We’ve had a lovely few days away – it’s been a lot of travelling and LT did all the driving, so relaxing hasn’t really been the order of the day, but never mind. He takes it manfully and I will catch up on sleep one day, when I finally remember relaxing and stuff.
What I did manage was some concentrated reading time; two books and some of two more, as well as The Times daily, my weekly antiques magazine and whatever else came to hand. So that was a good thing. One book I reread, after several decades, was Jessica Mitford’s Hons and Rebels, which I very much enjoyed and, probably, took more from than I did in my teens. I always used to reread books regularly and I should do so again, you take a different perspective and, perhaps, engage with an aspect you overlooked previously. I should say ‘one’ but that sounds so stilted, or ‘I’ but that’s possibly too specific, when I suspect it’s the same for many of us. Anyway, I read with concentration and that’s not something I find too easy any more, so I was glad and felt a sense of homecoming.
On our actual homecoming, back to Yagnub, Eloise cat was tremendously pleased to see us. I went into the annexe to find her, and to announce our arrival to Roses (who must have been in the garden because she wasn’t in the house) and Eloise miaowed with pleased surprise, it was delightful. In her laid-back cat way, she’s followed us around all evening, played with Tim’s feet, been charmingly demanding and needy, sat on ‘her’ chair at the dining table and shared our soufflé and chased a moth prettily and unsuccessfully.
My dear friend Jan fell and broke her arm last Wednesday – fortunately, she’s now out of hospital and in a local nursing home to recuperate. It’s her upper arm, she’s 84 years old, it’s also her right arm, she won’t be able to cope at home for a while. As she’s in Yagnub, I’ll be able to drop in regularly. She’s dearly loved and will have many visitors, but it’s very frustrating for an independent person. I have a piece of her china in my auction, in a couple of weeks, and she’s very disappointed that she can’t be there.
It’s hard to get out of the habit of worrying and I won’t until I’ve completed all the personal paperwork I keep hiding from. All the same, I’m deeply happy. Thank you, Tim.