The Lock-Down Diaries Day 38

Today I walked the dog...in a muffled and eerie silence - did I say I've been having waxy ears when I wake, which sometimes take a few hours to clear?

Well, today they haven't really cleared at all, inspite of spending my morning meditation lying down with an olive-oil dripper in hand (failed to either clear my ears or meditate!)

So, out with the dog and moseyed around the cliffs and the golf-course, feeling as though my head was wrapped in a blanket. 

I know, hardly Coronavirus, but still!

Great, if somewhat muffled excitement of the day is that Son's flat-purchase in London completed today...yay! Unable to be with him of course to provide help, support, pizza or champagne...

So now I'm lying on the attic floor with ears full of olive oil.

I did manage to make a loaf though...

And the sun is going down rather beautifully...

The Lock-Down Diaries Day 37

Today I walked the dog...

Actually in the rain again! Though it was not the unpleasant, wet sort of rain, if you know what I mean.

I actually walked further and for longer than I had planned, and then Kiity wanted a trip to the beach as well...

In the afternoon, as my neck has almost recovered and the sun was shining, we did a gym session and then sat in the sun drinking tea.

Mad world...when you can call out to a neighbour, as he strolls down the road with his dog that 

'Marcus Aurelius is out of quarantine'

And he knows what you mean...

The Lock-Down Diaries Day 36

Today I cleaned the cooker - ha, that got your attention! But more of that momentous occurence later..

Today I walked the dog, and it was raining, for the first time since Before. All this. Started.

Up the road - and this morning the jay, who I have spied several times on the sharp bend, up in the trees, shouting loudly, was much nearer the ground, and the road. We looked at each other and kept a polite (social) distance. Beauty!

Later this morning I had to go into the town in the rain for a few foodie-bits. I bought breadflour and then crossed the road to pick up coffee for me and for a friend! Aaagh...coffee-man was out at the Post Office! I sheltered in the porch for a few minutes until he returned - and then stood across the road in a closed hair-dressers porch turning out his pockets for his key. For several minutes.  I was able, finally to get supplies and returned home for lunch.

Ah, lunch! We ate at the table to celebrate being there together and watched scaffolders (!) opposite.

Suddenly I was excited to see A BULLFINCH on our tamarisk! I must score at least 15 in my I-Spy Birdbook, I think! And A. idly suggested a Coronavirus I-Spy Special...and wondered what score one might claim for scaffolders - a rare sight at the moment, though usually a common one here.

And the cooker? Well to be honest I had to clean the top after a messy candle-recycling session - I don't make candles often enough, and every time I do, I remember too late how best, and least messily, to manage it!

Did I clean the oven? Did I heck! Do I look like a woman who cleans the oven on a regular basis!? I looked inside. I looked a second time. I muttered about it being 'one of the self-cleaning sort.' I shut the door firmly and put the kettle on.

The Lock-Down Diaries Day 35

I woke this morning having slept better, and thought my neck-pain had eased...until I sat up - OUCH!

And we had had RAIN overnight, the first in a month.

So - today I walked the dog, while A. did the week's shopping for ourselves and some bits for various neighbours.

And I made some bread-maker bread and leftovers soup...

But my neck didn't improve, so no gym for me!

And this evening A. was out (Samaritans are among the few people allowed out) and I have sat by the fire, drunk a bottle of cider and watched iPlayer.

This is how we feel...

The Lock-Down Diaries Day 34

This morning...started VERY early. Yet again I was downstairs drinking tea at 5-ish, only this morning it was a stiff neck rather than covid-dreaming which had woken me and shaken me out of bed and down the stairs.

Ho hum...never mind, I got some listening done, and a code-word or two, and then ate porridge and then, suddenly REALLY fancied rice-pudding!

So I put a handful of risotto rice(well, no-one has pudding-rice in the back of the cupboard anymore, do they?!)

and a tin of coconut milk into the slow-cooker with a bit of brown sugar before I meditated and walked with Kitty...

SO, this morning I walked the dog -

firstly up to a neighbour to leave a jar of sourdough starter in return for the Marcus Aurelius left at my gate yesterday, then down to the deserted, misty beach.

And today we went to explore bits of the golf-course we haven't yet visited...and are never normally allowed to wander.

Up past the three ponds to the derelict farm in the middle of the course...which is much bigger close-up than I would have suspected. The attached barn still has quite a sound roof in comparison to the house and other outbuildings, suggesting it was in use much more recently.

We didn't go poking about...I find derelict homes haunting and distressing at the best of times. And these are not.

On up to the top, where we joined a route down which is becoming familiar to us both - Kitty immediately started to ask for the tennis-ball and had a good chase about. The sun was trying to break through the sea-mist and we met no-one...

Home then to test the rice-pudding (gorgeous!) and sit out Skype-chatting to my buddy  for an hour.

That was it...energy-levels crashed and I fell asleep briefly and then watched Morse and Lewis catch a baddie (Roger Lloyd-Pack), nursing my stiff-neck while Alistair lifted heavy weights.

We are five weeks into this madness...how are you holding-up?

The first foxglove

The fresh pinky-green leaves of the copper-beech

And hawthorn in full-flower...the REALLY early one I saw in bud a couple of weeks ago turned out to be a feral apple tree!

The Lock-Down Diaries Day 33

Today I walked the dog...after a slow start and a longish (for me) meditation.

We started up our road and then cut down the little path to cross the stream and go up the other road instead...

And on up to Kitty's Field to walk through Coed Y Cwm, picking a bagful of wild garlic as we went.

The sheep and lambkins were lively in the sunshine , but Kitty was (almost) perfectly behaved and enjoyed a rampage on the golf-course as a reward...

And the rest of the day? Domestic stuff and chatting with a friend at the garden-gate.

And I made a petalled dish, while sitting outside in the sun...

And, while we were out this morning, I made my first (ever) attempt at a video...but can't access it here, so here is a 'still' to whet your appetite...

Shadow-dancer anyone?

And here is the sun setting, here and now...

You're welcome...

The Lock-Down Diaries Day 32

Today I walked the dog... 

having got up REALLY early, after waking from a truly horrid dream with a sudden jolt.

I won't revisit THAT one!

So out in the warmest of spring mornings, with sunshine, birdsong and earth that was swampy six weeks ago baked hard underfoot.

It was lovely and Kitty was well-behaved, even when we neared the trig-point field, which is now repopulated with sheep and lambkins.

Home to 'meet' my study- buddies - on Zoom, for the first time. It wasn't as bad as I expected. Which would have been hard, I admit.

Dragged kicking and screaming into the twenty-first century, me. A true Luddite, I get more and more like my Dad. He was good at justifying it too, though had less need, as peeps just tended to humour him...

Oh, I did a bit of desultory gardening...repotting bits and pieces, chucking out some dead things and potting-on my mighty oaks. And potted-up a sage cutting that had put out a few tentative roots...that should finish it off.

And today I have been mulling over the characters from the Neopolitan Quartet which I finished last night...why, with the violent, misogynist culture they were all  born into, did one or two of the group shine like gold, remain true, honest and generous humans?

Buddhist teaching calls it 'the gap'...that instant  - be it only a hair's breadth of time, or 'hare's breath' as I once saw it rather charmingly described - when, with self-awareness, we respond with creativity rather than react with our usual 'conditioned' response. The choice is always there - mindfulness, or awareness, gives us that split-second of time.

Still working on that one - I think it will be a lifetime's project...

The Lock-Down Diaries Day 31

Today I walked the dog...and it was cooler this morning than of late, and our walk was shorter.

Up over the golf-course to start with, where the stand of eucalyptus I had seen yesterday had continued to ask to be photographed...

I had a 'Brigadoon' moment of being unable to find them...but then they appeared in a slight dip, and I realised why I had never noticed them before...

We met Alistair on his bike at the top of the golf-course, and then returned home, marvelling at the sudden onset of early-summer...there were Weigela out in some places, and even Rhodadendron in full flower!

After a tough gym session and brunch I did boring domestic stuff and then sat in the garden reading Mary Oliver to recover...

"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life..."

The Lock-Down Diaries Day 30

Today I walked the dog.

And listened to music.

And improving talks.

And baked sourdough.

And discovered why the book I am reading is called 'The Story of the Lost Child'...

The Lock-Down Diaries Day 29

Today I walked the dog...

in a sort of hazy-daze, having been awake since 4.30 and up since 5.30!

It just happens sometimes doesn't it - even to me, who could usually sleep for England, Wales and the rest of the Six Nations, according to Alistair.

But there it was...woken at 4.30am, choreographing a doorstep dance with the soundtrack of Wonderful World.

And an uncomfortable feeling, still, of having unwittingly caused upset to a neighbour. Oh, I SO must learn to be more 'witting'!

Ho hum.

Off we went then, over the top of the golf-course in such glorious sunshine and that now familiar cool easterly breeze. Much to Kitty's joy I had remembered the tennis-ball, which gave her, as usual, five or six happy run-pick-it-up-bring-it-most-of-the-way-back moments, before she lost interest...

Down into the wood and around the top to meet Alistair at the 'VC's bridge'...he had cycled there by some energetic route, and we walked along the paths, drinking in the sight and scent of the bluebells at their best...

Oh, I had to go to the PO today, and get a few foodie bits in town...it is SO depressing to see all the little shops empty and locked, instead of getting all spruced up for the all-too-short summer trade...

And then we did a gym session in the sunny garden after lunch and drank tea in the afternoon...

Another day drifts past - a series of moments is all we have...

'Never before, never again'

And now we are watching 'A Month In the Country' which is one of those films, and books, which comes under the 'favourites, which no-one else has heard of' banner...

A very young and pre-fame Colin Firth and Kenneth Branagh, and the lovely late Natasha Richardson. Highly recommend...I have a delicious edition of the book too - 

from the tiny Quince Tree Press.

A Month in the Country is like Adlestrop in prose...

The Lock-Down Diaries Day 28

Today I walked the dog...

So here we are, four weeks into the Great Lock-Down...I am sitting in the garden, after 6pm, still in really warm sunshine - though the cool east wind may send me around to the sea-facing wall and the 'sunset bench', cider in hand, before long...

Kitty and I had a wonderful walk today, but later than usual as it was my turn to go to the supermarket AGAIN!

Actually shopping was all ok...I was steady and cool, having meditated (though would do well to have breakfasted...)

The various neighbours got what they needed too, thanks to Alistair, and Kitty and I were able to escape...

It was going to only be a short walk (I was hungry!), but you know...

The woods were lovely and the sun has brought out the wonderful scent of the bluebells...

I stopped to take a picture of some ferns unfurling

...and I wonder idly if I watched for a VERY long time, might they unfurl also some wisdom?

We also had a couple of conversations, which, added to the one at a friend's gate whilst dropping in shopping, probably reaches my social interaction limit for a day or two!

What did I do this afternoon? You may well ask - I have no idea...

The Lock-Down Diaries Day 27

Oh, I had such a strange night...first I did all my bits and pieces and went to bed an hour earlier than usual, BY MISTAKE!

Then I fell asleep in my book and woke hours later totally confused, had mad dreams and overslept.

So there I was, this morning...heart, mind and body all jarred and entangled somehow, like a visitor to Shelob's lair! Ewww...

So today I walked the dog...it was cool and cloudy first thing and , in a hour and a half, I met no-one. The streets, woods, paths and gardens were deserted - and I found myself thinking of a song from my childhood...Everyone's Gone to the Moon (precocious child, I clearly remember solemnly telling my mum it wasn't meant literally!).

But spring is springing up everywhere...and some sheltered gardens are well ahead of my windswept corner of the town. Here are a couple of pics:

Welsh poppies!

A clematis Montana in full flower (yeah, modern estate bungalow, but SUCH a lovely garden!)

Home then for breakfast, lunch or something...lentil soup from yesterday and sourdough toast.

And later we did a gym session in the garden and then sat in the hot sunshine drinking tea.

I've had some great WhatsApp messaging and emails today too,

so this morning's blues are long-gone

And now I'm waiting for 9pm and RTD's Midsummer Night's Dream...

The Lock-Down Diaries Day 26

Today I walked the dog... auto-correct even knows what to say!

Up to the top of the hill, through the field of sheep and growing lambs, and down into Coed Y Cwm to pick wild garlic again...we 'met' someone I know too, also collecting a bagful.

Home to fresh sourdough and lentil soup for lunch - yum. Due to a 'cock-up on the domestic front', I had TWO sourdough loaves on the go at different stages today! I shall look like a loaf by the end of all this, but the easing of commitments leaves plenty of leeway for Finding the Perfect Loaf. 

Here is today's - I achieved little else:

The Lock-Down Diaries Day 25

Day 25!? This is getting beyond a joke...

Today I walked the dog...but before I went, whilst I was meditating on peacock butterflies and eyes of wisdom, Alistair had ascertained that, yes, we had caught the mouse - and had carefully placed the trap on the seaward wall, so I could take it with me to release.

Only a huge gust of wind blew the trapped mouse down into the lane below, from whence Alistair had to retrieve it...much to the amusement of the BT workmen, testing the line...

It was colder this morning, so I was togged up when Kitty and I set off, and with the mouse trap and plastic glove in my coat pocket. Up to Kitty's Field, where we strolled along to the radar-station to give the mouse at least a sporting chance of some shelter.

Crouching down at the edge of the path I donned the plastic glove and upended the trap...a little shake and then another. And then, somewhat shell-shocked, out fell the tiniest little body, with a very long tail and enormous eyes.

She looked at me, I looked back...with a whisk of the tail and a backward glance of acknowledgment over her shoulder, she slipped between a fence-post and the pages of myth, and disappeared.

Her name was Lila, by the way...

Pondering fragility, resilience, impermanence and stories, we continued our walk and returned to a brunch of sourdough with peanut butter and mango chutney. And then baked beans...yes, I know!

Lila was the highlight of my day. 

I have also vacuumed, made more sourdough and a bit of pottery. 

And found a yellowing newspaper cutting in a paperback copy of Testament of Youth, where I was looking for a quote. From my Dad, who would often send cuttings from the Times, it was dated June 1999 and annotated by him:

"You may well have missed this in today's Times'...

That raised a wry chuckle today as it probably did then...my life at the time was full of chaos and little more kept me 'sane' than those moments and kindnesses - I certainly wouldn't have been idly browsing the obituaries over my morning toast and coffee!

Ho hum, I miss my Dad, with his wit and wisdom. I wonder what he would have made of today's madnesses...

The Lock-Down Diaries Day 24

Today I walked the dog...and it was low-tide this morning, so we went down to the beach...and strolled along in the surprisingly warm sunshine. There were a few people about, but NO RUBBISH, which makes a pleasant change at least.

We cut up to the castle grounds to check the progress of the tamarisk (further on than mine). The ruins were looking stoic

On to take in the edge of town, which was unnervingly quiet

And back to the prom and the beach, which was almost deserted

A policeman came along just as I was going back up the steps to the prom, and moved along the couple you can JUST see on the stone breakwater...

We did a gym session in the sunshine in the late morning and that's my day!

Oh and the trousers I ordered from Toast arrived... HUGE around the waist, as suspected (I had to order what was available...well, you would wouldn't you at £35, marked down from £125!!

Choice #1 return them - no!

Choice #2 take tucks...not really feasible, with pockets in just the wrong places

Choice #3 you wear them with me!

Choice #4 a little judicious elastic in the back waistband - check

The Lock-Down Diaries Day 23

Today I walked the dog...

And, as usual, most of the highlights of the day occurred in that magic  time...

It was lovely again this morning...truly we have been blessed with the weather these last three weeks (it has not helped with the 'resealing-the-sitting-room-floor project' though I fear there will be plenty of time for that).

Kitty and I went up to the Promontory Walk first and looked down at the sparkling sea. There was one of those zig-zag lines of a different blue - I had been listening to something about adders earlier and serpent-dragons (nāga), and I wondered what treasures of knowledge and understanding might lie in the depths if we could watch for long enough...

Yesterday I listened to play (partly) about The Grey Man of the Cairngorms, by Sebastian Baczkiewicz (he who has written the fascinating 'Pilgrim' series) and I pondered myth as I walked, and what part of our psyche is touched so deeply by legend, myth and story, that is otherwise hidden behind our 21C masks...

And so into the woods - which were stunning today. In the space of just a few days they have been transformed and are utterly swathed in blue:

And the stunning almost lime-green of fresh beech leaves unfurling:

Coming home along the Promontory Walk, I took a detour to collect a rogue shiny balloon snagged in the gorse up the cliff ... so much more complicated  than the usual collecting of rubbish, as it had to be disposed of carefully when we got home, the clothes it had touched put into the washing machine and my trusty stick 'sanitised'!

That's my day then...lunch in the garden and a bit of playing with clay followed. And tonight I shall do a Skype call. Good grief...

The Lock-Down Diaries Day 22

Normal service is resumed:

Today I walked the dog. It was a bright morning and, despite thinking about being a newt and having a permeable skin, I was easily distracted by the resemblance of Kitty's shadow to a wolf...

But she is a sheep in wolf's clothing really and a complete wuss - in a recalcitrant mood today though, so ended up on a long lead over the golf-course.

And the day drifted on, singing Janis's "Me and Bobby McGee", reading Frank O' Hara, sitting in the unexpectedly hot sun at lunchtime.

And then the Jimmy-gym later in the afternoon...that was fun, getting the weights back up again.

Tonight there has been the most beautiful 'watermelon' sunset, for those to enjoy out on the prom - for those few who haven't already been out ...

And now we are watching a bit of TV...BBC's history of children's programmes!

Ho hum...

The Lock-Down Diaries Day 21

Today I walked the dog.

And ate flapjacks.

Is all...

The Lock-Down Diaries Day 20

Today I walked the dog, down through Coed Y Cwm, picking wild garlic and planning today's diary.

We met no-one till, coming past the chickens, we chatted with a newish neighbour and his lovely bouncy dog.

He turns out to be completely barking (were you aware of the link between the new £20 note, 5G masts and the Coronavirus? No, me neither...)

Today's thoughts are all about visual and musical memories, both true and false:

My sister's Easter message, when I turned my phone on this morning, was a chick-and-bunny animation, with, as its soundtrack, Louis Armstrong's 'Wonderful World'  from 1967 - the way to reduce me to weeping to start the day. Probably my 'rescue one track from the waves' song. Ah, innocent days...

Of course, as Ben would quickly, and rightly, point out, the late sixties were not the idyll I remember - only we children were innocent, the century was recovering from two World Wars, the Holocaust, Cuba, the assassination of Kennedy, South Africa was in the grip of Apartheid and the US (in particular, though not exclusively) was riddled with racism...

Nevertheless I have loved that song forever, and have a clear memory of a black and white film accompanying it on TV...smiling faces in the streets, children playing, daisies - you know.

I've always been unable to find that film on YouTube, though there is a lovely live gig version here:

https://youtu.be/CWzrABouyeE

There are one or two other songs which I have remembered in clear visual detail from those days. One of them, Pans People, dancing to Nilsson's  'Without You' , which I remembered as beautiful contemporary dance, turned out to be excruciating when I tracked it down! Here it is from Christmas 1972's ToTP:

https://youtu.be/gSCEgCUW2M0

You're welcome!

The other song  was The Hollies 'He Ain't Heavy...', which I seem to remember showing with a film of disabled children on a bus (probably as well I can't find that!)

I am notorious for false memories - only yesterday I sent my brother a link to a mention of a book I have always loved and raved about and 'remember' recommending it to both him and my Dad, and that they both loved it...

Back came the reply 'I've never read it!' 

Ho hum.

It was 'Riddley Walker' should you be interested...best post-apocalyptic book ever!

My greatest success though is the words of another song. ..

In his sensitive teens, Ben would cringe when I spoke of 'riding on trains' and would say it made me sound like a hobo!

Ah, but the phrase came from a song from 1970, of which I could remember only one verse. 

And try as I might, I couldn't track down any more of it, with the help of Google, YouTube and so on...Ben and Alistair were convinced I had made it up...

UNTIL I contacted the 'boy' who had listened to it with me...and he came back immediately with ALL the lyrics and necessary links.

And now I listen to it every time we 'ride on trains through the mountains'

https://youtu.be/Ciw9RMvymak

Enjoy your evening!

The Lock-Down Diaries Day 19

Today I walked the dog and it was warm and sunny, even first thing.

And deserted... all up over the golf-course and around one of our usual routes.

And today I took my little headphones and listened, randomly, to a couple of things from Free Buddhist Audio. Only they weren't random of course, they both touched on similar themes of being present, being 'in the now', for now is all we can be certain of - this moment...never before, never again.

So I've been musing on this as the strange sunny Saturday drifted by...the streets , the prom, the beach, the cliffs -  all deserted, but for now, it is as it is. 

And to be lived, as though it were all we have.

PS and H. who is becoming a fixture in the Lock-Down Diaries, messaged that their blender was 'smoking' - what to do? How lovely that we had a spare one, in its box in the attic. I swap it for a little bar of dark chocolate and a smile

The Lock-Down Diaries Day 18

Today I walked the dog.

Wow...an early start this morning meant that I had baked a fabulous sourdough loaf:

And hung two washloads and been for an early walk, all before 'meeting' with my study- buddies at 10.30 in the attic. 

(As I turn off the picture on Skype I am able to lie down, snuggle in my quilt, slurp tea, pick my nose etc, all unbeknownst to the serious-minded)

It was exhausting nevertheless and I recovered slowly over sourdough lunch and lots of weak tea...

This afternoon, quite late because it has been hot, we were able to do another session at the Thompson Jimmy-Gym...to the amusement of a kind neighbour, bringing me rosemary and sage for cuttings. I told him about exchanging clothes-pegs for apples at the back gate...

'Like communism isn't it!' his comment.

Indeed.

H. of clothes-peg fame dropped off a plant too today, with a truly lovely card...I had seen her out on her balcony early this morning, elegantly TiChi or QiGong-ing and told her she was destined to appear regularly on my blog.

Which reminds me...if you are reading this, AND are local, AND have bread flour - I have a lovely sourdough starter just for you. 

At your garden gate. Or mine, not fussy...

The Lock-Down Diaries Day 17

Today I walked the dog...but not until MUCH later in the day than usual.

Kitty was a bit put-out that I not only did that meditating thing first, but then did cooking, washing AND vacuuming...I explained about the Full-Moon and Very Low Tide - but I don't think she was listening, and went back to bed in a bit of a sulk.

She was no trouble though, and came to chat to a passing neighbour and his yappy dog at the gate.

And then, mid-afternoon, we set off up to her field in the warm sunshine and, from there, down through the wood to Clarach bay. We climbed over the gate onto the beach and walked home along the rocks, meeting only the two young men from up the road who I keep bumping into.

The way around the rocks and back to Aber really is the strangest geologically and as one is, for the most part, out of sight of either town or Clarach, could be the surface of the moon or a Whovian deserted planet.

There are the stripy rock-faces, for all the world like a humbug:

Then there are the 'dragon's dentures':

And then there are the 'scribble-rocks', giving the sense that some alien had left messages for his mates - or scattered the pages of his notebook:

We rounded the old jetty, which marks the end of the beach, and returned home, parched, just as Alistair, who has been refining the Jimmy-gym, was walking down for a swim...

Oh, and today we also hung the picture I have just bought from a lovely local artist and friend:

The Lock-Down Diaries Day 16

Early April ..."shall I compare thee to a summer's day?"

What a beauty!

And today I walked the dog...

I had planned to wait until the late afternoon to take Kitty out, as there is the lowest of low tides (Full-Moon effect) and I was going to walk over to Clarach and back around the rocks.

But it was too lovely and we enjoyed a silent stroll over the hill, as so often, and then went down to the beach for a bit as the tide started to go down.

This afternoon saw the official opening of our private gym...with a rack made from pieces of wood of various ages (some have moved home with us several times, a gym bench found on the prom, a set of bought (!) weights and a temporary bar made from old windsurfing masts (the bought one is at present lost in translation) - we are all set to go!

When Ben was pre-playgroup, I used to take him to 'mini-gym', a toddlers' version of the after-school gymnastics the girls would do. He used to tell Daddy he had been to 'Jimmy-Gym'

So here it is -  I present you the Thompson Jimmy-Gym...sadly you cannot share it physically with us.

But that's the point, isn't it...

PS...I forgot to say I did a little desultory gardening, and exchanged clothes-pegs for apples at the back gate.

As you do.

The Lock-Down Diaries Day 15

Today - oh, it was a beautiful spring morning! - I walked the dog.

We left the house at about the same time as usual, determined to find positive signs of spring...

The blackthorn has gone over quickly this year and we were pleased to notice, half way up the road, the first hawthorn in flower...

On up the hill and over the golf-course into the wood... the bluebells were much further on than even a few days ago...the woods are not 'swathed' as yet, but well on the way...

The ferns are beginning to unfurl,

and even the tiny clover-leaf shaped woodsorrel, which I pick all summer for omelettes, is suddenly covered in flowers...

Truly there are worse places to have washed-up...we are very blessed!

This is the view west from the hillside coming home - our house is among those in the cluster down there by the sea...

I had to go out in the car again this morning for essentials - dog and birdfood from our lovely small animal-food shop, and a few bits from the girls at the wholefood. Heroes all - thanks for staying open!

And this afternoon was quiet and still and sunny...

And later I lit a fire outside, drank cider and chatted to my mate (on Skype...go me!)

Counting my many blessings today...

The Lock-Down Diaries Day 14

Today, as usual, I walked the dog. 

BUT not until I had BEEN TO THE SUPERMARKET!

Yikes, first time for a fortnight AND several bits and pieces for other people too. Total trauma...All those people and noise and money to deal with! Heaven only knows how I will be when life returns to normal, After...

Drove on over the top of the town to deliver  some 'essentials'...and  to the Post Office on the way home.

Phew...I had to  take Kitty out to recover - and leave Alistair with the numbers and deliveries to deal with!

The walk was lovely, glorious sunshine and a cool breeze...we took a short detour up to the trig point to take in the view inland.

Musing on the sheer randomness of life, which has landed us here, washed up on these 'stranger shores', we descended the hill, pausing to pass the time with an Artist, taking photos in her courtyard.

This afternoon I baked the Perfect Sourdough Loaf (anyone want a lovely, bubbly starter?) 

And waxed some less-than-perfect plant-pots.

Oh, an update on our quest for muscles...as you know, if you've been reading my ramblings, Alistair has, to the amusement of the neighbours, been building  a wooden rack to go with the weights we ordered when the gym closed at Lock-Down. The weights arrived last week - but not the bar - which is lost in translation, only temporarily we hope.

Undaunted, as always, Alistair spent today making a bar. 

Out of bits of windsurfing mast.

As you do.

Of course.

The Lock-Down Diaries Day 13

Today I walked the dog...

And this evening we watched a film that I borrowed from the library a few hours before it closed its doors for the duration - that'll be a hefty fine!!

(Only joking...)

The film was The Goldfinch...we had both read the book, a long and complex read, so it was great to immerse ourselves.

And in between? Sat in the sun, chatted over the gate with neighbours,, read my book...

The Lock-Down Diaries Day 12

Today I walked the dog...Saturday again already, the world has changed beyond belief, and yet...

And yet, apart from being still quieter, the world is as beautiful as it was last week. And the week before.

Today I saw a stonechat. And picked more wild garlic. And met Cody again...he has got to know which pocket the 'swasages' are in. And she is Rosa - we had a long chat...from six feet away.

Later today the picture I bought was delivered by the artist to my gate. And is in three-day quarantine.

I had my hair cut too, while neighbours and acquaintances passed the time of day at the gate.

And so the days pass...conversations on WhatsApp, the squat-rack in the garden is nearly finished, we are well...

And yet...

The Lock-Down Diaries Day 11

Today I walked the dog...spring has returned and Kitty and I were warm by the time we got to her field at the top.

There were violets in profusion - I pointed them out and Kitty was so excited she ran in circles and then rolled in some badger poo!

The rest of our walk was uneventful, apart from the loveliness of seeing TWO jays in the trees up the road. And meeting my neighbour and Kitty's best friend...and bringing her phone home for Alistair to work his techie magic on. 

Which meant she had to call by to pick it up later, and Kitty got to tell her she had HAD A BATH!

A sunshiny day for sitting in the garden, reading, watching Alistair build the ark, (I mean, rack), chatting with various passers-by..

And pondering skin-hunger and information-overload.

Just for you:

...https://youtu.be/e6QtbKZ2d6g

You're welcome...

The Lock-Down Diaries Day 10

Ho hum...today I walked the dog...

And today I had a rant

And today our weights arrived by courier...as he carried them box by box in through the gate, I joked that he would get fit just delivering them.

'Too many cigarettes...' he wheezed, as he staggered back to the van.

Meanwhile Alistair continues to build the rack (though the package containing the bar hasn't arrived yet, so we won't be needing it quite yet).

At the moment it resembles a scaffold...giant 'hangman' anyone?

Simon and Garfunkel come to mind...

'Gonna hang my body from the highest tree...why don't you write me?!'

The Lock-Down Diaries Day 9

In which Alistair channels his inner Yeats - and we have a mouse!

Half asleep in the early hours, I trundled back to bed from the loo, muttering that I had lost a dream. Alistair got up too and announced that he had just stepped on one...

Smiling to myself, I remembered my early introduction both to the poetry of Yeats and to the Oxford Book of Quotations...

"But I, being poor, have only my dreams - I have spread my dreams under your feet; tread softly, for you tread on my dreams"

A lifelong love of poetry and books of quotations has ensued...

Today I walked the dog...my grumpy mood and achey limbs has dissipated and we enjoyed meeting, at a distance, Cody and his missus, a jogging couple, with whom I discussed uses for the wild garlic I had picked, and the young man with the dog who is all jowls...

I picked a bit of Jack-in-the-Hedge as I came home, for comparison with the wild garlic (this will even grow in my garden!), but to be honest it doesn't measure up - way too... mustardy I think.

And we have a mouse! Last evening I saw a tail disappear down the back of the under-sink cupboard, and this morning it had left its calling card all over ...

So, it's out with the mouse-trap again and emptying the food cupboards into lidded boxes until we've caught it.

We've often had mice as part of our family story...when the children were young we often caught them in our village kitchen, and Alistair, who commuted cross-country, would have strict instructions to release them 'somewhere near a barn...'

One of our hamsters, a real Houdini, used to escape to live with the mice behind the dresser, like a character in a Beatrix Potter tale...

My Dad, an old softy, used, when young, to set humane traps in his office, with a matchstick in the shutter, in case of trapping the mouse's tail. In Dad's last months he had a mouse in the house, and nightly left crumbs out for it - when Dad died, my brother and his children caught the mouse and released it, at my suggestion, in the cemetery...