Photo diary: week 4, Project 365

 Another week's gone in a whoosh. I'm still having troubles with my back pain, it was getting better only to flare up again, so for a couple of days I was quite incapacitated. I'm scared to say it's OK at the moment, so as not to jinx it. 

My great nephew is back at home from the hospital, but his Mum needed an operation. It's been a difficult time for them all, and I feel helpless, as there is nothing I can do from afar. 

Back to my daily photos. On Sunday I cooked cappellacci di zucca, a local speciality from Ferrara. My husband was visiting his parents (both unwell), and brought back some fresh pasta. This pasta was invented in the Renaissance period, and is a combination of sweet and savoury flavours (stuffed with pumpkin). 

The only purchase I made last Black Friday was the Ancestry DNA kit. It took ages for the kit to arrive, and then quite a bit for the results to get back.

If you think of doing it, don't bother with the Traits section, totally bollocks, and not worth paying for it. For example, supposedly I'm unlikely to get motion sick (while motion sickness is a huge issue for me, I cannot even travel on the bus without feeling terrible and need to take the meds); it claims I'm likely to prefer doing things with people (and in fact I do prefer doing things alone); my hair type is apparently wavy (my hair has never been wavy); likely to tolerate heat well (that's completely wrong); they think I'm an extrovert (ha ha); I'm less attractive to mosquitoes (I'm the blinking magnet for mosquitoes). 

They haven't done exactly everything wrong in the Traits, but more than a half of features are nonsense.

Now, the DNA analysis itself is very curious. I did know that there would be pretty much of a mixed heritage, but still expected a different result.

Have you done the Ancestry DNA, and what did you think of it? 

Another unnecessary purchase that I did recently was ordering a Tokyo Treat box. It's been such a horrid month, and I wanted to treat my boys and myself. I've been looking at their ads for over a year, and finally took the plunge. 

This is the January box. It is full of fascinating products, and we're enjoying exploring the new flavours and textures. There is a booklet, explaining what is what, though not all the products are listed.

Eddie and I liked the peanut butter candies with a jelly centre. The strawberry KitKats are also lovely. We haven't opened all the packets yet.

Have you tried a Tokyo Treat box?

One of the ink drawings I did last week - Eddie in a party hat, looking thoughtful.

I've been trying to de-clutter, and finding space for a new batch of books. I love the British Library Crime Classics series. The cover designs with the vintage posters are so stylish. 

Books in (all at half price, and I couldn't resist):

And books out - taken to the charity shop. A few of the books which I've read for reviewing, and some that I acquired in the past for us, which we won't be reading again.

Here is my Eddie, enjoying the Japanese noodles from the Tokyo Treat box. Given a chance, he would happily live on noodles. I'm obviously healthier cooking meals for us with protein and veg, but when my boy comes from school, he often makes a quick meal for himself.

Yesterday Eddie and I went to Oxford, while my husband and Sasha went to the local cafe. We didn't have any special plans, just mooched around the West Gate shopping centre. 

We had a quick bite at Itsu, and had a very strange encounter. There was a family of five who asked me to take a photo of them, then started to chat. They proudly told us that their young son (around 10 years old) had a prophecy that the war in Ukraine will end on the 17th of February. Well, we'll just have to wait and see. 

We didn't do much, bought a couple of t-shirts in TK Maxx for Eddie, some sweets, and also popped into Primark to check out the Squid Game pyjamas, but they didn't have any (thank goodness).

And that's about all the excitement we had for the last week.

I snapped George St in Oxford, as we were waiting for the bus home.

How was your week?

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