Yep…. One of those days🙄
https://linktr.ee/TrulyMadlyOrdinary
Random Wednesday
14
You got mail,💌💌💌
Don’t forget to check your spam and enjoy
https://linktr.ee/TrulyMadlyOrdinary
Chill Woman Chill!
Brief update on our heating, or should I say lack of heating, situation🥶
The plumbers came last Monday as agreed and tried everything humanly possible to fix the problem. They unscrewed the heaters, hammered the pipes, power flushed the entire system and 5 hours later they had fixed……( pause for effect) NOTHING 😫
Apparently, our last resort is now to lift the carpet (the newly changed white carpet), tear apart the floor, and replace the pipes leading to the two broken radiators. It’s gonna be dusty, it’s gonna be expensive but it should fix the problem once and for all. Not many choices are there? So, “ Ok, let’s go for it.” I say it out of desperation. A desperation to see them go for the day and put the heating back on, where it still works.
Oh, yes, I might have not mentioned that while they were working the entire house heating was disconnected making the temperature outside perfectly match the one inside. Another thing I might not mentioned is that we are still having unusually low temperatures in Ireland this week.
Anyway, once they had finally left, I was barely able to speak and move my limbs, stiffed dead cold I was. I was also regretting not thinking about wearing multiple layers of coats, gloves and hats, because in my head that’s something you don’t do when in the comfort of your own home; except my home was far from comforting and cosy in the specific situation. Also, I honestly thought/hoped the guys would be done much sooner, even though I should definitely have known better when at 1 pm, ( they arrived at 10.30am), they were still trying to figure out what the issue was.
To conclude, we still have no heating in two of the bedrooms but we now have a plan. When it will actually be out in place, well that’s another entirely matter that will probably require me to do heavy stalking of the plumber.
Looking at the positive side of it all then, daughter number one, who was at her worst with the flu on Monday, survived, proving that one of her father’s parenting milestones ( passed on by generations in his family) actually works: what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. ( Damn does the man really have to be always right🙄?) At least there was a positive outcome for me too, for once I got something from the Befana too, instead of simply filling other stockings without them ever ever dreaming of reciprocating. The plumbers came in fact on the fifth and that very same night I got chilblains on my toes. Nothing really new for me actually, but this time I got lots of them! Every single one of my toes had one and some were so lucky to have multiple on them: top, front and underneath! Oh boy, I must have been a really good girl last year, for the Befana to be so generous with me!
P.S
The Befana is a good witch bringing you gifts or coal (depending on whether you have been good or not) on the night of the 5th of January. More about this tradition in this month’s newsletters is out tomorrow. So, remember to check your email or to subscribe if you haven’t done so yet🤓
https://mailchi.mp/8be43eb60a11/the-extrordinary-everyday
Happy belated Befana to you all and have a spectacular week ahead.🥰
https://linktr.ee/TrulyMadlyOrdinary
Reading with Ortensia, January Edition
Happy new book year and welcome to the first 2026 edition of reading with Ortensia.
AUDIO BOOKS
THE ROOM NEXT DOOR, by Wendy Walker. A lesson learned from this one: Affairs and lies always have some consequences. I really enjoyed this one. It was far less predictable than I thought, and it had a gripping and unforeseen final twist. 🌟🌟🌟🌟
DEATH AT THE DOG SHOW by Peter Bland, Another mystery to solve for the ladies of the charity shop detective agency that doesn’t disappoint. Funny, intriguing and cosily murderous.🌟🌟🌟🌟
MY HUSBAND NEXT DOOR, by K.L Slater. You know when they say “its aways the quiet ones”?! Well, I don’t want tobe a spoiler, but they might be right. Nice plot, fluent story with a nice final twist. 🌟🌟🌟
MY MISSING BOY, by D.L Fisher. A fast-paced domestic thriller keeping you guessing till the end.🌟🌟🌟
PAPER BOOKS
12 WAYS TO KILL YOUR FAMILY AT CHRISTMAS, by Natasha Bache. Witty and corkily funny, the perfect read for fans of Bella Mache.🌟🌟🌟🌟
BISCOTTI , OMICIDI E PROFUMO DI MANDORLE, by Elke Pistor. Unfortunately, the title is translated from German only to Italian, not English. Even if I do not think I will read more of this series because I didn’t particularly warmed up to the protagonist, I did indeed appreciate the recipes at the end of the book.🌟🌟🌟
https://linktr.ee/TrulyMadlyOrdinary
Random Wednesday
https://linktr.ee/TrulyMadlyOrdinary
Hello 2026.
I won’t even try the new year, new me thing because 2026 started in a classic truly madly ordinary traditional way.
Should I start with the dogs rolling on a massive poo to welcome the new year? I actually haven’t seen them rolling, and I didn’t see the big mountain of poo, but the smell and the colour they had on them when back were unequivocal, and by the amount of brown substance they were carrying on their fur, just freshly washed a few days earlier, must have been massive. I thought horse poo in the beginning, but when the following day they had the very same encounter again and with the very same results, (except their coats were only freshly washed the day before this time) I decided it must have been either the product of a Grisley bear, an entire herd of horses after a rough new years eve party, or Vecna’s last despicable action on our world ( and believe me: It was despicably nasty).
The new year was also welcomed by a heavy drop in temperature and so instead of a white Christmas, we had a white(ish) new year. Delightful to see if only our radiators would not stop working right right on the first day of a forecasted week if mnus temperatures. And our plumber is away……
Who was not away instead and came as promised on the second day of the new year was the satellite man. We can now finally watch all the TV channels without interruptions or glitches. And if we stick to the first floor of the house or the bathrooms upstairs, we can do it in the comfort of a warm room too.
Till the plumber comes, hopefully tomorrow, we only use the bedrooms strictly to sleep and we make sure the journey into the bed and under the cover is as quick as humanly possible.
Because my side of the bed is closer to the ensuite’s door, I tried to practice a routine to jump from the bathroom straight into the bed. It didn’t work. My legs are too short, and my athletic skills are definitely the same crap ones as last year exactly like my clumsiness and the only thing I obtained was to trip and break a mirror.
Now, I am “scaramantic” but not at all superstitious, ( a difference only known to Italians probably) but I must admit that, if the last couple of days’ happenings had followed a different timeframe, even if the mirror was a small one, I would have wondered though!
But as it didn’t, and I am still as optimistic as last year, I can only smile at this bumpy start of the new year believing it can only improve😉
P.S
A little business disclosure now: Due to the holidays break the January edition of reading with Ortensia will be out on the second Friday of the month and so will be slightly delayed the monthly newsletters too.
https://linktr.ee/TrulyMadlyOrdinary
Welcome 2026
Happy New Year to the marvellous WordPress community and cheers to an other year of blogging, friendships, laughing and inspiring stories🥰🎊🍾
Random Wednesday,Christmas Edition🎄
The Christmas Rush
Sorry, I skipped the weekly post last week but the Christmas frenzy caught up with me, and we all know that trying to fight it is a lost battle. Still, I have the feeling of having wrestled with time and a schedule I couldn’t possibly follow and accomplish for the last two and a half weeks.
Now, don’t get me wrong I love Christmas, even the frantic schedule that comes with it because, let’s face it, it’s a jolly stress we put ourselves under. The problem is that the more you do and the longer that freaking to-do list seems to get, when it should actually be the other way around, right?
So here I am, three days away from Christmas still with a few tasks undone and the one million dollar question to answer: where did the time go? Surely not to partying out! , Sadly enough, in fact, this year I managed to get nearly at Christmas without a proper festive night out.
I could still enjoy a night in though. I know a sort of sad consolation price really, but as they say, desperate times call for desperate measures. And so last Friday after dropping the rest of my household to their separate festive engagement, none of which requiring my presence but only my driving service, I went back home to my own carefully planned festive night.
From outside the window I already saw that Ada the gremlins had in my absence decided to feast with the decorative pinecones on the leaving room coffetable; what I haven’t realised it was that she also decided to discard them ( after having processed them) on my antique Persian rug. The smell as soon as I stepped inside gave her away though, while I confess I had some kind of thought yo give her away too, just in a more literal way!
By the time I cleaned up the mess, got rid of the smell, and had a bite to eat, I was finally able to step into the shower but quickly jumped out as daughter number two texted to be collected. Shortly after the traveling husband texted me too, asking for a lift… And again. … and again when not receiving a prompt immediate answer. “ ever heard of not texting and driving?”
Equally annoyed with my husband and Siri, who had a bad night and couldn’t get my accent, I resorted to vocal messages only to receive more texts saying he couldn’t hear a word because of the noise in the pub. “Ever consider going out for a minute?”Obviously not!
6 back and forth drives later I had them all safe and sound at home and I could finally go feet up and have that glass of wine, except it was not the right time anymore and neither I was in the right mood. A hot chamomile tea had to do.
P.S
Disclaimer. There might be some typos/ writing horrors in the above post as I did not have time to properly go over it….. Just appreciate the effort😜
https://linktr.ee/TrulyMadlyOrdinary
Random Wednesday
Because alternatives are essential😜
https://linktr.ee/TrulyMadlyOrdinary
