Out and about again

Madeira Botanical Garden, Funchal, November 2022

It took me about two and a half days to get through the email and WhatsApp traffic that had piled up while I was away for two weeks on retreat, and I'm still catching up on podcasts. I did three loads of washing and there's more to come, but this did include a whole load that I didn't manage to do before I went. The weekend disappeared very rapidly but at least I managed to retain some of the equanimity that a retreat brings, and if I can keep it going it will stand me in good stead for the rest of January and February, which are a bit busy.

The U3A board games and walking groups are turning out very well. I thought the board games group would meet in a Games café - there are two in Leamington - but it turns out that the group organiser has a house full of board games, which I was invited to view while his wife rolled her eyes at the foolishness of it all. Attendance is low at the moment, but maybe because of Christmas and cold weather and the advanced age of the group members. The walking group has been good too, with circular walks ending at a pub for lunch and interesting people to walk with and get to know. I'm definitely the youngster at both these groups. I'm not planning to join any more for the time being.

I was invited to spend a day in London with one of the people I go for walks with. It was strange spending time with him without the dog - for example, one of us didn't have to wait at the table while the other went to the counter to order tea. We went to an exhibition at the British Museum and then another at the Royal Academy, and both were interesting. The BM exhibition was about Myanmar/Burma, and one of the first things I learned was why there are two names - 'Myanmar' relates to one of the kingdoms that was drawn together to make what the British colonisers called 'Burma'. The RA exhibition was of drawings done by impressionists (Degas to Toulouse-Lautrec), of which my favourite was a simple watercolour of flowerpots by Paul Cézanne.

Then I went to York for the weekend to visit my Buddhist friend who moved from Birmingham, and to deliver a camp bed and curtains for her flat, which also meant I was more comfortable at night. York is a lovely city, and there's plenty of scope for exploring in future. I returned via Manchester and H+B's place, where H had arranged someone to sit with B so we could go out to a lovely local place for soup (me) and croque (him) and ponder on the suffering in the world and our imminent deaths. And some cheerier subjects too.

Excitement lined up for the future includes my next new volunteering opportunity. I have been accepted as Event Control Room Team Member at the international badminton competition in Birmingham in March. Not a lot of effort went into my application - I just wrote that I'd been in the radio room at Warwick Folk Festival twice, which suggests that perhaps they are short of volunteers for the role.

And lastly, more teeth news: the last person I saw thought my treatment might be coming to an end, but she asked the senior orthodontist who thinks there is a bit more that can be done. So they gave me 13 more retainers, so that's about four more months.