Still very cold, but dry and windless, the sort of day on which washing freezes and then dries on the line. I made it out to IKEA, and to my considerable surprise found pretty well everything on my shopping list, and got it all home without too much trouble. Now all I have to do is bake all those cookies ( Read more... )

Yesterday, being Monday, I had a physio appointment, and also, according to my hospital card, my six-week appointment with the surgeon who did my knee. I also had shopping, house tidying and a visit from the god-daughter's mother on her way through from Paris to Bristol. I was very efficient, and organised, and fit everything in nicely, even ( Read more... )

One of the nicer things about living here is that the weather, while never usually life-threatening, is continually changing, giving everyone a fool-proof and always interesting topic of conversation.

So, at the moment it is very cold (i.e. below freezing; cue hollow laughter from readers in places where it gets really cold) and we have snow ( Read more... )

After a pretty grim week, I'm now beginning to feel a bit more human. Last week, the weather was gloriously sunny and autumnal, and I was stuck in the flat looking out at it and feeling sorry for myself. The extra week in hospital threw out all my arrangements for friends to visit, with nearly everyone I would have relied on unavailable or abroad ( Read more... )

Has anyone else noticed that there are unusually large numbers of hoverflies around this year? I counted at least twenty around the pelargoniums in my window box last week, and today there was a positive swarm of them around the boxes of flowering dahlias at the plant stall in Leather Lane market. Adult hoverflies (which look a lot like bees) ( Read more... )

Perking up slightly now, and starting to notice that the weather outside is lovely, and perhaps I should be out in it. I've mostly been sitting at home, reading, and thinking about doing stuff, but not actually doing it ( Read more... )

It's freezing (relatively), and I'm sitting here in my fluffy slippers, with the heating full on, trying to figure out what to pack for Paris tomorrow. Last week I was thinking in terms of sandals and dresses, but now it's looking more and more like boots, scarves and a big coat. I also have to work out a route that will allow me to get to the ( Read more... )

Last week’s sun has given way to heavy warm rain, with the occasional clap of thunder, what’s sometimes called a growing rain, making me regret not having actually planted anything this year. With the prospect of a few day’s work and travel, I’ve been feeling rather wobbly and tired, as if I was coming down with flu, but I suspect this may just be ( Read more... )

Another beautiful day, and the men digging up the road opposite my flat seem to have knocked off for tea, so it's blissfully quiet. They've been at this road for weeks, scraping off the surface pretty much back to the bedrock, and then concreting it. I'm hoping that they'll get the tarmac down and go away some time next week. The vapour trails ( Read more... )

A rather disappointing sunset this evening, but it is odd not to see any planes in the sky. I’m under a main flightpath, and the last time it was so quiet was during the days after 9/11. I always watch the sunset, since my flat faces west, so maybe there will be something spectacular tomorrow.

A little searching around found this fantastic ( Read more... )