Slow progress

September 2020

The highlight of the year so far has been a visit from Lola II and Mr M, bringing not just themselves but gifts - home grown edible nasturtiums from Mr M, Lola II cooked delicious vegan gyoza dumplings, and the fun and games that come with any visit from those two. I had planned Sunday lunch at a pub that is a significant walk away, which turned out to be a bit too significant because I broke both Lola II and Mr M and we had to stop on the walk back a bit earlier than expected for coffee and cake.

Apart from that they survived the privations of my cold house (luckily the weather was still very warm) and the shower situation, which seems to be scheduled to continue until the end of time. The Flfs returned, and Flf 1 was Not Happy about the state of the wall, even though the damp man had guaranteed that it would be OK. They put in the floor tray and did the first stage of the floor levelling, and will come back next week to level some more and put the board over the wall that Flf 1 is Not Happy about. This is all taking an age because the tiler can't come until the end of October and there will be more finishing off to do after that.

And my Lady Gardener has left me - she said she was sorry but her other responsibilities mean she has to give up some of the gardening. I am going to have to 'prune' the wisteria myself - I might just take it down to waist height and see if it survives. In fact I'd be perfectly happy to do that to every shrub out there if it wasn't so much work.

On the positive side (at least I hope it's positive) the pub next door is about to open up again. The beer garden gradually filled with junk, and then all the junk went and tables appeared, and there have been signs in the window saying 'opening soon' for ages, and then I discovered via Facebook that it's tonight (Friday). So I am obliged to show my face although I really don't want a drink because I am starting a week's Buddhist retreat tonight.

Buddhist retreats used to be where you got away from it all to some remote place without a phone signal or wifi and concentrated on other things for a while. The program was always fairly minimal - meditation before breakfast, a short morning session, a short afternoon session and sometimes an hour in the evening, sometimes not, and in between you could sit, walk, read, ponder, all in wonderful peace and quiet.

Now the sessions are online and I'm at home in between sessions, so I'm going to have to find some way of recreating the feeling of 'away from it all' despite not having taken time off work and having a few other necessary responsibilities. So I'm only going to check essential email once a day, phone messages and texts twice a day, and on the computer only for working. At least I'll be at home for the plumbers.