Friday, 6 March 2020

Two days full of variety


An unexpected request to tutor a student so that he’ll pass his exams. It was a life time ago since I last did that! However, it was a good experience which I enjoyed more than I had expected.  I hope it will prove helpful. Let us see what happens.
Phone calls with friends I haven’t seen for a long time, and an appointment with a financial adviser which never happened. 
This morning I braced myself and went into the back garden first thing in the morning to prune the entwined and wild wysteria and rose, both climbers, growing over my pergola. A job which does not particularly appeal to me, as the pergola is a bit high, even when I use a ladder, and the rose has nasty thorns which go through everything. So, I dressed up for the battlefield in several layers of protective clothing, one of them being a soft-shell hoody. It is warm and keeps out the wind and the cold, and thorns cannot penetrate the material. With the addition of a baseball cap and the hood of this soft-shell jacket over it, safety glasses and very sturdy gloves I set out to do what had to be done. The rose is already sprouting leaves, and the buds of the wysteria seem to thicken every day. At two o’clock I finished, being very proud of myself and unscathed, which was a miracle. Getting rid of the long, winding tentacles of the wysteria wasn’t easy. And it was an effort to entangle rose and wysteria. The long supple but tough branches of the wysteria had even blocked some gutters so I had quite a job getting them out of those hiding places. And last but not least all those long and curling pieces had to be cut to fit in my green wheelie bin, the thorns of the rose taking revenge on being pruned so thoroughly.
Next, I cleared the garden pond to get rid of dead leaves, weeds and green algae. So I was quite satisfied when I stopped at two o’clock. Peeling off my “safety“ clothes and having a hot shower to warm up - my feet were really very cold - was bliss.
I decided a treat was in order, so I allowed myself an hour’s reading while waiting for a phone call which never came. Isn’t it maddening that nowadays any appointment has to be made online, and that even if one can find a phone number to ask questions to a real person, after going through a lengthy menu of choices, you are directed to the website which did not help with the problem in the first place and that is why you phoned. Grrrr….
By this time it had started raining again, as if we haven’t had enough. I still had to go out for food, but had to wait till 5 for this phone call, and when it never came I waited till 6 when the rush hour would be over, as I wanted to take the car instead of walk to the shops because the rain was now pelting down. But at six I got a surprise visit from an old friend, who offered me 10 fresh eggs from his own chickens, and a few copies of one of his books. I was quite touched, especially by the eggs. They looked so lovely in a bowl instead of in those cardboard supermarket boxes. I almost wanted to have my own chickens! We had a long chat which was nice. By the time my visitor had gone and I had seen to my neighbours’ house as they are on holiday, it was too late to go shopping. So I made do with a salmon steak which was in my fridge, fried cherry tomatoes and a sliced avocado. An unusual dinner, but fortunately avocado and salmon go well together.

This day also brought a sad surprise, as I received an email from a dear neighbour telling that she is very sick. It was a shock, but she seemed quite rational about it. Perhaps her way of coping. She sounded so positive and brave saying that she was lucky that she had had such a good life, never once complaining. That is amazing, as her life has been far from easy. I feel sad for her. She is some 10 years younger than I am. I admire her attitude. She has one very young granddaughter she is so happy with. I hope and pray she may live to see her grow up.

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