Sunday 30 January 2022

Nothing to see here except a large pink flower

Pink flower - I think it's a dahlia?
Riverhill Himalayan Gardens, June 2021
Almost nothing has happened that is worthy of note in the last week. Obviously I've been doing things - I went to see mum and dad, and I've done some mind-stretching stuff for Mr MXF, there's been badminton, the Buddhists keep me busy, and I went for a long walk with a friend, watched films and did shopping and cooking and another jigsaw and listened to some very long audiobooks. But even the expected dog didn't arrive because his regular family managed to catch Covid so they didn't go away and need a weekend dog-sitter after all.

So I've nothing to say here, which is fine because I'm very happily pootling along, carefree, without any stress, and how many of us can say that at the moment?

Friday 21 January 2022

Who listens to music cassettes?

Blue sky over canal
Canal at Taraloka, November 2021
There isn't much going on here at the moment, what with being in the midst of cold and only sometimes crisp winter weather. I don't feel much like going out, and have few reasons to do so. I found a vaccination shift lurking online and booked myself onto it, only to have it cancelled almost straight away, as was the previous one, so I sent a message to the head nurse asking if I'm needed any more and she told me that they have hardly any customers and are opening for only 4 hours a day, so the people employed by the clinic don't need any extra help.

Otherwise I venture outside only for shopping, or going to see mum and dad, or badminton, or an occasional walk with a dog-owning friend. Even the Tuesday Buddhists are online at the moment, although I went to a one-off session in person on Saturday in Birmingham and even combined it with meeting an old friend for lunch. This is not good enough - staying indoors all the time is comfortable and enjoyable (I have watched quite a few films and finished the fiendish jigsaw) but not healthy in the long run, so I need to come up with a plan. When it gets warmer I will start running again, and maybe one day there will be a dog? Actually, I am due to be looking after another dog at the end of January, but once more it's only for a weekend.

Health news: I think my hurty arm is getting slightly better with the change in posture at the desk, although I am doing more sitting at the desk catching up with work for Mr MXF. I have embarked on a post-Christmas-and-New-Year dietary regime, which does not include chocolate or snacks, and it is working and not making me too miserable but probably needs to continue until at least the end of February.

LTRP news: I called the roofer who continued to not turn up and asked if he actually wanted the job, and he said he didn't, so that's helpful. I wish they'd just say so rather than promising to come round at some future unspecified date. So now I need to contact my previous roofer, and chase the builder again to give me a date for pointing the front wall. Otherwise Lola Towers is pretty much in order on a structural level and in the spring it may be a good time to consider starting work on the outside acreage. 

I am still occupied with the ongoing weeding out of clutter, and had a go a giving away some cardboard boxes, a stand-alone clothes rail and some old music cassette tapes. I listed all three with the same wording on Freegle, Facebook Marketplace and Nextdoor and received no response from Nextdoor, one request from Freegle, and a large number of enquiries from FBM, of which only one included the word 'please' and one 'thanks'. Two people even asked me to post the cassettes to them, but one is local so I asked him what he wanted them for. "To listen to, of course! What else could I do with them?" he responded. I am even more intrigued to imagine that someone wants to listen to shonky old tapes of LPs from the 80's and 90's. At least I have saved them from landfill, even if only temporarily.

And I have found a willing recipient of the jigsaw, so that's sorted.

Starry Night jigsaw
The fiendish jigsaw (only one piece got lost)

Friday 14 January 2022

Happy New Year holiday

Both Lolas and scenery
Yarcombe, January 2022 (Photo credit: L from family JJL&J)
Happy New Year to my very few but dedicated readers. There's been a break in transmission, not so much because of the holidays but because of a rare interlude when I just haven't felt like sitting down and writing.

One of the reasons may be that some time ago I developed a low-key but significant pain in my left arm (intermittently from forearm to neck), which in the last few days has prevented me from lying down comfortably in almost any position. After ignoring it for as long as possible, it has now become important to work out what is going on, and with only a moment's consideration, I feel fairly sure it's because of how I've been sitting at the computer. Today I switched the mouse to the other side, and more importantly I replaced the exercise ball I've been sitting on with my proper computer chair. My new posture feels much better, so fingers crossed that this is reflected in a less hurty arm.

Christmas with friends in Nottingham was lovely, and I have become a convert to the strange yet delicious combination of champagne and advocaat for Christmas morning, which effectively softens the focus for much of the rest of the day. I'm not a fan of either champagne or advocaat on their own, so it was quite a surprise to find that they taste rather good together. A lot of cheese was given and received, Christmas dinner was at a local curry house, and there's really no more to say about that holiday.

There was uncertainty over whether we could get together for New Year in Devon until the very last minute. Thankfully we went ahead - we were a party of 15 housed in a majestic Grade II listed manor house said to have been owned by Sir Francis Drake. It has been updated since the 16th century and was generally warm with plenty of baths, toilets, showers and hot water, which are the essentials of a comfortable holiday in mid-winter. 

View of 16th century manor house
Sheafhayne Manor (Photo credit Mr M)
It was also enormous - 11 bedrooms, 4 staircases, a large lounge, a small lounge and a games room with full size snooker table as well as a huge dining room (with piano), kitchen and many pantries and store cupboards and utility rooms and outbuildings... There was also enough crockery and cutlery for about 100 people, and two working dishwashers. We even discovered a huge 'ballroom' at a lower level containing further delights which we didn't really make use of, what with having plenty of space and things to do in the main house. If I were forced to criticise anything it was that the lighting was a little underpowered for my elderly requirements. Some might complain that the internet access didn't extend beyond the lounge, but that was fine with me. 

In the olden days on holiday with this group of friends there was usually some discussion in the evening about the next day's walk, and a time to set off was determined which might be as early as 9 a.m. ahead of an all-day walk, sometimes requiring a packed lunch and returning home as it was getting dark. Perhaps because we are older, lazier or just simply enjoying a relaxing holiday together two and a half years after having booked it, we tended to get out at around 10.30 a.m. and the walks relied quite heavily on a lunch stop at a pub. 

Disappointingly, on nearly every day where a pub was involved, there was a problem - food was being served only to those who had booked ahead, there was no food at all, the pub was closed. Outside the tourist season it seems that one has to be more organised if one wants to eat, and organisation was not something that bothered us much that week. The weather was also rather warm and quite wet, and therefore extremely muddy until the final day. Views were hindered by mist, and we were definitely not as fit as we used to be. But walking with friends is something that warms my heart, so I enjoyed it all.

Cooking has also changed slightly over the years. We still divide up the evening meals so everyone is responsible for one day, but in the past each team has focussed solely on their day's cooking, and mountains of leftovers accumulate throughout the week. This led to me taking on the task on the last evening to combine everything remaining into a mammoth soup alongside leftovers that couldn't be included (e.g. cheese and biscuits). This time each successive cooking team not only took account of what remained in the fridge, but also made much more appropriate quantities, so I nearly had to buy more provisions to make sure we had enough for soup at the end.

A small pond bordered by small pyramidal fir trees
Photo credit: Mr M
Highlights: spending quality time with my lovely friends, the Bucket Game we played after dinner on New Year's Eve which successfully kept us all awake until midnight, and the Key Lime Pie made by Bee Lady 2 (yes, Mr MXF and BL2 were among the company). BL2 estimated the quantity required based on four times the amount she would make for her family of four. Fifteen of us managed to eat just half the amount she had made. I was very impressed to see family JJL&J's daughter (L) eating some of it for breakfast. I thought that was something that only a Lola would do.

Lola II and Mr M very much enjoyed the entertainment provided by more talented company playing their favourite tunes on the piano. I participated in the joint jigsaw puzzles, the first being relatively straightforward and the second being the most fiendishly difficult puzzle I have ever encountered - Starry Night by Van Gogh with every one of the thousand pieces a different and non-traditional shape. I was presented with it to take home, but most of the completed sections disintegrated on the journey and it's taken me over a week just to get back to where we were, about two thirds complete.

I've done a lot of catching up since coming home and nothing of significance except supporting mum to help dad through a nasty bout of illness (not Covid). There's been quite a lot of Buddhist stuff, badminton, walking, jigsaw puzzling and generally enjoying the life of leisure. Next week I'll definitely get back in the saddle with Mr MXF, especially as working at the computer is so much more comfortable now.

Lola I, Bee Lady 2, Lola 2 in Lyme Regis
Lyme Regis (Photo credit Mr M)

Saturday 1 January 2022

What I've been reading

Image of the book cover

The Convenient Marriage
by Georgette Heyer

narrated by Avita Jay
"Horry Winwood doesn't play by the rules. So when her family are near ruin and her sister is about to enter a loveless marriage to a wealthy man to settle the family debts, young and headstrong Horry proposes to marry him in her sister's place."
Classic Georgette Heyer, I just love her books. Having them read out to me lures me into spending much more time than I should just sitting listening, enjoying the wiles of the baddies and the twinkle in the eye of the hero and the warmth of the heroine, and all the other separate characters are drawn so clearly and sympathetically. And they always, always have a happy ending. Read Georgette Heyer if you'd like to feel good about the world.


Image of the book cover

Becoming
by Michelle Obama

narrated by the Author
"In her memoir, Michelle Obama invites readers into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her — from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago, to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work, to her time spent at the world’s most famous address."
I have to admit that while reading about Michelle Obama I discovered quite a bit about myself alongside what I learned about her. I had made quite major assumptions about who she was, her background and upbringing as well as paying very little attention to what she was doing while her husband was President. Both he and she were remarkable people, especially when viewed in the light of what came next, but not so much of a surprise given what had gone before. One of the most astonishing things was that she allowed her children to spend eight formative years in the White House along with their parents, but perhaps the Clintons had reassured her on that score. I've got Barack's latest memoir lined up and I'm looking forward to listening to that soon, but I'm not in the least interested in the biographies of the leaders of the UK. I think it's easier to be objective when not actually under the jurisdiction of the person in question.


Image of the book cover

The Red and the Green
by Iris Murdoch
"The scene is Dublin in 1916. As rebellion looms, tension mounts in the sombre, rain-soaked Dublin streets. A single Anglo-Irish family provides the diverse characters: Pat Dumay, a Catholic and an Irish patriot; his pious mother pursuing her private war with his step-father; Pat’s English-Protestant cousin Andrew Chase-White, an officer in King Edward’s Horse and Frances, the girl he loves."
For about three quarters of this book I didn't much like it, especially as I had to  read the first chapter three times and draw a family tree to make sure I understood who was who - not a good start to a novel. But the final quarter was pretty good, even if she had to write an epilogue to describe what happened to everyone after the main action was over. I still can't see the appeal of Iris Murdoch though.