May.....ing

My blog revival has stalled a little.  I had visions of me writing daily posts in lockdown - a kind of online diary.  But that hasn't happened - I'm always too tired at the end of the day - blogging for me is a morning habit - something I do while others are still in bed and the house is quiet. So I'm using a format inspired by Christina to review my May.

More gardening.  There's been a lot of watering to do as, after the very wet winter, there's been hardly any rain in the north west in the last couple of months. My hard work is paying off as the foxgloves and alliums are now in bloom.  I've attempted new things like taking cuttings from dahlias.  And I'm having more success with growing plants from seed. Usually I can't be bothered with all the thinning, pricking out and potting on that's involved but with extra time on my hands I'm getting better at this.







Celebrating two anniversaries last week.  First of all we celebrated VE day with afternoon tea in the garden.  I made a Victoria Sponge with the last of our flour.  It's the only thing that still seems to be in short supply. I had to add a bit of pasta making flour and ground almonds - it turned out ok despite this. Another was the anniversary of the day I first met Paul -  5th May 1984. To be honest I often forget this one and it's him who remembers it; he forgets our official wedding anniversary. Family members have sometimes wondered how we have put up with each other for 36 years.  He is turning into a grumpy old man - everything makes him angry.  He's a lot like Victor Meldrew in the old sitcom 'One Foot in the Grave'.  Or to update the reference, the Ricky Gervaise character in 'After Life'. He really is quite happy to make his irritation with total strangers obvious.  His particular target recently are those who fail to observe the 2 metre distance advice.  On a dog walk last week he shouted at a cyclist riding on the pavement overtaking pedestrians within centimetres.  I cringed with embarrassment but I suspect the mother with the buggy on the pavement was grateful.  He makes me laugh, never lets me down and cooks dinner every night so I put up with the grumpiness. We celebrated by opening a bottle of wine to have with the meal he cooked. Not that the opening of the bottle of wine is an unusual event in this household.

 

Reading  'Wolf Hall' nearly finished. This month's bookclub choice is 'Merivel' by Rose Tremain so I need to get going on that.  I should probably read 'Restoration' first as it follows on from it.  It's not like me to read so much historical fiction but I'm quite enjoying it.  It's filling in some gaps in my knowledge too though I suppose I should check that the fictionalised version of events is actually accurate.

Sleeping surprising well. I'm almost scared to write this in case I jinx it.  Last night I went to sleep at 11, didn't wake until after 8 and can't remember being awake in the night.  I think it's the fact that I'm exercising more than usual, with a long dog walk every day as well as gardening.

Spending time with my daughter who is doing her university course online here rather than in Sheffield.  She's working hard as her exams have been replaced with additional coursework essays.  But there is still time to do other stuff.  We're doing a jigsaw I bought her years ago, making a collage rainbow and watching lots of rubbishy television.  And lots of quizzes. Her boyfriend is still here and he joins in with the quizzes.  He has several useful specialisms in addition to encyclopedic sports knowledge such as Flags of the World and Star Wars.

Watching television. In addition to the reality TV I've been watching with  Kate I am also enjoying 'Normal People'.  And we watched the film 'Hidden Figures' this week -  excellent film about the role of three really smart black women in NASA at the time of the moon landings.

That's it for May so far.  I've quite enjoyed writing this though it seems to have taken most of the day.  Apart from dog walk, watering and one load of washing this is all I've achieved. Oh well - I'm getting used to a slow pace of life.