Garden, Write, Cook, Repeat

This is last year's picture of my beloved 'Pound Shop Amelanchier.'  Yes, it cost a whole £1 some years ago. Basically it was a sorry looking twig. This year it's even bigger, and not quite in bloom yet, but will open out fully in the next day or so. I'm quite proud of it, but the reality is that I just planted it back then and let it go. I think it was so grateful to be rescued that it has rewarded me with blossom every year.

This year, it's even more welcome, since we're on lockdown of course, worrying about friends and family and hoping for the best. Life involves a cycle of gardening, writing, foraging for food, cooking it - and repeating that process.

Being a writer helps. I'm used to solitude and quite happy with it. And although this is an old cottage, it is at least big enough to give us space to work in, because we've been working from home for so long that we've adapted the available space to suit a writer and an artist.

The food shopping - trying hard to limit visits to the shops - and the constant disinfecting (old fashioned soap and water is what I'm using) are all tiring. The worry is tiring. The whole damn situation is tiring.  But the work - the work is good. The sight of an empty year planner, while worrying from a financial point of view, is liberating in other ways.


Meanwhile, over the past couple of weeks we have had, in quick succession, the satellite television going wonky, (fixed that myself with the help of online instructions - something to do with set-up) the only shower in the house packing in (new one efficiently fitted by excellent local plumber) and now the phone line unusable, with deafening interference, which - in turn - throws the internet off. (And the mobile signals around here are dodgy at best!) Outside engineer coming to check the external line next week. Meanwhile, the phones are disconnected which means that we have internet - however intermittently.

These things happen all the time. Sadly, they happen even more with 200 year old houses! But lockdown makes things even more tricky, since you're worried for yourself, and worried too for the people who are having to work on through this, just to keep things ticking over in ordinary ways. We don't praise them half enough.

But as I said in my last post on here, this year is different - amid all the worry and the work, there is still time to look. I'm not going anywhere, so this year, I've seen the changing leaves and blossoms on the amelanchier as never before.

One day at a time. And that's a blessing.