An absolutely gorgeous day today - blue sky, sun shining and all is green and lovely. The sun makes such a difference to one's disposition, you feel friendlier and more light hearted and everyone smiles more. I nipped out this morning to a DIY store nearby as I needed some paint brushes and the girl on the checkout beamed at me and said Isn't it a lovely day even though, on enquiry, I found she was immured inside till 4pm. Never mind she said you can enjoy it even if I can't. Off I went much cheered by this attitude, and then when I was waiting to exit the car park into a huge row of traffic, a young man in his car stopped and waved me in with a big smile and Off you go darlin'. It does lift the spirit.
So the paint brushes give you a clue to my day. Since I had the windows replaced in March I have been meaning to touch up the paintwork and give another coat to the sills where the relentless condensation I used to have has played havoc with the paintwork. As today is a day when all the windows can be opened wide I have done this task and after an hour or two went back to apply a second coat and remove the bodies of flies and one wasp who seemed intent on hurling themselves onto the sticky paint and dying a horrid death. Why they do this is a mystery to me. Trouble is once I get a paintbrush in my hand I cannot stop so off I went round the paintwork in the hallway and started doing the skirting boards etc etc and then ended up painting the inside of the front door and then I stopped myself otherwise I knew I would be here till midnight. This all has to be done and will do it over the summer but I got a tad carried away this afternoon. Forced myself to stop, cleared up, washed hands and feet (which always seem to get covered in paint no matter how careful I am) and have had a cheese sandwich and cup of tea and am now thrilling you all with the details of my exciting day.
I hope you are liking the pictures of the swans, they are just so beautiful and the oohs and aahs of the children who always come along to feed the birds at the weekend, is really delightful. Lots of people snapping pictures as well so not just me that is obsessed with them.
I am having a D E Stevenson binge at the moment, now on my sixth in three days, all of which I picked up in second hand shops over the last few weeks and I am loving them all. They are very Richmal Crompton'ish (her adult books not William) and while on the surface they appear rather simplistic, as with Angela Thirkell, there is more to them than meets the eye and I will be posting about them later on this week.
I have had a busy time since I retired, Istanbul and then the kitchen and money has been spent which I knew was necessary, but now it is time to sit back, count my pennies and start my proper retirement on my current income. I do have some ideas of how to earn more of said pennies but this is an idea at the moment and requires thinking about and will write more about it later if it comes to fruition (when I hinted mysteriously to a friend about this I was asked was I about to become a Working Girl? At my age I retorted. Well, she said you never know....)
Should I be flattered that she thought this was possible?
So a quiet but productive day and glad it was so. It is a public holiday here in the UK and while I live only half an hour's drive from the sea side, I am a Grumpy Old Woman as far as being in crowds is concerned, let alone traffic jams, so have elected to stay at home. When the weather is good I get up early and arrive on the beach around 9.30am complete with rug, coffee and book(s). After two hours or so when people start arriving, laden with enough equipment to see them safely up Mount Kilimanjaro, plus radio and screaming children, I pack up and go home. As I said, Grumpy Old Woman...
Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend.
