I woke horribly early - to make students' packed lunches, having gone to bed very late having made bread. Then I went back to bed and read, just as I was drifting off to sleep again M began to talk to me... so I had to wake up and then we had some tea - then we had breakfast with Belgian visitors (Philippe, Madeleine & Bruno) and talked to them for ages...which was fun.
Mark went out to have a military history walk with his chums... and I did some gardening, cutting plants back furiously. Everything is glorious - the echium is almost visibly growing, most of the roses have buds already - the daffs are over, the tulips are coming out in succession. As usual I am lamenting the over-supply of oxalis, celandine and various rampant geraniums, but over all it is looking fab. The quince buds are all there, ready to open. Some plants have disappeared - and others have been odd: why did the pulmonaria not flower this spring? Not a single one. April - it is the most happy-making month, and so lovely this year. I have been enjoying the drive to work, watching all the tiny changes in the vegetation, which is getting lusher by the day.
After gardening I decided to ignore the breakfast table and went upstairs to work.. I thought I'd have a really good session on GATD. I found an email from Tara suggesting coffee at 12.30 at the newish chocolate lounge... I decided it would force me to work for 2 hours so I said yes. I then set to write an outline of GATD - and did one which tied up the lose ends...what a great achievement. I now feel I can start writing with some confidence - and know where I'm going - approximately.
Then I walked - yes, I actually walked all the way (10 mins to the uninitiated, my amazement is that this is the first time I have walked any distance without keeling over since the dreaded virus). It was very nice, and the cafe was pleasant and T and I had our usual interesting combination of gossip about our mutuals, and discussion about "literary" matters - which includes social media, our webzine project etc. but also dealt with work in progress. Then we went home in a disciplined way at 3.00pm - and I travelled in T's Mazda - a sportscar of such minuscule proportions that I feel I need a crowbar to properly get into it... perhaps I will be able to descend from the roof when it's summer and she has the top down.
At home I was pottering - cleaning surfaces, packing the dishwasher, washing on line etc. when M came home. Unfortunately his arrival coincided with an urgent need to go and consider some writing - but we did have a sarni in the garden first and some more coffee.
Then an afternoon of FB, Twitter (new followers) and generally tidying up and looking at GATD research plan... then cooking vast roast dinner (pork and apple, veg, treacle tart and custard) with the boys... who had been to the London Eye and Madame Tussaud's... shameful when you think of the treasures of London that these two moronic inferno destinations are the place to go - still it means the BM is a tad less crowded. And after all, what 13 year old boys really want to go to see Titians and Veroneses or even Egyptian mummy cases? That said, I used to manage to drag the boys to the BM at every stage of their lives - recently Finn even requested we go to the V&A - I nearly fainted.
I became exhausted during the cooking of dinner - long standing up causing back pain at present. But now I am quite restored - a bit of an aperitif with cashews. Then I blogged a bit - and now here I am ready to retire to read. A really well-balanced day (although dear Finn didn't get much of a look in... except to argue with me earlier).
Mark went out to have a military history walk with his chums... and I did some gardening, cutting plants back furiously. Everything is glorious - the echium is almost visibly growing, most of the roses have buds already - the daffs are over, the tulips are coming out in succession. As usual I am lamenting the over-supply of oxalis, celandine and various rampant geraniums, but over all it is looking fab. The quince buds are all there, ready to open. Some plants have disappeared - and others have been odd: why did the pulmonaria not flower this spring? Not a single one. April - it is the most happy-making month, and so lovely this year. I have been enjoying the drive to work, watching all the tiny changes in the vegetation, which is getting lusher by the day.
After gardening I decided to ignore the breakfast table and went upstairs to work.. I thought I'd have a really good session on GATD. I found an email from Tara suggesting coffee at 12.30 at the newish chocolate lounge... I decided it would force me to work for 2 hours so I said yes. I then set to write an outline of GATD - and did one which tied up the lose ends...what a great achievement. I now feel I can start writing with some confidence - and know where I'm going - approximately.
Then I walked - yes, I actually walked all the way (10 mins to the uninitiated, my amazement is that this is the first time I have walked any distance without keeling over since the dreaded virus). It was very nice, and the cafe was pleasant and T and I had our usual interesting combination of gossip about our mutuals, and discussion about "literary" matters - which includes social media, our webzine project etc. but also dealt with work in progress. Then we went home in a disciplined way at 3.00pm - and I travelled in T's Mazda - a sportscar of such minuscule proportions that I feel I need a crowbar to properly get into it... perhaps I will be able to descend from the roof when it's summer and she has the top down.
At home I was pottering - cleaning surfaces, packing the dishwasher, washing on line etc. when M came home. Unfortunately his arrival coincided with an urgent need to go and consider some writing - but we did have a sarni in the garden first and some more coffee.
Then an afternoon of FB, Twitter (new followers) and generally tidying up and looking at GATD research plan... then cooking vast roast dinner (pork and apple, veg, treacle tart and custard) with the boys... who had been to the London Eye and Madame Tussaud's... shameful when you think of the treasures of London that these two moronic inferno destinations are the place to go - still it means the BM is a tad less crowded. And after all, what 13 year old boys really want to go to see Titians and Veroneses or even Egyptian mummy cases? That said, I used to manage to drag the boys to the BM at every stage of their lives - recently Finn even requested we go to the V&A - I nearly fainted.
I became exhausted during the cooking of dinner - long standing up causing back pain at present. But now I am quite restored - a bit of an aperitif with cashews. Then I blogged a bit - and now here I am ready to retire to read. A really well-balanced day (although dear Finn didn't get much of a look in... except to argue with me earlier).
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