Fetched the newspaper first thing.
Moira and I walked around Bathurst Basin this morning (grey
and overcast) before streamed church (which was very thought-provoking and
impressive and presented by the Resonate Team).
Still feeling frustrated about the lack of feedback from
facebook regarding my account and am coming to the conclusion that I’m going to
have to use my ‘new’ account from now on (hugely time-consuming in terms of
re-establishing ‘friends’ etc).
Snowed in the afternoon – but didn’t settle.
Spoke to Mikey on his 15th birthday… and to Jemima
and Alice (which was rather nice!)
Finished reading my excellent ‘Shuggie Bain’ book and writing
a review… five books in January and at least two of them might qualify to be my
‘book of the year’!
Evening telly (excitingly): ‘Grayson’s Art Club’ and ‘Pottery
Throw-Down’.
Image: another of my Rio sketches.
Something of a strange day… catch-up day on all sorts of
things (diary, blog, emails, trying to reclaim my facebook page, sketches etc).
As ever on things, for me, things that I think will take me three days to sort
out end up being sorted in a day (except, of course, my facebook account!)!
Moira was feeling somewhat ‘down’ after all the internet/vaccination adrenaline
stuff of yesterday… and feeling that she hasn’t got any ‘projects’ to get her
head into.
I ended up finishing my two Rio sketches during the course of
the day.
No morning walk, just down the road to fetch the newspaper.
Bristol Bears beat Bath last night 48-3! Apparently, the
first half performance was outstanding.
I read a bit more of my ‘Shuggie Bain’ book in the afternoon
(my back was hurting after bending over my laptop/sketch board).
Emailed Alan and CharlotteN and also sorted out arrangements
for another zoom chat with JennieH next Thursday.
Evening telly: yet another ‘Marple’.
Image: one of my Rio sketches.
Something of a red letter day (vaccination and
our internet technician!) – and yet, given the up-and-down week we’ve had, I
began the day feeling somewhat apprehensive!
A pretty grey windy and wet start to the day. I
went for my usual harbourside dawn walk – it was a high tide and even waves on
the Cut!
In the event, the day went as well as it could
have… Moira’s vaccination (at 12.20pm) went well and so did mine (at 5pm). We
were quite fortunate to get our appointment within walking distance (half hour
walk)(probably just at Moira’s limit, given her sciatica)… and the Virgin Media
technician duly arrived on time (4.30pm) and sorted out our internet (although
the cause of the problem was apparently something of a mystery – resolved by
twiddling wires etc!!). Anyway, it was good to get to the evening having got
everything ‘sorted out’!
I read more of my ‘Shuggie Bain’ book in the
afternoon.
Evening telly: just another ‘Marple’.
Image: Vaccination confirmation.
Woke up with toothache!
Began my day with a dawn walk around the harbour
Gaol Ferry Steps/Prince Street Bridge/Thekla/Ostrich pub/Bathurst Basin/home.
Very grey day… with drizzle in the air.
Decided to check out our vaccination surgery
location (don’t want to leave anything to chance!)… so Moira and I undertook
some reconnaissance (although, because of her sciatica, Moira only went half
way) – half hour walk from home to surgery.
Bacon sandwiches for lunch.
Spoke to CharlotteP on mobile (think they’ve been
struggling through lockdown – and, to make matters more difficult, their mother
has anal cancer.
Read some of my Shuggie Bain book in the
afternoon, together with a quick sketch of our studio steps.
Evening telly: ‘Portrait Artist’ and the second
part of ‘Miss Marple’ episode.
Image: Old General Hospital converted apartments.
Hugely frustrating day.
We had the Virgin Media technician due to come
first thing (scheduled for 8am-12noon), so no dawn walks and no Bloke’s Prayer
(obviously, due to no internet). Fingers firmly crossed etc. Predictably,
although one is geared to someone arriving at 8am, the technician didn’t actually
arrive... and I ended up phoning them (and that obviously meant going through a
hugely tedious waiting process). Turns out they cancelled the visit (*no
words*)… so it’s now been re-scheduled for Friday 4-7pm (we’ll be juggling
between vaccines). Massively frustrating and very annoying.
I spent most of the morning sorting out
images/pages in connection with my Blurb book (a process which I find both
frustrating and satisfying!).
Phoned Alan to cancel our planned zoom chat with
David (no internet!) and texted Ana asking her to get Jules to text me (need to
sort out the next ‘virtual’ sketching trip to Italy!)… and, thankfully, Jules
has agreed to sort out the Italy Event.
Had a phonecall from Lee in the afternoon… (which
was somewhat therapeutic!).
Evening telly: ‘Repair Shop’ and early to bed.
Image: Scissors scribble (for Drawing Group).
Another rough night sleep-wise… woke up at 2.30am
and eventually got up at 5.30am. Scribbled some notes regarding my hacked
facebook account (I’m just desperately hoping that I’ll be able to submit some
form of report to facebook and get them to investigate and restore my original
profile. I don’t feel very optimistic!).
I went for my dawn walk around Bathurst Basin/The
Ostrich/M-Shed (slightly shorter than usual – perhaps influenced by the murky
greyness of the weather?).
Moira was still asleep when I returned home… and
we eventually had our morning coffee at around 10.30am. Ru popped in to collect
some stuff from her studio – somewhat frustrated by her homeschool
responsibilities (and, in particular, Rosa not really doing her work properly –
getting it done as quickly as possible, possibly understanding what she’s being
asked and frequently not actually answering the question… poor thing)(meanwhile,
Iris has had to ‘sit’ some exams… which seemed to go ok?).
The big news of the day is that Moira and I have
now been offered our Covid jab dates (Friday afternoon)! I’ve also arranged an
online appointment with the health care assistant for my annual heart review (4
February).
I sketched some boats (from a photograph I took
this morning) before lunch and sorted out some more Blurb photographs. In the
afternoon, I finished my ‘Pope book’ (encouraging and thought-provoking).
Total of UK Covid deaths since the start of the
pandemic topped 100,000 today (pretty grim news, but not unexpected).
Evening telly: another ‘Marple’!
Image: ‘Spirit of Freedom’ boat sketch.
A stunningly beautiful, sunny day (but still very
cold, with overnight freezing) – a huge contrast with the snow of yesterday. My
usual harbourside walk and very aware of bright colours and still water.
Morning coffee with Moira as usual and we
compared notes on how we were coping with the lack of the internet etc
(actually, of course, she can still get an internet connection via her phone)…
essentially, I’m struggling! I’m very conscious of missing my regular early
morning routines (Guardian/BBC/facebook/blog etc) – my dawn walks are the only
things unaffected. I wrote a brief ‘Reflection’ note.
Sally Shorey’s burial today… and I’ve been
thinking of David a lot over recent days. It must be really hard for him; I
wonder what he will do in his hugely adjusted life?
Had a kind text from Ana enquiring how we were
coping with out the internet and saying that I’d been missed at yesterday’s USk
session (which was nice).
I drew (yet) another quick ‘house in lockdown’
sketch.
In the afternoon, I read more of my ‘Pope’ book
and also did some more work on my Blurb book (it’s a lengthy process!).
Evening telly: usual Monday evening stuff (‘Only Connect’
and ‘University Challenge’ – although I seem to be getting more and more
despondent watching them and feel somewhat ‘intellectually challenged’!
Read more of my ‘Shuggie Bain’ book before bed.
Image: Harbourside tree (same view as my Blurb
book’s ‘The Winter’s Tale’ cover, but on a bright sunny day).
Very surprised to open the curtains first thing
to discover we’d had overnight snow (maybe 20mm)! Ventured outside under the
streetlights at 6am – that lovely time when no one’s yet walked through the
snow and the day seems rather magical.
Without the possibility of streamed church (due
to our lack of internet), Moira and I had originally planned to venture
outside, armed with a thermos flask, in search of a suitable bench… but, with
Moira’s sciatica, just a brief glimpse out of the window convinced her that bed
presented a better option! So I ended up going for a dawn walk by myself –
usual harbourside route – and collected the Observer en route. Rather nice to
see familiar locations in the snow. Quite a few people – even at 8am – families
with small kids enjoying the snow… and even two fishermen!
Very pleased that I’d ventured out first thing
because the snow had disappeared by lunchtime.
Spent much of the day reading the newspaper and
finishing my ‘scissor drawing’ (pretty unimpressive, I’m afraid) and then read
some more of my ‘Pope’ book.
Roast pork supper (excellent)!
Evening telly: ‘Pottery Throw Down’ (discovered
that, apparently, our internet problem also means no catch-up).
Image: Snowy harbourside.
Another restless and disturbed night’s ‘sleep’.
Admittedly, I’d gone to be quite early and had read until perhaps 9.15pm… but
then woke up at 11.30pm (thinking I’d had a full night’s sleep!)… and then
again at 1am and 3am. Eventually got up at 4.30am; put on some washing; had
early breakfast… and then discovered that there was no internet (and, of
course, my hacked facebook account still isn’t sorted)! The God’s are obviously
against me!
I ended phoning Virgin Media and they’re sending
a technician next Wednesday! Hey ho… life continues to be complicated.
Another very frosty start to the day and, as
usual on a Saturday, no early morning walk – just the ‘newspaper run’… but it
did end up a beautiful (if cold) sunny day.
Took the opportunity of saving a batch of
photographs on the hard-drive (which I try to do every 2-3 months).
Texted Ana (apologising for having to miss Urban
Sketching and asking her to pass on message to others); texted Ru, Han and Alan
(just to let them know about broadband); texted Dave (apologising for
non-attendance at Wednesday’s Bloke’s Prayer).
Collected my Pope Francis book from ‘Storysmith’.
In the afternoon, I started drafting out
something for our current Drawing Group project and also started reading my
Pope book.
Frankly, a VERY frustrating day… not having
access to the internet for the next four days (at least) means not being able
to do ALL sorts of things (including not being able to access google/streetview
for mini-sketching projects, streamed church and being able to communicate with
people via emails – especially without the use of facebook!). It all goes to
reinforce the sense of one’s ‘isolation in lockdown’!
Evening telly: another ‘Marple’…
Image: Greville Smyth Park, on my way home from
yesterday’s early walk.
Stunningly beautiful, albeit very frosty, morning
and went early morning walking around the harbourside/cut. Almost ran down
(twice) by a cyclist (the same cyclist passing me in both directions during the
course of my walk) – missed me by a couple of inches each time; no bell
(obviously); headphones plugged; apparently completely unaware of how he’d very
nearly caused two accidents (which could have resulted in quite serious injury,
because he was travelling at some speed)! I shouted after him the second time –
but, obviously, to no avail.
Quite treacherous in places due to the heavy
frost, but lovely blue skies and sunshine – definitely lifts the spirits. Took
quite a few photographs.
Still nothing more from facebook (I sent them
another email, but have no idea if anyone ever reads them or is able to take
action… they must have so many people with similar issues).
Went down to Hugo’s to pick up some much-needed
fruit+veg.
I was very relieved to have had my drawing pens
delivered through the letterbox this morning (they’ve taken their time)!
Spent part of the afternoon sorting out some
initial text for my Blurb book and then watched an old episode of Lucy Worsley’s
‘biggest fibs’.
Evening telly: watched the remainder of a ‘Miss
Marple’ episode.
Image: Lockdown deliveries sorted (sketchbooks
and pens now re-stocked!).
Had a really restless night (again)… woke up at
12.30am thinking I’d had a full night’s sleep(!) and then was unable to get
back to sleep. Ended up getting up at 4am.
Although I received a number of emails from
facebook in connection with my hacked account, I’m still no nearer to getting
things resolved…
Went for my usual harbour dawn walk – which ended
up being a ‘walk of two halves’: the first half was dry but overcast and the
remainder was heavy rain (with some sunshine occasionally creeping through).
Spent the remainder of the morning setting up a
couple of Rio sketches in advance of Sunday’s USk trip, together with sending
an email to Ana asking her if she could forward messages to Charlotte, Jules
and Jane.
Did some vacuuming… and we received our regular
fortnightly Asda delivery (which was very welcome – even if there were a number
of ‘substitutes’.
Watched the remainder of ‘All The President’s
Men’ in the afternoon.
Evening telly: ‘Landscape Artist’ and the second
part of last night’s ‘Marple’.
Image: Dame Emily Park in heavy rain and bright
sunshine!
The usual Bloke’s Prayer gathering (full house,
including Johnny) and an interesting time – with Robin making some personal
insights… followed by Moira and my morning coffee time (which, frankly, didn’t
happen until after 10am, as Moira had given Slimming World a miss today).
I’d tried to phone Tom yesterday and ended up
receiving a text message to confirm a ‘proper’ chat this morning… which we duly
did. Lovely to chat to him (we both miss our chats) and it sounded as if our
mutual Lockdown#3 experiences were very similar.
No proper resolution to my annoying facebook
issue, so I ended up setting up another account – hopefully, just temporarily
until I sort out the original problem. All very frustrating.
Jeanette had asked various church members to
respond to various questions about church issues/pandemic/technology… and
beyond. I did my best to produce some thoughts – but all rather garbled. Hey
ho!
Had a zoom session with Ruth+Iris+Rosa in the
afternoon (SO lovely to ‘see’ them – hadn’t spoken to Iris since the New Year) and they were in very good form.
The girls are clearly pretty cheesed off with ‘homeschool’ (especially in this
drab weather), but coping pretty well it seems.
Re-watched the first half of ‘All The President’s Men’ film via
catch-up later in the afternoon (I’d forgotten how good it was)… somehow seemed
appropriate on the day that Trump left the White House!
Villa lost 0-2 to ManCity away (but City were apparently pretty fortunate with both their goals).
Evening telly: Part One of another 'Miss Marple' (but slept through most of it!).
Image: Avon riverbank in bright morning sunlit
(from Monday’s walk).
Went for usual early morning walk around the
harbour… on a very drab, wet day (constant drizzle during my walk). Good to be out,
but glad I was properly dressed for it.
A pretty ordinary and somewhat frustrating day
all in all.
Moira and I enjoyed our regular morning coffee
chat and then I wrote a brief ‘reflection’ (the last one I’d done was last
November).
I started to check some possible Rio locations –
but frankly without much success.
I had a good facebook message exchange with Alan
(updating him about Alice and checking on Megan) and also texted a brief note
to Alice and to Tom.
I subsequently discovered that I was unable to
log into facebook at the start of the afternoon – and it looks very likely that
I’ve been hacked (which, obviously, is hugely annoying). I haven’t yet sorted
matters (and just can’t see how I can communicate with facebook if I’m not
allowed to log in!).
Evening telly: another ‘Miss Marple’ episode (if
ONLY she knew about facebook log-ins!).
Image: raindrop from yesterday’s walk in Leigh
Woods.
It looks as if we’re due to have a pretty awful,
wet week weather-wise, but the forecast for the very start of the day was
reasonable and so I decided that my dawn walk should be along the Avon and up
through Leigh Woods. In the event, it proved to be really rather lovely – just
a few runners along the Avon and absolutely no one in Leigh Woods (until I was
making my exit and then came across a woman runner and three cyclists - a
father of two young children). Silent and utterly magical. It had been pretty
grey and cloudy when I set out but, happily, as I made my way home along the
Avon, the sun came out and it turned into a beautiful morning (although it
started raining as I entered Mount Pleasant).
Moira managed to ‘book’ a brief time to speak to
Alice by phone just after lunch. She’s REALLY been struggling (although,
thankfully, now ‘over’ her Covid symptoms). She’s been shutting herself away in her
bedroom (although did manage a shower this morning) and, sadly, having lots of
‘suicidal thoughts’ – which is obviously very worrying for her AND for the rest
of us. We feel somewhat helpless.
I finished my ‘Snow Country’ book after lunch.
It’s only a short novel (120 pages), but I think I’ll need to read it again
before our bookgroup meets to discuss it! In the meantime, I’m trying to work
out what I thought of it!
Evening telly: usual ‘Only Connect’ and
‘University Challenge’.
Image: Avon reflections (just one of several
photographs I took on my walk).
We took advantage of a beautiful bright morning
(it clouded over before lunchtime) to take our walk before streamed church.
Only quite short due to Moira’s sciatica, but managed Dame Emily Park, Dean
Lane and Kingston Road.
Persevered with streamed church (Dru, Amy, Laura
and Richard), but do find it somewhat difficult (the songs seem a bit of a
waste of time)… but Laura’s prayers were thought-provoking.
The rest of the morning revolved around Sunday
newspaper, lunch and a ‘virtual’ visit to Mevagissey to sketch (after
yesterday, I was determined to ‘get out’ – albeit only virtually!).
Lazy afternoon… finishing sketch and reading more
‘Snow Country’.
Moira sent a WhatsApp message to BABEs about
Alice.
Evening telly: ‘Perfect Planet’ episode and
‘Pottery Throw Down’.
Image: Mevagissey.
As usual, Saturday’s a no-walk day – apart from
the trip to Tesco’s for the newspaper. Once again, another rainy start to the
day… BUT it brightened up by 10am and the sun came out (makes SUCH a
difference)!
Moira and I enjoyed morning coffee over the
newspaper… and discussed Japanese novels!
Posted the ‘Rio’ event details on the USk
facebook page.
Actually, this was something of a ‘nothing day’
for me – I don’t think I really achieved (or did) anything at all.
I read more of my ‘Snow Country’ book (I’ve now
finished ‘Part One’)… but am still struggling somewhat with getting to grips
with a) the lyrical quality of the language, b) the indifferent quality of the
translation(?), c) Japanese customs, d) Japanese terminology, e) the different
types of gheisha, and f) the story!
Evening telly: ‘Miss Marple’ (watched the
remaining two parts of the first episode).
Image: staring on/up/at the stairs(!).
My usual harbourside dawn walk – except that I
went via the Avon Lock (only to find that both gates were open, at high tide,
which meant I couldn’t cross). Another grey morning… although it did brighten
up a little by lunchtime and we even saw some sun!
Usual morning coffee – M+I reflecting on how
bleak this time of year is for a lot of people and how Covid makes it so much
worse.
Moira managed to speak to both Ru and Dave. Ru
was working at the Southville Centre (but reckoned that the girls were in better
form than of late, which is good)(they’ve apparently been very grumpy and bored
by home school and not being able to see their friends). Dave reckoned he’d now
recovered from Covid and that Jemima was more or less better (they’re pretty
sure she’d tested positive, but STILL hadn’t received any formal confirmation –
but she was obviously isolating anyway). J isn’t able to go to sleep without
somebody being with her (this has been going on some time)… so she and Dave end
up sleeping in the living room (poor old Dave!). Alice is still struggling
(rapid heart rate – she’s being put on beata-blockers) and is very depressed. Dave
wondered if Alice should come and stay in Bristol once she’s recovered from
Covid (and once we’ve been vaccinated).
I spent a fair amount of the morning preparing
for the forthcoming USk ‘Rio’ Event (will post something online tomorrow
perhaps?) and also preparing some initial text for my Blurb book (difficult to
know how much text should be included – but feel it needs more poltical context
than last time perhaps?).
My new sketchbooks arrived in the post AND we
received a John Lewis delivery (candles, salt+pepper grinders and tea-infuser)…
which was good news.
I watched the 1949 version of ‘Whisky Galore’ in
the afternoon – enjoyed it more than the more recent version (less
‘professional’ and black+white!).
Evening telly: another ‘Cornwall’ and our ‘Miss
Marple’ boxset (again!).
Image: Rooms with a view: ‘Matthew’ was back at Underfall Yard
(presumably for its annual maintenance checks).
I went for my usual dawn harbourside walk (dawn
is now 8.10am!)… but it was all pretty depressing weather-wise – steady drizzle
and grey skies (which continued more or less for the rest of the day). As long
as I’m suitably dressed, I certainly don’t mind the rain… but there was a sense
of “Oh, not another dismal day!”. I think we all need a bit of sunshine to keep
our spirits up.
Tried to ring Virgin Media about my emails (see
yesterday’s post), but got a recorded message advising me that they were
operating at a reduced level due to Covid and that I might have to ‘hang on’
for more than an hour! So I ended up going back to their website, tried various
operations (unsuccessfully) and eventually decided to try to change my
password… and hey presto, it worked!
Moira and I had morning coffee as usual… she
expressed some frustration at her lack of ‘projects’.
Most of the rest of the morning was taken up with
domestic/admin matters – some washing, some cleaning, checking out Rio de
Janeira as a possible USk location, checking to see how Ana was (cricked neck),
bins etc.
Afternoon comprised a quick stair sketch and some
more ‘Snow Country’ reading (finding it difficult to get into the book).
Evening telly: more Stein’s ‘Cornwall’ and
‘Landscape Artist’.
Image: the last sprout!
No walking… due to Bloke’s Prayer. Full house
(Robin, Dave, Ed, Dru, Jeff, Nick and Johnny). Interesting discussion on
various aspects of BP (I feared that Jeff wanted to change the entire format,
but that wasn’t quite the case)… actually useful to spend some time reflecting.
I mentioned Anamcara and, brilliantly, Johnny produced a reflection from John
O’Donuhue’s ‘Anamcara’ book.
Moira and I had our usual morning coffee… I had
been thinking about going out for a walk, but the weather was so gloomy that I
didn’t bother (in fact, it remained dark and cloudy the entire day).
I produced a fairly quick self-portrait and then
tried to get ‘into’ my Japanese ‘Snow Country’ book during the course of the
afternoon. It’s only 120 pages but, with a combination of rather indifferent
translation; the fact that it was written in the 1950s; and my poor
appreciation of Japanese culture made it somewhat difficult to settle into the
book.
My Virgin Media emails stopped worked… spent 30
minutes on the phone (hanging on)… this will no doubt take up a lot of time tomorrow no
doubt!Managed to
Evening telly: Stein's 'Cornwall'.
I set up a zoom meeting with David Shorey and Alan
in the evening… and it was good to ‘get together’ again. Sally’s burial is 25
January… and we’ve agreed to zoom again some time after that.
Image: selfie!
Went for my dawn walk via Metrobus
bridge/marina/Vauxhall bridge on another rather bleak January morning. LOTS of
traffic about… sadly, it seems as if we’re back to the ‘old normal’.
Moira and I had our usual morning coffee and chat…
reflecting on not being allowed to meet up with more than one person (sad from
our grandchildren’s perspective).
Drafted a brief book review on ‘The Crossway’ and
then spent a fair amount of time going back through the book and noting down
various points that had felt significant (as a means of trying to be able to
recall things when Bloke’s Books eventually meets on 10 February!).
Popped down to Storysmith to collect the latest
bookgroup book (‘Snow Country’).
Chatted to Rosa (by phone) at the end of the
afternoon, which was lovely. She’s clearly pretty bored by ‘home school’, but
seems to be coping. I also tried to chat to Iris but, as ever, just got her
voicemail (I asked Rosa to tell her I’d phoned her). Hope Iris is ok… I think
she’s been struggling (puberty, not meeting up with friends, having to stay at
home etc).
Joined Adrian’s ‘Local Learning Group’ via zoom
in the evening (as part of Adrian’s vicar-training course)… fortunately, it
only lasted an hour.
Early evening telly: Rick Stein’s ‘Cornwall’.
Image: nothing to show really… so here’s another
of my Morocco sketches from the weekend!
Went for my regular harbourside walk
(anti-clockwise version!) on a dry but pretty bleak day (but slightly warmer
than the past couple of days?). Pretty uneventful, but still a fair amount of
traffic on Coronation Road.
Enjoyed watching the sea gulls fly/feed under
Vauxhall Bridge… I tried to take some quick photographs, but pretty poor quality.
Maybe a subject for another time?
Usual morning coffee with Moira (albeit fairly
late – she had her breakfast at 10.15am!).
I finished off my quick blue boat sketch from
yesterday (but pretty basic).
In the afternoon, I finished my pilgrimage book
(Bloke’s Bookgroup) – fascinating, but I’m still digesting it.
Watched the second episode of Attenborough’s ‘Perfect
Planet’… pretty amazing photography.
Evening telly: usual Monday stuff – ‘Only Connect’
and ‘University Challenge’.
Image: poor photograph of crash-landing gull in
the Cut!
Moira and I went for a very brief walk before
streamed church (her sciatica has really limited how far she’s able to cover –
today maybe not more than 0.75miles?). Really feel for her. Very frustrating.
Having gone to bed last night feeling as if I
might be ‘going down with something’, I was hugely relieved to discover that I
felt fine as I emerged from bed today.
Sunday newspaper and morning coffee as usual…
Urban Sketchers had their first ‘virtual
sketch-meet’ at lunchtime (Essaouira, Morocco)… and it was lovely to ‘see’
everyone (12-15?) again via zoom. We all agreed that USk had done much to help
keep us ‘sane’ over the past several months. Some lovely, colourful stuff
produced by everyone… and good fun too.
In the afternoon, Moira watched ‘Tinker, Taylor,
Soldier, Spy’ (which I’d fairly recently watched)… impressive, intricate storyline (Le Carré) – even if it ‘lost me’
several times!
Evening telly comprised the return of ‘The Great
Pottery Throw Down’ (which was rather lovely).
Image: sketch of Essaouira ramparts.
No walking on Saturdays (especially after the
introduction of lockdown#3) – just down to Tesco to fetch the newspaper.
Interesting/depressing reading about US politics/UK Covid cases and deaths.
Villa lost 1-4 at home to Liverpool in the FA Cup
last night – BUT they were forced to field a team of their Academy players as
the first team squad had been hit by positive Covid tests.
Spent 45 minutes sketching (Kitchen Clutter).
Bacon bagels for lunch followed by a bit more
reading of my pilgrimage book.
Watched a tiny bit of Cup football (Arsenal v
Newcastle) – but gave up… too boring.
Bristol beat Exeter away 20-7 to go top of the
league!
Highest number of UK weekly Covid-related deaths
recorded (6,298) since the start of the pandemic.
Watched another Simon King wildlife documentary
from Shetland.
Early to bed… feeling slightly fluey??
Image: kitchen clutter scribble.
No early morning walk today because Rich was due
to come and fit a new external door in our basement. Before he arrived, I
realised that this also meant that I would need to ‘clean out’ (vaguely) the
basement wc – clearing out plaster that had crumbled into the wash basin,
wiping down surfaces, sweeping floor etc. Oh what fun!
Anyway, Rich duly arrived just before 10am and
they worked very efficiently and managed to complete their work by about
1.30pm. Good to have got the job done!
I did also some more preparatory work in
connection with the second Blurb book (pretty daunting!) and ordered two new
sketchbooks. I also tried to order some pens but I don’t think the order went
through in the end.
In the afternoon, I watched the ‘Dunkirk’ film
(I’d previously seen it in the cinema)… not enormously impressed (as before).
Moira had her bookgroup in the evening, so I went
to bed early and read.
Another record covid-related deaths day (1,325).
Evening telly: ‘Cornwall’ and ‘Winter Walks’
(again).
Image: the new basement door.
A foggy, frosty morning… I walked my regular harbourside
circuit (eerie half-views across the water in the fog, but interesting to get a
different perspective on familiar landscapes).
Still quite a few people about (walking through Gaol Ferry
Steps on their way into town and still lots of cars on Coronation Road).
Spent a fair amount of time catching up on the aftermath of
the US Capitol fiasco. Trumps is understandably being blamed for inciting
things and there’s talk of implementing Amendment 25 (if the President is
unable to do his job, the Vice President becomes President)… but it’ll never
happen (only 13 days before inauguration). Meanwhile Congress has confirmed
Biden’s election win. At long last, Trump concedes defeat BUT is still
maintaining he won (despite no one having been able to produce ANY evidence): “Even though I totally disagree with the outcome of the
election, and the facts bear me out, nevertheless there will be an orderly
transition on January 20th”.
Spent a little time finishing off some
watercolouring (Morocco sketch).
We received our regular fortnightly Asda delivery
(good news!) – even if there were a number of ‘unavailable’ items (including
the pork roasting joint!).
Read more of my pilgrimage book in the afternoon.
Yesterday’s record number of daily Covid deaths
has been exceeded today (1,162).
Evening telly: another ‘Winter Walks’ episode
(only one left now) plus another Rick Stein ‘Cornwall’.
Image: from my harbourside walk this morning.
No walk today… with Bloke’s Prayer starting at 8am, I decided
against it. Good to see the others again after a 2-week break – although it was
a somewhat patchy get-together, with Ed having to leave at 8.30am and Jeff only
joining us at 8.45am. Jeff had previously asked if we could ‘discuss’ the basis
of Bloke’s Prayer (I don’t think he believes it achieves what it should), but
had apparently forgotten that we’d agreed to do so today! Now re-scheduled for
8am next Wednesday!
Cleared boxes out of Ruth’s studio (in preparation for Rich –
who’s due to fit a replacement external door on Friday).
Moira and I had morning coffee together (following her
slimming world zoom meeting).
My medication was duly delivered – which was good news (only
4-5 days’ supplies left).
We also received a delivery of new pillows – so I took this
as an opportunity to change the bed linen.
Did a little sketching in the afternoon in preparation for
Sunday’s ‘trip’ to Morocco!
Storysmith book group in the evening (so spent some of the
afternoon preparing/re-reading bits of ‘Rebecca’ as a bit of a ‘refresher’).
Another good discussion.
Evening telly: watched another ‘Winter Walks’.Today saw the highest number of daily Covid-related UK deaths (1,041) since the pandemic began.
White Supremist rioters stormed the US Capitol Building in
Washington. Horrendous, shocking scenes (having been egged on by the US
President!).
Image: another dining room sketch.
Today I took a PRE-dawn harbourside walk (with a view to
trying to avoid people!) and set out at 7.30am (sunrise 8.15am)… but,
strangely, there actually seemed to be MORE people about than usual. It was
also interesting (following last night’s lockdown#3 announcement) to note that
there seemed to be absolutely no difference to the number of cars thundering
down Coronation Road – a sharp contrast to last March. Fairly sombre walk
weatherwise – but it brightened up by mid-morning.
Moira and I chatted about the new lockdown over morning
coffee.
With Alice still feeling really pretty grim (and having a
number of other people trying to contact her vis phone/WhatsApp or whatever), I
decided to drop a FB message to Dave to check on how HE was doing. He said he
was improving but couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so poorly (and that
Jemima is ill “but not really ill” – but they STILL haven’t received her test
results, so Dave’s chasing)… and that Alice “had taken a big hit”. A number of
pupils and teachers had got Covid immediately before Christmas and Dave feels
certain that Mickey passed on the virus to the Buckley household… BUT that,
happily, M seems unaffected and quite happy (Dan has been isolating from everyone
else in his room on his PlayStation and face-timing his mates).
I had a lovely zoom/coffee chat with Ana (as an alternative
to meeting up) – they seem to be coping well (and she talks to her parents at
least twice a day!!).
Checked out some Urban Sketching locations in advance of this
coming Sunday (in Morocco) and read more of my pilgrim book.
The house feels very different following me taking down ‘all’
the Christmas decorations… something I always find a little sad – although,
with the Christmas tree lights packing up a few days ago, not a huge issue this
year (but I do think we need to order some more candles!).
I managed to book a delivery for my repeat prescriptions –
which is a great relief (even if I had to pay £5).
Evening telly: another ‘Winter Walk’ (very good, gentle stuff
– perfect for these difficult times); Rick Stein’s ‘Cornwall’ and a couple of ‘Staged’
episodes.
Image: pre-dawn at the marina.
Went for my first ‘proper’ harbourside dawn walk of the New
Year… on a very cold morning.
From the amount of traffic on Coronation Road, I sensed that
the rest of the world was returning to work today!
Watched two ‘elderly’ rowers return to the marina after their
early morning outing on the water (I’ve seen them several times before - we now
greet each other – and they clearly are pretty fit for their ages.
Morning coffee with Moira. Chatted about Alice, Dave+Jemima
(D+J seem to be ‘on the mend’, but A is still struggling). Alice is clearly
concerned about affect on J’s mental health (but this may be reflection of A’s
current emotional state?).
Organised ongoing Drawing Group rota.
Enjoyed a socially-distanced Cornish pasty+coffee lunch in
Dame Emily park with Hannah+Ursa+Fee – which was lovely. Very, very cold, but
lovely.
Did another dining room sketch in the afternoon, plus some
more ‘pilgrimage’ reading.
Evening telly: usual Monday routine(!) of ‘Only Connect’ and
‘University Challenge’... but also 'Winter Walks' (rather lovely).Mr Johnson appeared on telly to announce new 'lockdown' (probably lasting until mid-February?)(SO pleased we managed to see H+U+F earlier!)... once again, a little late in the day. 'Clinically extremely vulnerable' people to 'shield' once again.
Image: 'pasties in the park' with Felix+Ursa+Hannah.
Very grey morning and Moira and I decided to try a pre-streamed
church morning walk (despite Moira’s painful sciatica). In the end, we only managed
perhaps 0.75mile – to Dame Emily Park and round the block, but at least we ‘got
out’.
I’d fetched the newspaper earlier to ensure we didn’t
over-reach ourselves distance-wise.
Tuned into streamed church (at HTH)… good prayers from Rachel,
but overall pretty bland (Frances preaching)… Kate has a lovely singing voice,
but I really question needing songs in these kind of services?
Read newspaper over morning coffee afterwards.
Johnson appeared on Andrew Marr tv programme and indicated there
was likely to be a review of tier measures "in the next few weeks" (after
the UK saw record-high new case numbers amid a fast-spreading new virus variant)…
so, like every other pandemic-related decision taken by the government, Johnson
will end up acting when it’s far too late!?
Scribbled some draft ‘Taking Stock Reflections’… but didn’t
finish them (maybe I’ll add/amend at a later date?).
Read more of my pilgrimage book in the afternoon.
Evening telly: usual Sunday night ‘Countryfile’ and ‘Antiques
Roadshow’, plus a new Attenborough documentary.
Image: Capricorn Place in the early morning (from 30 December).
Beautiful, sunny morning… we’re still trying to avoid people
when we walk so, as usual, we don’t walk on Saturdays (which was a shame,
today).
Fetched the newspaper and bought milk and bread (and
Lemsip+paracetamol!)… and pored over the paper while drinking our coffees.
Sketched the dining room fireplace (another of my ‘staring
at’ sketches!!) before lunch and then read more of my ‘Crossway’ book (about a
young man’s pilgrimage from Canterbury to Jerusalem) – which, so far, seems
pretty impressive.
Spent part of the afternoon preparing an invite for another
of our ‘virtual sketchmeets’ – this time at Essaouira, Morocco – for next weekend.
Shame there doesn’t seem to be any ‘streetview’.
Evening telly: ‘Imagine’ (Tracey Emin) and ‘Michael Palin’
(Sahara).
Image: Dining room fireplace.
Awoke to a very misty/foggy morning.
Read in bed first thing, then Moira and I had champagne and
bacon sandwiches (traditional New Year’s Day fare!) for breakfast.
We walked around Bathurst Basin in slight drizzle and then
back for morning coffee.
Lazy (somewhat disappointing/uneventful) day… no car to jump
into; Moira’s sciatica limiting our walks; and no family or friends making
anything but phone contact). Hey ho!
Ended up finishing my ‘Shepherd’ book (really excellent)… I
strongly suspect it will end up being my book of 2021!
Evening telly: ‘Dr Who’, ‘Only Connect’ and ‘University
Challenge’
Bristol Bears beat Newcastle at home (despite having a number
of forwards missing due to positive Covid tests) and Villa lost to ManU as
usual at Old Trafford 2-1.
Image: Gone Fishing (some people just try to avoid ‘family’
on New Year’s Day!).
