under another sun

Decorations all packed away in the cardboard box marked Christmas for another year. After Lorraine and I took off its decorations, I dragged the tree down to the Christmas tree graveyard in Preston Park, following the trail of needles. Noticeably fewer this year than a couple of years ago. Our tree barely shed at all, and it seems few others had done so too. Must be the species on sale around these parts this year. Caught up with a bit of correspondence, and wrote to Sarah Barnsley who had sent me a note of congratulation about Sin Cycle , and a long overdue note to Joan in Deviation Road. Otherwise a final day of mooching about. Seemed to spend an inordinate amount of time on laundry, tidying the decorations away and washing up. All cooked a roast chicken with many vegetables this evening, and ate it watching episodes of the brainiac quiz show  Only Connect which Beth is very good at. Drank some wine, as it was Sunday night, and next week is a school week. Began clipping Call...

A cold, rainy general election day. Vile cold improving. Now frustrated by wanting to get on with things, but having no energy and unable to concentrate. Mes amis in France paid me twice for the same job, and I had to sign a bank form to reclaim the money, and I ventured out into the torrent to post it. When Lorraine back early from School, she drove Beth and I off to the polling station, and we all voted in what was a hight turnout. Voting for Caroline Lucas a bit of a no-brainer in Brighton as she is the candidate guaranteed to beat the Tory, but also.... It's the climate stupid. Lorraine had a Christmas Tree from Bolney with her, and after we got home we inserted this into the stand, but the lights from last year refused to work, or worked momentarily then went out. All a bit mysterious and Beth mentioned  Stranger Things where Christmas style lights are linked to a sinister underworld called The Upside Down. Stayed up till ten, the exit poll predicted a massive...

Slightly better this morning, and had a good night's sleep. A little more active today, and I even ventured outside into the great outside. Lorraine and I walked the tree down the road to the recycling area just in the park. This and a bit of pottering about in the house made me tired again. This is not flu, but it is the most draining cold I have had for a long time. Lorraine went to see Dawn and some other this morning, and I watched The Larry Sanders Show till I had finished it. I really like that show, which was very funny and way ahead of its time, and leaves you with great affection for the characters, despite most of them having huge flaws.  Did not fall asleep today, and am definitely slowly improving.  Lorraine feeling a bit down today, with only a wretched sofa slug for company, and the prospect of work tomorrow. However I was able to resume reading duties tonight, and we pressed on reading from my new copy of A Box of Delights. Hurrah! My first trip into the ...

Another shabby night's sleep. Lorraine woke me up by literally screaming. Not murderers, but cramp. She went to sleep immediately afterwards. As the screamee, however, I lay awake with shredded nerves. Working from an early hour on the Centaur business, and was able to send off the work to Helen by midday. Then onto the gym again. Felt much better today, and did my half hour cross training (I am starting myself off gently again) without difficulty. Had a shower in the gym, and then had a large mug of Americano in the ethically-unsound Starbucks, where I attempted some work. More than usually like a student library today, except for the boys speaking Arabic next to me, and showing each other clips of things on their phones. Then off to buy some marker pens for concept work as they were going cheap, like small birds. Felt positively springy after the gym, and felt like I was walking faster and so on. I had weighed myself the day before and seem to have shed a kilo and a half. Not...

Scanning in loads of Lorraine's photos. She has a lovely sunny smile, and this must have dazzled them in the wards when she was a young nurse. Calliope and Brian charging around the house chasing each other comedically all day. Funny how they can gallop noisily when the feel like it. Lorraine and I listened to a radio adaptation of Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes as I assembled the Christmas tree. I liked this book a lot when I was in my teens. Bradbury is full of poetic ideas. A carousel that reverses your age or makes you older depending on which way Chopin's funeral march is played. And the evil dust witch who is slain by a bullet with a smile drawn in it. All lovely stuff. Spoke to Toby tonight, from a non-snowy Toronto who was talking about politics and informing me forcibly of my need for Vitamin D, and mooting another trip to Japan. Below the poster for the 80s Disney movie. Not a good movie, but nice poster.