Last week was not my most productive, but it was certainly fun and relaxing (a nice change). There were six of us who were roommates at university (dare I say it, a decade ago!) and one of The Roommates, the sassy CEK came to stay for three days - oh joy! such an unadulterated pleasure. She is a writer and filmmaker and had great suggestions for my new literary endeavours. As luck would have it, it rained... and rained...and rained...and rained some more. Heavily. With determination. Not the sort of rain one walks in if one can help it. So we didn't and instead watched successive episodes of Firefly, a most excellent creation by Joss Whedon of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame. If you've heard of the film Serenity, this is the TV series which preceded it. Moreish and wonderful stuff. Watch it before seeing the movie as it fleshes everything out.
On Friday I travelled to Brighton to tie up some loose ends for the Africa Book Centre, which is now located there. As luck would have it my train was delayed on the way there and on the way back. By the time I got home, the journey had taken more than six and a half hours. A not-so-gentle reminder of why I am working from home from now on!
It is difficult to describe the intense satisfaction of wandering through from the kitchen after breakfast to the study (with perhaps a little detour to throw some laundry in the washing machine en route). Boring domesticity perhaps, but balm to the soul for me after all the horrendous hours commuting in the past few years.
From my study window I look out on our gnarled and craggy apple trees. Since the tree surgeons' visit last month, they've taken on a wonderful sculptural quality - somewhat entlike. A collared dove (normally resident on our chimney pot) has decided the new minimalist look is pleasing to her and taken to hanging out in the tree closest to the house. A flock of starlings visits daily for worms (we have good, earthwormy soil) and enthusiastic sploshings in the birdbath. There's a wonderful robin which I have named Fearless, for his curiosity when we're in the garden. Blackbirds, pretty sparrows...the list would go on except that I need to consult my birdbook as I don't know all my British birds yet. And, oh yes, at night the owls come out...
Can you tell it is distracting to work from home? but oh, the pleasure...
On Friday I travelled to Brighton to tie up some loose ends for the Africa Book Centre, which is now located there. As luck would have it my train was delayed on the way there and on the way back. By the time I got home, the journey had taken more than six and a half hours. A not-so-gentle reminder of why I am working from home from now on!
It is difficult to describe the intense satisfaction of wandering through from the kitchen after breakfast to the study (with perhaps a little detour to throw some laundry in the washing machine en route). Boring domesticity perhaps, but balm to the soul for me after all the horrendous hours commuting in the past few years.
From my study window I look out on our gnarled and craggy apple trees. Since the tree surgeons' visit last month, they've taken on a wonderful sculptural quality - somewhat entlike. A collared dove (normally resident on our chimney pot) has decided the new minimalist look is pleasing to her and taken to hanging out in the tree closest to the house. A flock of starlings visits daily for worms (we have good, earthwormy soil) and enthusiastic sploshings in the birdbath. There's a wonderful robin which I have named Fearless, for his curiosity when we're in the garden. Blackbirds, pretty sparrows...the list would go on except that I need to consult my birdbook as I don't know all my British birds yet. And, oh yes, at night the owls come out...
Can you tell it is distracting to work from home? but oh, the pleasure...
Labels: Life in Canterbury, Movies
posted by equiano at 10:55 pm
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home