'kitchen' and take the laptop through to a nice comfy armchair in the living room. I then did something fairly unusual for me: at 21:09 I fell fast asleep and woke up 1 hour and 9 mins later at 22:14. 

I must have had something in my mind to write otherwise I wouldn't have started in the way I did. The strange thing is that I have zero recollection of what I was going to say and, more to the point in some ways,  which quotation I was going to use.

I have another fairly physical day coming up starting with an appointment for my bum jab and then I go to one of my new "jobs" helping mow the lawns at the bowling club where the two usual volunteer groundsmen are out of commission. 

As I have to be in town at the medical practice in 40 minutes this is very short.

This post is boring enough so I'll enliven it with a picture of a sock. It's one of my more interesting socks in the it's not plain and it has a Christmas Robin on it. Over the washing at the weekend it disappeared.  Everyone has a disappearing sock story but the effort I've put into finding this far outweighs the importance of the sock.  I have looked everywhere including places where I looked simply for the curiosity.


Now I have to fly. Bye for now.

PS This was to let you all know I'm alive and well.

48 comments:

  1. It is always good to know that you are alive and well, Graham, so: Thank you!
    Maybe I am the only person alive who does not have a story about disappearing socks. I can honestly say that in the 35 years or so that I have been doing my own washing I have never lost a sock.
    And now I am curious and want to know where you did eventually find the missing Christmas robin sock.

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    1. Meike, if I'd answered this earlier as I intended before spending an evening on the telephone, I still would not have found the sock. As it happens I found it hiding with some facecloths. Having said that I have one sock in the drawer which I keep in the hope that its partner will appear despite it being gone several year. I really am a true optimist!

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  2. I am relieved to hear that you are still alive, Graham. Your absence has been worrying.
    I once found a missing sock tightly balled up and lodged inside the sleeve of a shirt. Others however, remain missing never to be found I suspect.

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    1. JayCee, it's truly amazing what a washing machine can achieve.

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  3. I have a few odd socks here, Graham, so I'd be happy send one over! I think that these days people even wear mismatched socks so you'd be at the height of fashion.

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    1. David, oddly I was given six odd (as in different) socks for a birthday a year or so back. They are not my go to feet coverings I have to admit.

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  4. Good to see you are still around.

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    1. Google is messing with Blogger. No way is this nonsense acceptable. Most bloggers I like I can post to but jumping through hoops is not on. Blogger is done, it's an old folks medium which has become both tedious and irrelevant. See you folks on YouTube or via email.

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    2. Thanks, Adrian. As for 'Annoyed' as you are also "anonymous" I will presumably never know whether I meet you or not. By the way I am old and I may be tedious and irrelevant too. So I'm sure you won't want to see me on YouTube.

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    3. "Annoyed" is a tit. No loss with their departure, I say. You are definitely not tedious nor irrelevant, and we love you, so yay Blogger for weeding out the eejits.

      As for the sock thing - I have avoided the entire issue by only buying identical socks in bulk. Also, we use a local drop-off laundry service (as we have no washer/dryer in the house) so if they have ever lost one in the past twenty years, I have no record of it. All my socks are ankle-high sports socks, white on top, grey on bottom, and I have something like forty of them (as half of them are at the laundromat at any given time). If one sock develops heel holes, I just chuck it out (or use it for staining/waxing furniture or dusting). It's not part of a proper "pair" so it's never missed. Eventually, after the supply begins to dwindle, I just order another bag of identical socks. Haven't spent a single second searching for missing socks as far back as I can recall...

      Also, during the summer I tend to wear "boat shoes" and other types of summer footwear that don't require socks, so the socks I have are only worn during cooler weather. I am still wearing socks, because although it's nearly May, it's still bloody cold out!

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    4. Marcheline, buying identical socks in bulk is a great idea. As almost all mine are dark navy or black with a coloured sole it doesn't much matter anyway.

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  5. The sock will appear exactly when it is needed (or when it decides to). :)

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    1. Well, Miss Kim, it has just arrived back in the fold.

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  6. Maybe you were going to quote Grace Kelly: I never say 'never,' and I never say 'always.'
    Glad you posted - sounds like you are busy and doing well.

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    1. Ellen, I am truly bewildered because I still have not recalled what I was going to blog about.

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  7. Good to read you're back, Graham...I'm still a little concerned when you're gone a while. Oh, socks! I too have lots of great socks - fun socks, and I will admit that in all my years of doing laundry, I've lost several but still retain the "orphans" in hopes their match will show up. Catch us up on your gardens ....meantime, stay well and chipper. All the best. Regina, from the base of the mini-mountain in Maine.

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    1. Thank you, Regina. All the best to you from the shores of The Minch.

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  8. Wishing you good health and a pair of socks!

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    1. Thank you Anonymous. I have a feeling that Blogger has been messing around again. I notice that the comments portal has altered and I'm wondering if that is causing some people not to be able to identify themselves.

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  9. I never ever say 'Never'. Well (to quote from D.H. Lawrence) "I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself. A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough without ever having felt sorry for itself." And this was in my mind as I meticulously dried my collection of vintage whisky glasses - occasionally looking out from my kitchen window across the stormy waters of The Minch.

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    1. Bizarrely, YP, your comment went to spam. It was only going through this morning I realised I hadn't sen it here. Blogger is getting a bit tiresome although it is catching more proper spam. I wonder what words you used that triggered it. Anyway thanks for your quote which is a sentiment I very much agree with. We as a race spend too much time feeling sorry for ourselves. Whisky is a drink I've only taken to in recent years so never got around to collecting glasses. Actually I 'collect' very little.

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  10. Well as long as you don't get lost yourself... ;-)
    I recommend special zip-bags for keeping together small items like socks in the washing machine.

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    1. That sounds like a good ides, Monica. When I can't find my way home that's when I'll be worrying too.

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    2. Perhaps they have a GB-sized zip bag that will keep you from getting lost? 8-)

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    3. Marcheline, it could possibly keep me nice and warm on a cold winter's day.

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  11. When I used to do laundry for the family, there would often be socks missing and I would gather the strays, waiting for the match to show up. Little did I know that at least one of my children had his own collection of stray socks and if we had compared collections he may have had a good deal more pairs!

    I'm glad you're alive and well!

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    1. Thanks, Kylie. I enjoyed your story. At least only being me I should know if I have two lots of socks awaiting a partner. I wouldn't guarantee it though.

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  12. Hi Graham, I've a quote for you that is you to a T (as you lost yours)...“Live life to the fullest and focus on the positive." Sorry, don't have anything to say about missing socks. That ceased being a problem once I no longer did my children's laundry. My washing machine had quite an appetite back in those days.

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    1. Thank you, Pauline. I'll go with your quote anytime. Negativity in people depresses me.

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  13. I'm always finding single socks (and other things) left behind in the machine after the rest has been hung out to dry. A certain person in this house has a very relaxed attitude to what she actually puts into the machine, and what comes out!

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    1. Ah right, Cro. I'm afraid that I'm annoyingly methodical so when something goes missing it is an affront to my approach to things.

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  14. I'm so glad you are alive and well, but pity about the sock! :)

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    1. Thanks, Margaret. It's returned to the fold.

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  15. I'm late to this conversation as I've been unwell for a few days. However, I'm on the mend and want to say how happy I am that you are back. I tend to panic when I don't see your post for a couple of weeks.

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    1. Jill, I was very sorry to read that you've been unwell. I do hope that in the last day you have improved even more. Time passes so fast and however much I want to post more I don't seem to make the time nor, often, have the inspiration.

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  16. Thanks for the update on yourself, Graham. Far more often it seems, bloggers go off the radar so to speak and certainly that's understandable as life has other plans at times. Still it does make other bloggers hope that they are OK and perhaps just "consumed" with matters needing their attention. As for the errant socks, glad it turned up. As I am the chief laundress here, there have been times a sock has been MIA and I learned it was tossed out after spending a bit of time on a search. Sheets are also notorious sock culprits.

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    1. Beatrice, I have had a few bloggers over the last 15 years or so who have disappeared suddenly and without trace. One blog is still there just as it was the day she disappeared. I have so often wondered what happened to her.

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  17. Perhaps, too, the sock has flown away...by the robin!

    While laying in bed so often thoughts of sleep get pushed aside as thoughts of what to write take over my mind. And, that is the reason why I always have a notebook or two, and a pen or three, within hand's reach. :)
    I don't have any socks, so I don't have the problem of losing any. One less thing for me to worry about! :)

    Take good care, Graham...don't overdo the mowing. :)

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    1. Lee, I would put absolutely nothing past socks and robins to do mischievous things. I, too, have a notebook and pencil next to the bed but I can never stay awake long enough to use them. I've had another day mowing my own and the club lawns. It's good walking exercise whilst being useful at the same time.

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  18. Good to know you're still happy and around. I usually twist my socks together so I don't lose them, seems to work but as for falling asleep, naps are good except when it happens to me I end up snorting myself awake.

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    1. Yes, Amy, I've done that too. It was a surprise because my wife always said that one of my good points was that I didn't snore. I'm not sure she thought I had any others!

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  19. Sounds like you are working your body too hard. Love the sock aga have you tried the walls of the washing machine or dryer.

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    1. Diane, I do sometimes but I think I recognise it and pull back. The walls of the machines are always a likely place and I always check them anyway.

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  20. As always, it's good to hear from you, Graham. X

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  21. I have just watched my recording of Gardener's World and one young chap showed us his sweetcorn growing on his allotment with socks on to save from the mice. I thought of you. Lesley

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    1. I smiled at that idea, Lesley. I missed some of the programme and haven't managed to watch it ob catch-up yet.

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  22. Well, great that you are alive and well and I hope you're still alive and well after the bum jab!

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