I type up this blog post at midday, at my dining room table, whilst taking a break from thesis writing/research and sorting out resources for my Higher English tutees. There is a light drizzle outside, it’s a bit chilly, and the daffodils are on the verge of bursting their buds and furnishing my flower beds with their lovely bright yellow hue. I can’t believe that tomorrow is March; not that I’m sad about it – I love spring.
February always has been a tough month for me. Our first baby, had it carried to full term, would have been born on or around the 25th of February and so this date – for the past 23 years – has been a tough one to negotiate. To make this date even more emotionally hard is that on the 25th February, 2022, my Mum passed away. The same date. Getting past this first sad anniversary – the last of the firsts – has been tough, but I feel that my family and I are slowly beginning to heal. I miss my Mum ever so much, I called her every single day, but I hold onto the memories we all had – particularly my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary in April 2018, the last major event we could celebrate when we were all well and before my Mum’s cancer diagnosis.
So this past week was tough. Then it got tougher. My husband caught Covid from someone on a very busy and stifling bus ride home from work, and then promptly gave it to me – last week, during my already tough week! However, we are both OK now. I tested negative yesterday although I’m still feeling washed out and have a lingering cough (that is different from my normal lingering cough).
House sale preparation
This month I feel I haven’t achieved much. That’s because the two weeks that we were well were spent in painting, putting all of my books into storage, and generally preparing the house for sale (further!). Do you know how long it took me to pack most of my books away? Three solid days! What didn’t help was my humming and hawing as to which books to keep back – in the end I had to be ruthless. Our store-room was floor to ceiling with my boxes of books….this photo only shows some of them! So now my study upstairs is bereft of bookcases and now just houses my desk and the piano. It feels weird not having them about – and the piles of books all over the floor which were a Health and Safety trip hazard. Oh well, the next time I see them, hopefully we will be in our next house. At least I still have my Anthony Trollopes, Dickens, and Powell/PhD books to keep me going.
As well as clearing three-eighths of my book collection out of the house, we had a group of roofers along to replace loose slates and to de-moss our roof. They just about drove the dogs berserk – who are these strange men in our garden, but they worked solidly over three days and now the house roof looks gleamy and clean (well, as gleamy as slate roofs get). So now, the last thing that needs done is the main bathroom refit which, we have been assured, will happen mid-March.
Reading
To be honest, I haven’t had a time to read much beyond that for my PhD. I have started reading two more books (as seen in my Goodreads sidebar) – I love Barbara Pym and I am listening to Delafield’s Diary of a Provincial Lady on Audible. Absolutely loving Clarke’s Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell – it’s just very long! I have got to page 511, which I think is about half way through. However, whenever I set myself time to sit and read, the dogs think it is playtime and I get no peace at all until I abandon the book and throw a soft ball about the room for the next hour. C’est la vie.
Music
The airing of the Thomas Tallis hymn ‘If You Loved Me’ went live on Youtube on Valentine’s Day (yeah, that’s not the kind of love that the hymn is talking about, however…..). You can see it here. Now we are working on ‘Baba Yetu’ by Christopher Tin – the Lord’s Prayer in Swahili. Absolutely loving practicing this one; I think it will sound amazing when it is all put together.
Music for pleasure-wise, I have been very much into Rachmaninov this past month, especially Piano Concerto number 3. Great to work along to.
TV/ Netflix
Again, I haven’t had much time to indulge myself with time to watch much on the TV screen except for last week, when I had Covid and literally couldn’t do a thing without every muscle aching. So, I watched old re-runs of Neighbours which had just been uploaded onto Freevee. That programme is another of my guilty pleasures; I watched the first episode when I was 14 (when I used to watch it with my Gran and my Mum) and have followed it sporadically since. The storylines are candyfloss and unrealistic but it’s my escape. I’m so glad they are bringing a new series back. When so many things from my youth are now no more, it’s nice to have something that remains, albeit with different characters and weirder storylines.
So, February has been a strange, emotional little month. I’m never sad to see it go – this year is no different. Meteorological spring starts tomorrow – a time to look forward with hope!
June's Jottings 