There are days, every so often, where I haven't much energy, and also I just want to browse on snacks all the time...
I've finished of the last few macadamia nuts, dented a packet of potato snacks, demolished a snack pack of chocolate covered rice cakes and had a couple of chocolate minstrels.... there are still three hours before bedtime. Let's hope the eaty eaty eaty mood is passing!
Bubble and squeak is proving to be a pretty good dairy- egg- wholegrain- breakfast alternative. The other day I prepped and cooked some swede, potato and cabbage, mushed it all up and stuck it in a pot in the ridge. It's been dead simple to just heat a little oil in a pan and sizzle up a small portion. Salt, pepper, maybe ketchup or Norfolk Nobbly pickle for variety... yum yum.
We've been using Albert Bartlett baking potatoes recently, so flavourful, such a lovely texture. I put one out to see if it would chit, and it's beginning to she sign of growth from the eyes. Excellent! I hope I can manage to grow some!
We had some business to transact at the local branch of the bank my father used, in connection with his estate (sounds so very formal put that way) It was going to be much simpler if my brother was present in the flesh, although it could have done on-line, and so my he came over (a three hour drive, not to be done lightly!).
The bank stuff was dealt with efficiently (my brother regaling me with horror stories from his own banking experiences all the while as the bank adviser tapped away at her computer screen, wonder what she thought of that) and then we were free for a rather late lunch.
Where was the sun we were promised on the weather forecast? Although it was now about 2pm and I think that was when it was supposed to start clouding over.
It was lovely to have a leisurely lunch together; BB had scoped out the nearby restaurants with outside tables while my brother and I were answering questions and signing things. We had a pleasant meal and caught up on news, chat, and so forth.
He was also able to collect some items for valuation, and measure up some furniture in my father’s flat, so all in all a useful and productive trip.
I took home my father’s Memorabilia books; he used to slot bits and pieces of paper and so on into the clear plastic pockets of those A4 'display books'.
I had a quick look at one of the books today; a few letters to and from me and my brother when we were at boarding school, some letters from my grandmother to her children at their schools, letters about the bombing in Southampton where she did war service as a locum GP...
A letter from my grandfather to his future father-in-law asking for permission to marry, newspaper cuttings - it's all jumbled up in random order, skipping through the decades, centuries even, family anecdotes, photographs, letters, transcripts...
Fascinating reading, and I've what no idea we will do with it all. Keep it, I suppose, through the generations, to use in school projects, family research... Eventually the people will become shadow people, no longer existing as 'live' memories, and therefore all the papers and photographs will have less emotional weight and ge easier to deal with.
I keet things because they connect me to my grandmother and mother, and other friends and relatives, but once I'm gone, that connection will be broken.
The things - a mug she had, a tiny doll in a matchbox and some little miniature vases from her curiosity cupboard, some brass candlesticks that stood on the bureau in the dining room, will cease to be important in that way, and become mere objects in their own right. The next generation can do as they wish with them; keep, sell, donate. It won't matter.
I find that a comforting thought. They might weigh me down a little now, but as their hold on me loosens, I feel lighter, more free.
Music
I went looking for something, I wasn't sure what, but then I found this;
Harpo Marx playing Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody on his harp;
Further down the screen was this performance by Jeneba Janneh-Mason
And here's a favourite for my parents, who introduced me to the humour of Victor Borge...
BB has started building another model. It was his birthday recently and son sent him a Book Nook flower shop kit.
Large hands make constructing all the tiny vases of flowers quite a challenge...
Now, about that Notturno;
Sencosue mentioned there is a Notturno piano trio by Franz Schubert (the one we've all heard of!). I hadn't come across this; I'm only just beginning to listen to more chamber music and there is a lot to discover.
I do know the Schubert Trout Quintet, and his C major quintet (tissues at the ready for the slow movement every time) but not the Notturno trio.
I went hunting. There are several recordings varying in length from 8 and a half minutes to nearly 15 minutes... wow, that's quite a difference in time!
I plumped the the longer recording, mainly because the pianist was none other than Luc Janssun, one of the two brothers who raced through the Poulenc double Piano Concerto on the recording I posted a few days ago.
I couldn't believe that it was the same pianist,
Here's one of the fast versions for comparison.
Another bag of Stuff has left the house - mostly straight into the bin. I did consult with daughter before I chucked it; it was her stuff after all. I unearthed it all from a half-forgotten drawer when I was looking for something else. There were a few items that went into the charity bag; a hat, some gloves, a small empty tin, but the rest was all 'unwantable' by anyone. That's another win in the emptying the house project.
I've come to the conclusion that my approach to clearing clutter is the same as my approach to losing weight... slowly, slowly, slowly... a few small bags of clutter, a few ounces of excess avoid du pois at a time! I'm in this for the long term..,
Thank you, bloggers and commenters, for all the suggestions, recommendations, recipes, craft and gardening tips, encouragement and companionship! Long may we all continue!
Reading other people's blogs and the ensuing comments is a delight for me. I learn all kinds of things, and collect book recommendations, recipes, gardening tips, craft ideas. I feel so lucky to be part of a community all sharing our interests and the ups and downs in our lives, and encouraging each other as we go. Thank you, everyone.
