What are you doing today?
Piddling around.
But you did that yesterday.
Yes but I haven't quite finished yet.
Today has been a strange day. It started very dull and totally windless with a moist atmosphere. Midge heaven. I fed the birds and the fish and retreated indoors. I wrote a blog post and read a few blogs and answered some emails, drank coffee chatted to various people on WhatsApp. By 10am I'd got a few things done in the workshop and discarded the first blog post.
A friend arrived with my shopping and a slight breeze. The two were, so far as I know, unrelated. We decided on a socially distanced coffee in the garden as the midges had retreated in the face of the breeze. We couldn't see the sea because of the haar but it was very pleasant listening to the birds and the water in the waterfall into the pond and being able to chat face to face.
I spent the afternoon in the garden in the sun mowing the grass, scarifying, weeding, and many such mundane and rewarding tasks. It was good exercise. When I had my afternoon coffee I wrote another short blog post. Then I discarded it. Not, I decided, my day for a blog post.
However half a day in the garden was good for the body and the mind and at 6 o'clock I decided that it was time for The News and to make some dinner. A wee libation whilst the dinner was cooking was a bonus.
This evening I have various emails and so on to write and I managed to get carried away and write another blog post. The fact that I have managed to say absolutely nothing in it just about sums the day up.
The wind has dropped and the midges are gathering in clouds. I have shut the conservatory door and battened down the hatches. I have put some strawberries in a dish and when I've finished the emails I shall add some ice cream and go and watch a recorded QI.
Life is good. I am content. For that I have every reason to be very thankful.
Graham, this is a perfectly lovely post. Sometimes the third time is charm. And I learned a new word, haar. Never ran across it before. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Bob. It's a much appearing phenomenon out here on the coast and therefore a much use word.
DeleteI am thankful for your blog post. The opening made me laugh. The rest is pleasant to read. I am glad you have your garden to tend. Being out exercising is good.
ReplyDeleteI also learned what haar is.
Maywyn, I'm glad that I gave you a smile. Those who say that laughter is the best medicine have got a very good point.
DeleteGood one Graham! Was it the wee libation that prompted such a funny blog about nothing? You make piddling around sound so much fun - and hopefully you get to keep doing it every day, not just today and yesterday :)) xx
ReplyDeleteMargaret, it may well have contributed by making me a tiny bit mellow. I'm very fortunate in being able to enjoy most things in life however serious or transiently piddling.
DeleteI hate midges...it's a one-way street...they love me!!!
ReplyDeleteYesterday seems so far away...but today, so far, is turning out to be pretty much similar in activities...or non-activities.
I did make a stew yesterday; I won't be repeating that activity today because, yesterday, I made enough to cover six more meals...and those six are now nestled into my freezer.
Today, by choice...I am being very lazy. I am going to do some reading, writing (no arithmetic)...and some bingeing on Netflix of similar. And I give no apologies or excuses for doing so. Hopefully, the showers that have been predicted will begin to fall soon. :)
By the way, Graham...I added to my list of cars on your previous post. I don't know how I forgot to add my favourite little MG Magnette Varitone Sedan to the list of the cars I've owned...for leave it off the original list, I did!!
DeleteLee, I'm fortunate in that when they bite me I don't react too badly however they get in one's ears and eyes and nose and just about any other orifice that's available. I have a midge suit which I wear if I have to be out doing stuff. I saw your comment on the MG and responded.
DeleteYou've found a way to keep active . You can't just sit down and wait for something to happen.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely true, Red.
DeleteI'm impressed that you had three attempts at posting in one day. If I come up empty it can take me days or even weeks to think of something and have another shot.
ReplyDeletePiddling around sounds perfectly delightful. Midges less so.
Kylie, it's unusual for me to think of more than one thing but I was having an odd day anyway.
DeleteJust recently I've had a few days when it was a struggle to get through the day. I think that Lockdown is beginning to have some negative effect. I've never experienced your Midges, but I imagine they must be very annoying.
ReplyDeleteCro, midges range from being very annoying to being hell for people who react badly to them. The worst used to be out at the peats before midge nets or playing golf when you'd get to the top of the backswing and a couple would get between inside your glasses and another couple into your ears.
DeleteI remember out in the Cayman Islands they had Mosquito screens around their terraces, and with the lights on at night, if you stood against the screen you would leave a shadow of Mosquitos behind when you moved away. I believe now they spray the breeding grounds.
DeletePiddling around.....You be careful it's a fortnight in the clink for that.
ReplyDeleteAdrian, I just make sure that there's no one around with a camera.
DeleteThose midges would put me off going outside, too, even on an otherwise perfectly beautiful day.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of which, your day sounds just lovely. No wonder you feel content and thankful.
I have just finished my bowl of muesli with fresh strawberries on top. The strawberry season is almost over in my area, so I am trying to add them to my meals a few more times.
Meike, Scottish strawberries will be around for another couple of months. Then it's ones from abroad and they are usually tasteless so I don't buy them. I have bananas with my muesli or blueberries or cranberries.
DeleteI frequently write blog posts that I don't publish, this week has been no exception and 2 quite long posts have flowed from my fingers never to see the light of day. Your day seemed fairly like most of my days although I do not have visitors apart from my brother who came yesterday which brightened my day. We sat in the garden.
ReplyDeleteRachel, I'm not usually so prolific my mind is a slow and cumbersome thing sometimes. I have not had many visitors during lockdown but sometimes when the weather is good it's nice when people pop in for a socially distanced coffee and a chat. Usually people pop in all the time come rain, hail or shine but fings ain't wot they used to be. Wotthehellarchiewotthehell.
DeleteI didn't realise that there were midge issues at Eagleton. Perhaps you should treat yourself to a bee keeper's head gear. That will deter the little blighters. A Rapoyo Beekeeper Hat with Veil costs only £7.90 + £3.99 delivery - available from Amazon.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the suggestion YP. Actually I have a midge hat and veil and a whole midge jacket and head covering all in one. Unless I'm going to work outside for a while it's a faff getting togged up. Actually the particular one you mentioned looks to have some advantages over my current hat and veil. Thanks.
DeleteScottish midges are terrible.
ReplyDeleteTasker, that is a masterful understatement.
DeleteUgh. Midges. I remember them from my UK childhood. In the US, we have mosquitoes to send one into a tizzy --especially if you are allergic to them and swell up at every bite. And if they aren't enough, ticks will latch onto you should you dare to stroll through the garden--very bad this year because we had such a mild winter. It's too bad that just when the weather is pleasant enough to be outside, the bug world unleashes their little darlings to feast upon you.
ReplyDeleteMary, isn't that the truth. Fortunately we don't have mosquitoes on Lewis but we have clegs and plenty of ticks in the longer grass.
DeleteMidges seem to like our garden, particularly the area on the patio where we sit. Many warm, sunny evenings I have been driven indoors by clouds of the pesky little blighters when all I wanted was to sit and enjoy the evening.
ReplyDeleteJayCee, one of the problems with a midge net is that it's impossible to drink a coffee or a G & T with one on.
DeleteWell your garden and pond looks delightful I must say. It sounds like you had a pretty good day to me. Oh to have a coffee, or in my case a tea, in the garden with a friend sounds very nice indeed. Thursday was pretty much a right off for me as a Migraine started the day, although I was thankful it went, it did leave me with that after migraine groggy feeling. Today was much better. No gardening done, but other things I needed and wanted to do so that is good. Tomorrow will be a gardening day all going well.
ReplyDeleteSerenata, I do hope that all goes well for you tomorrow. At least hard work in a garden like yours is good for the soul even if it tires the body out!
DeleteI've never actually watched QI, maybe I should check it out on youtube. As for gardening I've spent my first of 2 days of the week at my gardening job, having a blast too, good being out in the fresh air.
ReplyDeleteAmy, I enjoy it. It's not to everyone's taste but I find it very relaxing late in the evening. I'm so glad you are enjoying your new job. I love gardening and being in the open air too. Win win really.
DeleteLife can get a bit boring but you managed to have a varied day after all. Face to face chats with friends are important.
ReplyDeleteDiane, face to face is best but not always possible. My son works out of the country and I have friends and family in many countries and far away so video chats is a big bonus. Certainly better than the situation when I was young when we spoke to our relatives who had emigrated to Australia and Canada once a year at Christmas on an expensive pre-booked telephone call.
DeleteFor all the time I have previously spent in Scotland I have never experienced midges. I must have been lucky, as I have heard plenty of horror stories. X
ReplyDeleteJules, you are, indeed, lucky. I feel sorry for people who decide on a walking holiday or a camping holiday and manage to get midgy weather. When I did it between 60 and 40 years ago years ago I don't remember the midges but I'm sure we must have experienced them. We had no midge hats or suits then either. I think the time I noticed them at their worst was when doing the peats.
DeleteYour post reminds me to be thankful for no midges where I live! On the other hand, on hot summer days, I frequently have to retreat inside and shut doors and windows because of heat and noisy neighbours. Alas my inspiration for writing blog posts also runs very low on those occasions! Your garden looks lovely and your time out there has obviously been well spent. My 'gardening' consists of watering a few plants on the balcony (twice a day in this heat, but still a rather quick job) and yet I don't seem to get much else done!
ReplyDeleteMonica, one thing I have come to realise is that everywhere has its good and bad. We cope with those provided that the inbetweens are good enough. It never gets too hot here and it never gets too cold (for me).
DeleteLike Jules I have managed to avoid midges so far, but all my trips to Scotland have either ben early or late.
ReplyDeleteYour pond looks lovely and I am pleased/relieved to learn I’m not the only one who writes a blog post, re-reads it and realises the next button I must press is Delete . . .
Jayne, it happens more than I'm prepared to admit. The midges love windless and moist days the more dreich the better. Fortunately they are rarer than windy days particularly out on the West Coast.
DeleteGood to follow you through your day, in words.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Susan.
Delete