Fetched the newspaper first thing as Moira didn’t yet feel up
to our usual harbourside Sunday walk. We ended up doing our shortened local
walk skirting Dame Emily park before a quick morning coffee and newspaper read.
I tuned in to streamed church (interesting talk by Jeanette),
but somewhat guilty also tuned in to Sky Arts ‘live’ ‘Portrait Artist of the
Week’ (South African dancer Oti Mabuse), so sketched at the same time!
Good response from my urban sketching friends to the Grayson
submission.
Ru+Rosa popped round with a Mother’s day card and so we were
able to have a brief natter on the doorstep… which was lovely.
Watched the Scotland v Ireland rugby in the afternoon
(Ireland narrowly winning).
Roast pork supper… which was lovely.
Evening telly: ‘The Plank’ (Eric Sykes’s wonderful 1967 film)
and the last episode of ‘Pottery Throwdown’ (feel very sad that it’s
finished!).
Image: An ‘Amazing Mum’ on Mother’s Day (with Hannah’s book).
Lazy morning.
Morning coffee over Saturday newspaper (no walk).
Finished my ‘Hamnet’ book (excellent).
Finished (thanks to Sara) the urban sketchers’ application to
“Grayson’s Art Club”.
Hannah+Felix+Ursa came round and had a cup of tea on the
doorstep… lovely to see them.
The rest of the afternoon was taken up watching rugby over a
couple of glasses of Guinness (Italy v Wales and England v France). Very good
game at Twickenham – England won 23-20 (with a converted try 5 minutes from
time!).
Last night: Villa drew away to Newcastle and Bears beat
Wasps!
Evening telly: a documentary on Rome.
Image: cardboard packaging for one of Moira’s gin bottle
pressies.
No early morning walk today, of course, because it’s Moira’s
birthday!
Really wild night weather-wise… heavy rain until dawn – but
then the sun came out and it ended up being a rather lovely day.
I think Moira had a rather lovely day too… she’d received
LOTS of packages (hand-delivered or postman or courier) and birthday cards. The
bed was quite a crowded place first thing at ‘opening time’.
We enjoyed a birthday morning coffee together before Moira
disappeared for a long, hot bath and I trundled along to Hugo’s again to buy
provisions for tonight’s supper (I ended up deciding to cook something – from
the Anna Jones’ recipe book that Hannah had given her for her birthday).
My teeth/plate had been giving lots of trouble recently (some
of the crowns had ‘slipped’ exposing the pegs etc… and one of the front
crowns/pegs felt very weak – and meant I could hardly bite/chew anything) and
so I managed to book a dental appointment for next Tuesday (with some
trepidation… and the prospect of likely expense!).
Read some more of my book in the afternoon.
We had a birthday zoom chat with Ru+Iris+Rosa after school –
which was good (Iris very pleased to be back at school; Rosa just pleased it
was the weekend!).
The birthday supper I cooked (‘saag aloo shepherd’s pie’)
worked reasonably well… but I certainly felt out of practice with trying to
cook unfamiliar recipes (need more practice!).
Evening telly: another ‘Art Club’ (so good!).
Image: Saag Aloo Shepherd’s Pie (courtesy of Anna Jones).
A slightly strange day (another one!)… no early morning walk
because I’d agreed to accompany Moira to the Eye Hospital (she was still
uncertain/struggling with her knees/hips).
So, something of lazy start for me – and even some reading in
bed after I’d finished my breakfast!
Usual morning coffee with Moira… which coincided with receipt
of various packages from the postman.
Set out for town at 12 noon (Moira’s appointment = 1.15pm,
but needing to appreciate that, due to Covid, there were no waiting areas
available inside the hospital… so timing was quite important. In fact, we’d
taken some lunch with us and enjoyed the rather strange experience of eating
our lunches sitting on a bench in Royal Fort Gardens… in and out of rain showers!
Anyway, Moira’s appointment seemed to go reasonably well (I continued to walk
around RFG while she was ‘being seen’)… and we made in home in one piece.
I tried unsuccessfully to book a take-out meal at Souk
Kitchen for tomorrow… so will probably end up cooking something myself).
More ‘Hamnet’ reading in the remainder of the afternoon.
Evening telly: ‘Repair Shop’ followed the commissioned ‘Landscape
Artist’ painting.
Image: Wet flowers growing at RCG.
Pretty uneventful day… felt somewhat flat.
Pretty grim weather: drizzle for most of the day and it looks
as if we’re expecting storms over the next couple of days.
No early morning walk due to Bloke’s Prayer (everyone in
attendance)… I rather got lost in making sense of some of the conversation.
Put together another Spotify playlist (‘music I’d forgotten I
had’ male vocalists) based on my Windows Media Player songs.
Exchanged some ‘feedback’ words with Alan after last night
(both had similar thoughts).
Read some more of my ‘Hamnet’ book.
Watched the rest of ‘In The Loop’ film (based on ‘In The
Thick Of It’)… I’d previously given up watching after 15 minutes initially.
Evening telly: ‘McDonald+Dodds’.
Image: pre-dawn sky from the bathroom window (from
yesterday).
Went for my usual harbourside walk… just as the sun was
rising. Beautiful morning (despite the cold) and very aware that the sun’s dawn
location in the sky had shifted a fair amount over the past fortnight or so.
Good to be able to walk in the early morning daylight without having to ease my
way through the crowds at the school gate!
Usual morning coffee with Moira… talked about the possibility
of ordering food from Souk Kitchen for Moira’s birthday (unsure if you can only
order on the day etc?).
Collected our next bookgroup book from Storysmith.
Spent some of the afternoon reading my ‘Hamnet’ book.
Evening telly: episode 3 of ’Bloodlands’.
Enjoyed a 2-hour zoom session with Keith, David and Alan in
the evening (which worked well – despite my initial reservations).
Image: Pink lilies sketch.
Took a long dawn walk today… up through Leigh Woods (next to
Rownham Hill) to the suspension bridge, then along North Road and back down to
the Avon towpath and then home. Surprising lack of colour in the woods off
North Road (predominantly brown/grey), apart from the groundcover leaves and
mosses. Quite a grey start to the day… but brightening up by mid-morning. Local
primary school was re-opening after lockdown as I passed – lots of excited
children (and parents!)… made me feel somewhat anxious.
Morning coffee with Moira… no real conversation (I felt in a
pretty ‘flat’ mood, for some reason, which lasted throughout the day).
I finished my ‘Running’ book (to my great relief – definitely
NOT my kind of book) and scribbled a quick review for my blog. I checked the
‘other’ reviews in various journals etc and was somewhat depressed to see it
had been highly praised and well-received (perhaps by running ‘nerds’?).
I did a quick sketch (just a line drawing)of the beautiful
red/pink lilies, but lost patience and didn’t do them justice.
I started to watch ‘In The Loop’ film via telly (film version
of ‘In The Thick Of It’), but gave up after 15 minutes.
Started reading ‘Hamnet’ (Maggie O’Farrell).
Evening telly: Janina Raminez ‘Lost World’ documentary and
then the usual Monday evening stuff ‘Connect’ and ‘Challenge’.
Image: Verandah on North Road (with 360deg views).
