21 December 2006

Rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated

This is the longest I have ever left between posts - a personal worst, if you will. There’s no excuse, other than being very busy on the one hand and rather uninspired on the other. Thank you to everyone who commented or emailed me to check out that I was still OK.

Here’s a whistle-stop tour of what I’ve been up to in the intervening period:

Work. Loads of it. Long strenuous days followed by brain dead evenings of being completely shattered. But the good news is that although the amount of work has required herculean strength, it has not been a stressful time. I remain grateful for small mercies.

In November we had the grand reunion of the Harmonic Oscillators. What? Well, the Harmonic Oscillators was the name of the wind quintet Owen and I played in at University (many years ago) along with Phil the clarinettist who we more recently played in the Atavar Trio with (are you following this?) and two other reprobates, Daniel and Richard. We had not played together as a fivesome for something like 13 years and in November we met up to spend a weekend blasting our way through as much music as possible and eating way too much. We liked it so much we’re going to meet up again in February. Pity our poor neighbours.

We have now completely finished and paid for (scary) the entire GBBP - bathroom, pantry and utility room. This means that we have finally been able to pick up a couple of units for the kitchen so we now have cupboards, drawers and work surfaces. I can’t tell you how this has transformed our lives. We can actually put things away and there’s room for chopping and slicing and other food preparation activities. It’s my firm intention to make some biscuits very soon.

Recently we had to take Freyja our cat to the vet to have a lump removed from her nose. We’re waiting for the test results which we’ll get tomorrow. It could be something or it could be nothing so we’re trying to stay hopeful but really just feel worried. In the meantime, all she’s bothered about is the indignity of having to wear an elizabethan collar and not being able to go outside to pee. That’s perspective, feline-style.

And the allotment? Sadly neglected. This concerned me until reading through last year’s posts I realised that I pretty much abandoned it in the same way then. I refuse to worry about this and know I’ll start heading over more once there’s more light.

There have, of course, been Christmas preparations. Our tree is up and most of the presents have been bought and wrapped. Apart from the last-minute fresh stuff, food and wine is filling up the pantry. I’ve even experimented and made us a rather gorgeous amaretto ice cream (it’s a bit boozy) and will be making a ginger liqueur ice cream tomorrow (also expected to be boozy). We’re looking forward to a relaxing time.

I hope you all have a wonderful time too, in whatever way you like to enjoy yourself at this time. Thank you all for your support and comments and helpful tips over the year. Pop back soon to see the Christmas gift we have for you…

Filed under: Fallow, Mulch, Music, Seasons - winter — Clare @ 11:59 am