January - sick and tired, you’ve been hanging on me

This lyric from a 1970s pop song has been playing in my head in the last few weeks and captures my general mood recently. I hate the dark and cold and it seems a long time until spring.  And the news is so grim - I watched a report on the situation in hospitals this morning which made me cry. I’ve been keeping busy in an attempt to boost my mood.  Here’s a brief round up of what I’ve been doing:

Walking the dog in the rain, snow and occasional sunshine. Though I’m pleased to report that Paul is now recovered from his injury and so I leave him to it if the weather is particularly nasty.

Returning to Zoom yoga and Zumba classes and supplementing this with a 25 minute ‘beginners’ workout from Davina McCall which I’ve been doing with Kate. It’s about my level and covers the whole body. 

Enjoying my WEA course on ‘Old Goriot’.  I’ve read 80% of it now.  The rest of the group of about 12 seem terribly well read and the lecturer is excellent - quite academic but not at all dull. Reading the book has made me want to go back to Paris. 

Discovering via Ancestry details about a great-uncle I didn’t know I had who emigrated to the US as a young man.  He  was my grandmother’s step-brother and emigrated to the USA in 1914 when she was about 10. I can’t remember her ever mentioning him.  I contacted a lady in Philadelphia as there was a link to her family tree on Ancestry and discovered her husband was his grandson. She has sent me photographs of a visit he, the grandfather, made to NI in 1957.  There’s one of him with my Granny, Auntie Sissie and my father aged 25.  Tears again. I’m still waiting for the results of the Ancestry DNA test I sent off before Christmas.  Perhaps it will reveal further lost cousins. 

Hoping the snowdrops, mini-iris and tête-à-tête which are starting to appear will survive being trampled on by an over-excited dog chasing around the garden. 

Listening to audiobooks on BBC Sounds in the middle of the night.  I’ve not been sleeping terribly well with 3am wake ups being the most frequent problem. Audiobooks are good as I can remain cosily under the duvet and don’t disturb Paul as much as I do with the light from the Kindle. I’ve been listening to the abridged books the BBC do in 15 minute episodes, choosing fairly undemanding titles. My favourite recently was ‘Queenie’ by Candice Carty-Williams.

Enjoying our ‘Come Dine With Me’ evenings. Last night’s was hosted by Calum who cooked us burgers and chips. I squeezed into a Liverpool shirt, which belonged to my friend’s daughter and then surprised everyone, including myself, by winning the football quiz he designed for us.  Some lucky guesses!

Gatsby evening

Not quite so glamorous on the football evening

Look to the future - it’s only just begun

The new year has begun and we continue our quiet life, So instead of going to the Post Office to return a couple of parcels, I’m taking the Chief Medical officer’s advice this morning and avoiding any non-essential contact. They can wait. Time to write a blog post instead. 

Life is not so bad here in lockdown.  I’ve been amusing myself creating origami creatures from this book Kate got me for Christmas.  In the photo above you can see my Origami Swallow (beside it Kate’s sequin art elephant.)I’ve loved origami since I acquired a book aged 11 from the Scolastic bookclub leaflet I got at school - the only way you could buy books then as there wasn’t a bookshop in Magherafelt in 1970. I found this book when clearing our family home though I could still make my favourite Spanish box from memory.  Paul has also rediscovered his creative skills producing this pencil sketch - you can guess who it is. 

I’ve also signed up for an online course with the WEA called The Novel and the City.  For this I’ll have to read Balzac’s ‘Old Goriot’ (Paris) - I vaguely recall studying it in French at university or at least owning a copy. I don’t think I ever read it in full as I can’t remember a single thing about it when rereading.  The other is ‘Crime and Punishment’ which should get my brain working and perhaps inspire me to visit St Petersburg when we are able to travel again.

We still have Kate at home and her boyfriend has joined us again for lockdown as there’s no prospect of them returning to university for a while. To liven things up we have introduced a weekly ‘Come Dine With Me’. It was my turn last Friday and I hosted a 70’s night with Stuffed Mushrooms, Chicken Kiev and Baked Alaska followed by dancing in the kitchen (with the disco ball going) to classic 70’s bands such as Earth, Wind and Fire.  Kate and I wore flares, Calum a flowery T-shirt which is usually banned and Paul surprised us all in an outfit he’d purchased specially for the occasion. Next week Kate is doing Gatsby night so another reason to dress up.