Several types of progress

Brompton Cemetery, September 2019

Lockdown is ending, and my drive to work twice a week is clogged again with other traffic going about its business once more. More shops are open although I have no desire whatever to go inside them, nor will I bother with pubs, restaurants, theatres and cinemas. The easing on restriction about meeting other people in real life is quite exciting, so I went for a walk with a friend on the hottest day of the year so far. And camping is about to be possible again...

The main bonus of fewer restrictions has been my ability to get started on the LTRP again. Ilf finished painting the front of the house, garage door and gate - I decided not to bother repainting the other sides of the house, which meant we managed to use up the last of the specially mixed paint from 10 years ago without having to buy more. I've had a couple of plumbers in to have a look at turning the shower room into a wet room and solve some of the associated drainage issues, so I hope that will go ahead soon. My gardener returned, and I even managed to find someone to have a look at the damp at the base of the pub wall. The garden is still as wild as ever, but with fewer weeds, especially in the paving. I took the bags of excess greenery to the tip, which now requires online booking for a time slot. All went smoothly.

There have been all sorts of attractive offers in the last three months for your 'heroes' of the NHS. I feel a little guilty given that I have done none of the heroic jobs; all that's happened is that all our consultations are being done over the phone, which is difficult but by no means heroic. Yet I have succumbed to the lure of 10% off shopping in Morrisons with an NHS ID card, and another offer of £10 off a box of 12 different vegan pot meals from The Soulful Food Company for anyone with an NHS email address.

I've had indifferent experiences with various 'meals in a pot' before, but these ones looked so good on the website that I thought I'd have a go. Because there are 12 different types I decided to note down any that I particularly liked in case I wanted to buy them again. The first was delicious! I decided to give it the full five stars. The next was just as good - also five stars. By the time I'd had six of the meals I'd had to introduce a sixth star, and so far only one has fallen short and even that one was still delicious. I'll be buying them again, even without the £10 discount.

I had a bit of a blip with the weight loss plan when a friend came round and we each got a takeaway wrap from my favourite brunch spot in Leamington. It was delicious, and just proves that without the lockdown I would never have achieved my current status of 4.6kg (10lb) lighter. I'm back on track again, and finding it much easier to plan meals than I did at the start. It's still a pretty restrictive diet though, and I don't see any way round that. But I can fit into clothes that have lurked in the back of the wardrobe for six years.

What I've been reading

Father Brown
by G. K. Chesterton

"This collection contains all the favourite Father Brown stories. They represent the quiet wit and compassion which is so different from his moody and caustic predecessor, Sherlock Holmes. Father Brown solves his mysteries by a mixture of intuition and sympathetic worldliness in a totally believable manner."

Well, I wouldn't describe Father Brown's methods as 'totally believable', but then most of the stories stretch credulity in some way or other. They were written in another era - 1911-1935 - which may have something to do with it. Pleasant reading, but really not as good as Conan Doyle.

The Golden Age of Science Fiction: an anthology
by Kingley Amis (editor)

"When what we think of as science fiction began in the 1920s and '30s, Its themes were relatively few and simple and its approach unsophisticated: it was essentially adventure fiction set in a fantasy world of spaceships, monsters and ray-guns. The stories in this anthology come from the years 1949-62 and offer an astonishingly varied range; far more inventive, more fictional, fictitious, fictive than any other kind of fiction."

These are pretty good short stories - none of my usual criticism about not having structure or not making sense. In fact, it has reminded me that I rather like science fiction, and exploring my bookcases I discover that the only books I possess are two of the Foundation trilogy by Isaac Asimov - unfortunately the second and third volumes. I'll have to keep a look out for the first book when charity shops open again.

Six Days of War: June 1967 and the making of the modern Middle East
by Michael B. Oren

"Though it lasted for only six tense days in June, the 1967 Arab-Israeli war never really ended. Every crisis that has ripped through this region in the ensuing decades, from the Yom Kippur War of 1973 to the ongoing intifada, is a direct consequence of those six days of fighting."

This was surprisingly readable for so dense a subject, and gave me, someone who has very little interest, experience or knowledge of politics or military strategy, a vivid impression of both. The lasting impression is of Israel being pushed to the limits of its tolerance, not wanting war but knowing it was inevitable. They were pitted against an Arab bloc whose stated aim was to drive the Jews into the sea and had no notion that they could lose, but their solidarity was paper thin and unsupported by military competence. And, in the background, the USA and the USSR on a knife edge, both aware that a mis-step could lead to nuclear escalation if not war. And I am convinced by the author's suggestion that some of the problems we are faced with 50 years later stem from decisions and actions in this war. It is, however, impossible to predict the consequences had anything been done differently.

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
by Alexander McCall Smith

"Meet Mma Ramotswe, the endearing, engaging, simply irresistible proprietress of The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, the first and only detective agency in Botswana. With persistent observation, gentle intuition, and a keen desire to help people with the problems of their lives, she solves mysteries great and small for friends and strangers alike."

A much lighter book I slotted in between chapters of the much heavier book about War. I picked this off my shelves because I wanted to see if it was still any good. Most times that I've read a book from my past - this would have been in the 2000s - it really hasn't stood up to the test of time, and I've been able to pass it on to the charity shop with a joyous heart at another thing leaving the house. This one still hits the spot, so my de-clutter will have to pass it by - it stays on the shelf.

Stasis

Adhisthana, July 2019

Very little going on again, making it difficult to rustle up blog content. The world continues in its crazy state where there is only one topic of news, and we muse over which politician and which country has got it right in the balance between economic disaster and mortality. Actually, since some police officers murdered a man in America there are briefly two topics of news.

I am still fine. All of a sudden, blood testing for Covid-19 antibodies appeared within the Trust, and even reached the Diabetes Centre. The result came back via text message a few days later to say that my test result was negative - no evidence of exposure. Obviously this makes no difference at all to anything, but the latest government guidelines allow for meetings of up to six people out of doors, so I felt a little reassured having driven down to meet Lola II and Mr M in mum and dad's garden.

The weather was not as warm as in recent weeks but we escaped the rain. We brought our own chairs and lunch and face masks and gloves and hand sanitiser, and wiped down the toilet when we used it. The best part of the day was borrowing dad's clippers and taking my hair down to a gentle fuzz, which delights me.

I have managed to get started on a couple of LTRP jobs. In the pub garden I excavated the footings of my adjoining wall. The pub had installed decking some time ago, and laid down gravel around the perimeter as well as putting up hanging baskets with an irrigation system on my wall. Having explored many other avenues I came to the conclusion that there was a strong possibility that this was attracting damp into my wall, and that now would be a good time to do something about it, given that the pub is not only shut because of lockdown but has no functional landlord or manager at the moment, and therefore could not object to me sorting things out for myself.

I also invited Ilf to start work on painting the roof-level woodwork (I can never remember the proper term for the fancy bits hanging from the gable end roof) and the front brickwork. It was a slight misjudgement to call upon Ilf, because he assumes that if he's asked to do a job then he'll do it badly rather than suggesting it's actually unsuitable and I should find someone prepared to utilise scaffolding. The ridge of the roof is beyond the reach of his ladders, so he has basically painted over whatever state the woodwork was in with a brush on a stick or some such device rather than washing it down and checking for rot etc. It will do for now, but I must remember to choose a different tradesman if I want that particular job done properly next time.

Other than that, there really isn't anything new going on. The doctor continues to bring amusing games with him every fortnight; I play online games with Lola II and other friends; I join in various events with the Buddhists; I observe the world going by on Facebook and the news and in satirical comedy shows on BBC TV and radio; I read and listen to books and podcasts. To be honest I am not occupying my time very productively at the moment, and each week I tell myself things will be different. Perhaps this week really will be different.