March - ing onwards

 March seems to have flown past for me.  After the very grim winter I can’t help but feel more hopeful as the days lengthen and Spring gets going.  Here’s a brief account of what I’ve been doing:

Gardening:  much time spent on this, most of it enjoyable, some tasks not so much.  I spent ages on lawn repair- spiking the lawn, applying top dressing,  laying new turf on the worst bits and sprinkling special dog wee surviving grass seed. This was hard work, mostly done by me with occasional help from our resident house guest, Calum, Kate’s boyfriend. And I’m not sure it’s worked as there’s not much sign of grass growing - just clover as far as I can see. Oh well at least it’s green. And there are some very fat pigeons around.

Sowing seeds: I’ve never had much success with this fiddly business but seem to have mastered it this year. My summerhouse house is full of emerging mini plants.

Finding new places to walk: our usual places still make us too sad. Last week we did a short stretch of the Sandstone Trail by Beeston Castle and are planning a longer walk in the same location this week.

Sock knitting: I’ve found this quite tricky even though I’m following a beginners’  pattern. I just about succeeded in turning the heel and it looks sock shaped even if there are a few holes where I’ve dropped stitches and a strange ridge where I think I was knitting in the wrong direction. 

Supporting Kate as she works on her dissertation: this mainly involves making lunch and cups of tea on demand, though I am sometimes called upon to proofread.  Just about follow her argument - it’s about aspects of fascism in Britain in the 1930s - but I’m struggling a bit with some of the history jargon. Still can’t remember what ‘palingenesis’  means.  I’m more help at spotting missing apostrophes and adding commas. 

Completing the final sessions of my online courses: these have been great during winter, providing structure to my week.  This week is the final session of my course on The Troubles in Northern Ireland with the focus on the early years 1968- 1974.  We’ve been discussing the attempt at a power-sharing assembly back in 1974 which is not that different to what is currently in place.  In 1974 the assembly collapsed because of a strike organised by a loyalist coalition.  I remember 1974 clearly  - there was a big car bomb in our village in the January. And it was the year my sisters and I were held at gunpoint as we did our homework one evening until my mother opened the safe in the post office and gave the raiders the pension money. . And during the loyalist strike my dad thought it would be a good idea to sell/give away to neighbours the milk which hadn’t been collected from the farm in our post office.   That was until we had a menacing phone call to tell us stop. That was scary. One slightly disappointing aspect of the course is that we haven’t had much time to discuss how the Troubles affected us personally. This week we’ve been promised some time to do this.  It will be interesting to hear who others on the course remember this time. 

Newspaper cutting from 1974 found in my mother scrapbook

And finally I enjoying becoming a ‘Handbag for a Day’ - I took part in an online singing workshop with our local choir A Handbag of Harmonies.  Great fun.  Kate videoed me singing ‘The Way You Look Tonight’ and it as all edited together with other contributions and put on YouTube.  Very embarrassing so I’m not adding the link. 

Green Shoots

 

I am feeling a bit more positive than in my previous post though we are all still very sad.  It has helped that the sun has been shining and the garden is coming to life.  The bulbs I planted are poking through and the little tête-à-tête daffodils and mini iris are already in bloom.

As it is less unpleasant outside, I’ve been attempting a bit of running again using the Couch to 5k programme and taking it very slowly as last time my knees started to object by Week 4. I wouldn’t say I’m enjoying it but I feel pleased with myself afterwards.

I’m also filling my time doing more Zoom courses.  I signed up for an evening course with the University of Liverpool’s Continuing Education Department on the History of the Troubles in Northern Ireland from 1966-1974. It’s been very interesting and made me realise how little I know about what is, in fact, part of my own history.  The lecturer who is from Liverpool is a real expert but he doesn’t give us much discussion time and to be honest doesn’t seem that interested in our contributions.  A few of the others have had personal experiences of the Troubles, including one lady who was at Queen’s during the time of the Civil Rights marches. I’d love to get the chance to talk to her.  

A more enjoyable course is the WEA course I’m doing - Creative Genealogy tutored by a really enthusiastic genealogist and writer, Kevin Brown.  Course participants are invited to use a story from their family history as inspiration for a creative project. Some of the others on the course are producing interesting crafty items using fabric, decoupage and sewing; others like me are sticking to words and pictures.  I am continuing with the family saga I have been working on for a while, aiming to complete one section of the story during this course.  It’s been really interesting to talk to others and being able to share my plans has got me started on my project again.  I have also decided to share my writing on the blog so if you are interested click on the link to The House’s Tale for the first instalment. 

February

This is going to be a hard post to write because I have some really sad news.  Our beautiful dog Booshka who has appeared on the blog many times died suddenly last Wednesday morning. She was fine until last Sunday evening. Kate and I had walked her as usual in the morning, Paul being out of action after a bad fall from his bike.  But later that day she was sick and after that things went downhill very quickly.  I won’t go into the painful details of the experience but we did everything we could, followed the vet’s advice at every stage and in the end drove her to an emergency specialist hospital in Manchester at midnight on Tuesday. She was eventually diagnosed with a ruptured gall bladder and they planned to operate. But it was too late, she was too sick. 

We are heartbroken. She was only 2 years old and we expected to have her around for many more years. I thought we’d grow old together, that she’d catch up with me in doggy years by the time in was in my early seventies.  Our whole routine revolved around her and we don’t what to do with ourselves; the house seems very empty and far too clean.  It’s hard to go for walks as we don’t want to follow the usual routes without her and we don’t want to see other people walking their dogs.  There have been lots of tears from all of us. We’ve had many kind messages from friends and family, though perhaps it is only dog owners who get it.  One family member - who meant well - pointed out,  after sending her condolences, that now we’d be able to enjoy our retirement and go away on holidays without making complicated arrangements. I feel a bit guilty as it’s my moaning that has probably prompted this comment which upset us a bit. I didn’t want this dog to start with,  she was too big, too strong for me to walk. I complained about her fur clogging the vacuum and the vast quantities of mud she walked in.  She caused me to break my arm, Paul to break his ankle.  But now I’d happily let her break my other arm if we could just have her back.

On Wednesday, which was a mild, sunny day here, Kate and I went to Ness Gardens as we knew there’d be no dogs there. We walked and cried and sat on benches and cried some more.  The snowdrops at Ness. were in full bloom and they will always remind me of our lovely Booshka. 

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.  

....Merry Christmas - everybody’s having fun

 The lyrics of Slade’s Christmas favourite don’t quite fit Christmas 2020 do they? Especially the line that goes ‘Are you waiting for the family to arrive?’.  Despite this I have quite enjoyed our quiet Christmas.  It was just the three of us and the dog.  On Christmas Day we had cinnamon buns for breakfast which I made myself with the help of the bread maker. We scheduled a Christmas family Zoom for 9am so we could catch the NZ branch of the family before bed. Also included in the call were nephews in Melbourne and Verbier in Switzerland.  Hard to actually converse with so many people on the call but good to see everyone and be introduced to the giant bear one of the younger nephews had got for Christmas.  After that we walked into the city centre and along the river, a route which is usually too busy for incident-free dog walking. Then we cooked Christmas dinner together. I was responsible for stuffing, though we couldn’t actually stuff our turkey ‘crown’, and also dessert. We abandoned tradition and had chocolate profiteroles. I may make a Christmas pudding before the holiday ends though as I do like it - just not after Christmas dinner.  The rest of the day was spent lazily in front of the fire. In fact this pretty much describes the rest of the week too. With Kate at home we have wrenched control of the remote from Paul and have been watching The Crown - we’re on Charles at Gordonstoun. And we’ve also been watching ‘The Queen’s Gambit’. I’ve never watched so much TV in my life. Not exactly ‘fun’ but relaxing and there’s not much else to do - especially now we have all been instructed to stay at home again. 

So here it is.......

I’m feeling more cheerful now with Christmas approaching. Kate has returned from university after her negative rapid test result so I now have company on my dog walks.  In the local country park where we walk her we discovered a tree with a kind of knothole in the trunk and the trust which looks after the park has fitted a door. If you open it there is a tiny Christmas tree and two little toy figures in there.  I love this - it reminds me of 'To Kill a Mockingbird' when Boo Radley hides things in knothole of a tree for the children to find. 

Other Christmas preparations are on the way now that Kate is back.  She liked the idea of a pink themed tree and persuaded me to buy this tinsel.  Personally I prefer the coloured lights and mishmash of random baubles like we had when she was little but I went along with her wishes.  I also made a wreath with bits of greenery mainly from the garden though I did sneakily snip a few berry branches from a heavily laden roadside hedge. I also purchased a rather twee light up house like my mum used to have which I always coveted. I bought a Village Post Office as I grew up living in one.

Last night we went also went out for the first time in ages to Storyhouse to see a production of 'A Christmas Carol' - Chester has returned to Tier 2 for now so theatres have reopened. It was a real privilege to see live theatre again.  I'm rather weary of this particular novel as I have taught it so many times but this production directed by Alex Clifton made it fresh again with some clever contemporary references and a lively musical score with lots of 70s classic punky tunes like London Calling and A Town Called Malice.  It wasn't quite normal as the audience were very spaced out and had to wear masks throughout but it was better than another evening in front of the telly. And this evening we are venturing out for a meal in a pub.  I’m torn between wanting to go and being extra careful as I don’t want coronavirus for Christmas. Paul is even more uncertain - he didn’t come to the theatre and avoids any unnecessary social contacts. Let’s hope for the best - it is quite a large space so we should be ok.