Weekly Musings

2018 - Week Eleven

'When we were kids a year would last forever. Then we grew up and were told it was all over. Now we are old and the memories returning are like the last stars that fade before the morning.'

(When We Were Kids - Clive James)

This week I feel like I have spent a lot of time discovering and digesting new knowledge, a pastime which since uni has hugely dwindled. I was starting to feel really stagnant and uninspired; my magazine job keeps me up to date with new music, and I am a dab hand at Key Stages 2 and 3 from nannying, but I don't do a lot of learning just for myself. So I decided to make a change, and I now set aside time each day to enjoy a decent book. I finished John Williams' Stoner this week that I've been dipping into on and off for about the past year (!), and sped through the first in a tweenager fantasy series of three connecting trilogies that I love called The Edge Chronicles. I also discovered the joy of podcasts to fill my 2.5 hour daily car journeys, listening to everything from Intelligence Squared (episodes such as 'The Science of Buoyancy' and 'An Anatomy of Truth') to Savage Lovecast, a show based on answering questions that people ask on a sex and relationships helpline.

 

On Tuesday I had the afternoon off, so went into Altrincham with Jasmine to Common Ground, one of the many coffee shops to open there recently. We started with lattes, but then progressed onto wine - a spontaneous day off deserves a tipple right?! On Wednesday my new CHVRCHES vinyl arrived so I danced around the flat to that, and after work Chris came to mine and I had a full Swedish massage as I am one of the case studies for his course, girlfriend perks!

On Friday I stayed at the boat, and Chris and I popped out to Pizza Express in Poynton for tea. We each had a pizza; I got the Camponata with aubergine, olives and capers, and Chris sampled the new vegan one which he said was tasty, and we shared some polenta fries. Chris also tried Seedlip which is an alcohol free gin, mixed with mediterranean tonic; I was impressed at how similar to real gin it tasted, and would order it in the future as an alternative if I were driving. Good ol' Tesco vouchers meant the whole meal and a tip cost us less than a tenner each, definitely worth saving on the washing up!

Yesterday I had a proper cosy boat day, it was snowing and Chris was out teaching guitar lessons until lunchtime so I holed up next to the fire with copious brews and my book whilst the doggies dozed. I went straight from there to my mum's to get ready for a night out with my sister in town. We started in Dive as some of the lads were watching the football in there, and then ended in Hula in Stevenson Square for some dancing. Double spirit and mixers were an eye watering 8 quid though, so I moved onto tequila zombies, if I'm paying that much for a drink I want to feel it!

Today I woke up to news of road closures and potentially cancelled plans... Mum and I were booked in for afternoon tea at Shrigley Hall as a belated Mother's Day present for her, but the snow was chaotic during the night and a lot of the more rural areas of Cheshire were inaccessible. Luckily for us as our table wasn't reserved until 3.30pm, the majority of roads had been cleared so we managed to get there, with a quick swing by to the boat as it was en route and my mum had never seen it. When we reached Shrigley we had prosecco, finger sandwiches, homemade scones, macarons, chocolate cake, Victoria sponge and bakewell tart, washed down with lots of tea. It was really lovely to get my mum on her own for a natter; much as I love my sister some one-on-one time is always appreciated.

  

So yet another busy week! Although I still found just enough time to get a new poem up on Instagram here, and above, my track for this week is the return of Everything Everything, a band who I have seen countless times and always entertain me.