Monday and Tuesday 19th and 20th January - obsessed

Monday wasn't my best day day. I started reading the forms to be filled in for selling my father’s flat. 

'There is nothing so easy that but that it becomes difficult when you try to do it' said Pythagorus. I wonder what theorem he was trying to prove.

Or

"Those that understood him smiled at one another and shook their heads; but for mine own part, it was Greek to me.”
 Spoken by Casca Act 1 of Julius Caesar

In other words I ground to a halt, had a meltdown, followed by a calming cup of coffee. Not my finest hour!

I got stuck into 2By2 stitching instead! Now, this was a different story. I spent Monday afternoon and all of Tuesday snipping and stitching. Monday saw my practice piece completed, and tonight I've finished the real piece! I'll let them lie for a few days and then see if I really have finished them. It will take me a while to clear up the chaos. 

Otherwise life has carried on, fitting in around the gaps in the sewing. I made what I consider to ge a lazy lunch; pasta with frozen veg added towards the end of the cooking time, and meatballs from the freezer, defrosted in the microwave and served with tomato sauce from a Lloyd Grossman jar. Minimal effort, but tasted good. 

I've cut off the dead flowers from amaryllis number 1, 

Amaryllis number 2 is growing day by day.

I'm still doing the balletbasedmovement exercises; that's two weeks and two days I've kept going. Will I get to the end of the month? 

Sunday 18th January - Sunday Morning

 Anna Lapwood;

You may be more familiar with this;

It's 'Sunday Morning', the third of the Sea Interludes composed by Benjamin Britten for his opera Peter Grimes.

I found myself in a fever to get out - to walk in fresh air, and see what was growing in the gardens in our nearby streets. 

As we slowly walked up the road towards the duck pond I heard the single bell in the church half a mile away, shortly joined by the sound of the full peal from the main church in town another mile further away. 

The church family has been a big part of our lives for over 30 years now. When my family all lived so far away so that we only net up a few times a year, the church family felt like an extra set of cousins, aunts and uncles, closer at hand.

Friday and Saturday 16th/17th January - 2By2

Ang has posted this month's completed stitching already, here and here, but here it all is again;

Hers

And mine;

So I now have these to add to my collection 

I had a little chuckle when I opened the package (thank you for the chocolates!) because for a while I was considering doing a snowflake for my stitching...

We're doing the last ones now, to meet a date of 14th February. As Ang said, it's our game so we can set the rules! After that it's a matter of making up the book covers and adding the 'rubric', we've always signed and dated the pieces.

And planning the next collaboration?!? I do hope so...

Meanwhile while, what am I going to do for the last bit of stitching?

Bach Prelude and Fugue in F major, from Book 1 of the 48 BWV 856

I love the way she manages to separate the three voices of the fugue on the harpsichord in spite of the fact that harpsichords only play at one dynamic unless you change the stops for the entire keyboard. On a piano you bring out a voice by playing it louder and the others softer.

Rather in the way one desperately wants to make a pot of tea or a coffee when the power goes off, I woke up yesterday wanting to play the piano, In my half awake state I chose this piece, purely at random. I don't think I've ever looked at it before, but I knew I had the music.

But the cut on my thumb is exactly where my thumb would strike the piano keys...

But (again!) I have a digital harpsichord as well as a piano! The keys are significantly lighter, and I've been fine, so able to make a start on the prelude. It's trapper than it looks, but easier than it sounds.

Thursday 15th January - teaching day

Firstly I taught a piano lesson. It was a really interesting lesson, and I might post it as a super-simple playalong. It was about recognising patterns, to reduce the effort and increase the speed and ease of learning,  something experienced players do without noticing, but something only one of my four childhood teachers ever showed me. Maybe the others had never discovered this?

Then, I was starting to cook lunch when, in a moment's lapse of concentration,  I cut my thumb. Everything stopped while we sorted it out, and then I taught BB how to cook our favourite fish dish;

Tray Bake fish for 2;

Step 1; oven 180°C, assembled medium sized roasting dish, a couple of peppers (one red, one yellow today), a smallish  onion, a handful of cherry tomatoes, however much potato you want to eat - I prefer waxy or salad potatoes - and fish- I've tended to use salmon, sea bream or sea bass fillets.

Leave the fish alone for now; prep and chunk the veg, eg quarter the onion, slice peppers into 6 or 8, cut potatoes  - peeled or unpeeled - into thick rounds.

Step 2 

Into the roasting pan - mine's non-stick - poor a generous tablespoon of oil, season with pepper, salt, chopped or dried garlic, mixed or fresh herbs or both, a few chilli flakes if you like, and 'rubble' it all together. Chuck in all the veg including the tomatoes, stir it all around, bake for 15 mins.

Step 3

Remove the tray, stir everything around and put it back for 15 mins

Unpack the fish, dry, season with a little salt and pepper, and a squeeze of lemon or even a generous dash of interesting vinaigrette dressing 

Step 4

Remove the tray, stir everything around. Clear a space in the middle and put the fish in, skin side down. Put the tray back in the over for 7-10 mins depending on the thickness of the fish.

Step 5 

Remove the tray,  check the fish and serve! We like the flavour,  and we like the lack of clearing up, and we like the lack of fried fishy fat smell! Win, win win!

....

I've been taking it easy the rest of the day, avoiding using my thumb as the cut is near the knuckle. So no knitting, sewing, washing, clearing... plenty of reading, drinking tea, and a moderate amount of biscuit eating...

....

A friend has just come round with a bunch of tightly closed daffodils, the first of the year. Perfect timing, as last week's tulips are nearly over!

Wednesday 14th January - spaghetti legs means progress?

It's encouraging to see how even after just one week of exercising, even for only five minutes, every day is making a difference. Today I managed to complete the leg strengthening exercises, which was an impossibility last week. Although I discovered afterwards that my legs appeared to be like cooked spaghetti for the rest of the morning. 

Ah well. A bowl of porridge and a strong coffee helped.

Looking out of the window at my little witch hazel tree I wondered if my eyes were playing tricks... I can't get any closer without removing my oxygen cannula or switching to an oxygen cylinder. Being stubborn and impatient I removed my oxygen cannula... that gives me a couple of minutes... not enough for a proper picture! 

so I asked BB to nip out at take some photographs; there, on the little twig, bottom left, can you see? A LEAF!

Hey, little tree, it's not even the middle of January! I shall be watching to see how this goes.

Tuesday 13th January - nothing venture, nothing gain?

 This article from The Spruce appeared in my newsfeed just now, with instructions on how to persuade your amaryllis to flower for a second year. I need to re-read it to make sure I know what to do, although it seems quite simple.

Our first amaryllis is almost over, so I I'll give this a go. 

Meanwhile the second bulb has produced a stem and bud to go with the two leaves. 

I'd like to see if there are any leftover bulbs in the garden centre; perhaps we'll get there later this week. 

Here's a little warmth for you, 'Am Kamin' or 'By the Fireside' from 'Kinderscenen' by Schumman

It's astonishing how differently people play this; either at this gentle, reflective speed, or else at what seems like a flat-out romp.