It is a gorgeous day here in Colchester, blue sky, sun shining and just the odd baby cloud here and there. It won't last of course, but it is so lovely while it does. I am having a quiet weekend as next week is a really busy one for me and these days I need to save my strength for baby sitting and socialising and three days on the trot coming up. Not complaining though.
Residents in Brookside Close, including me, have got a tad tired of the state of our gardens and we are in the throes of forming a Residents Association and sorting things out and we have been tackling the grounds all around. Dead bushes pulled up which did my back in last week, and yesterday I was clipping back overhanging shrubbery from the houses next door, but learned my lesson and only did an hour at a time. Something rather satisfying in doing this and then coming indoors, having a shower and then a cup of tea. Also, yesterday was Good Friday and I always prefer to be quiet on this day. I am a Catholic, though a very lapsed one (five years at a convent school soon knock any religion out of you), and used to sing in the church choir on a regular basis and take part in all the Easter services, and it saddens me that this day is now just another day of supermarket shopping and buying up as many Easter eggs as possible and charging around without a thought for the day itself. So, as I said, I spent most of the day on my own, being quiet and listening to a Bach Passion on Radio 3.
My friend Rosemary, now thankfully out of hospital, is coming round for supper tonight and then we are going to settle down and watch the latest Harry Potter DVD and generally have a good evening and, if the sun stays, I may nip down to the beach tomorrow.
Heaps of books to read and catch up with and not quite sure where to start. I have been re-reading shed loads of Evelyn Anthony recently and do wish some enterprising publisher would reprint these. Her output was prodigious and though, inevitably, some of the titles are weaker than others, the vast majority of her output was spot on, well written and exciting and the stories featuring Davina Graham, the head of MI6, are among her best. So hope somebody out there is listening.
Two books I have to hand and I so want to read them, but they are both of doorstep size and though I know once I get started I will be OK, I am havering about on the edge of the sea and waiting to dip my toe in. First one is A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness and everyone I know who has read and/or reviewed this says it is terrific. I have read first chapter and can already see that they are right so must get on with it.
Then I have The Hand of Fatima by Idelfonso Falcones, the author of the Cathedral of the Sea which I read a year or so ago and simply loved. I know this one is going to be just as wonderful and I think one of the reasons why I am hesitating about starting it, is that just knowing that it is there is almost as good as reading it - and yes, I know that sounds completely mad but there you go...
Listening to Classic FM at the moment. Every Easter weekend they have their Hall of Fame voted for by the listeners. Problem is that when you vote you are provided with a list of composers and pieces you can vote for and as they have been playing these all year, it is rather self repeating. When I queried this the response was you could vote for anybody, but most will use their list and voting off list will barely make a dent in what is played. Having said that, Bruch's Second Violin concerto has made it this year as well as the one everyone knows. My beef about it all is that instead of Rachmaninoff's second or third piano concerto, how about No 4 or 5? How about Tchaikovsky's second piano concerto? How about violin concertos by Vivaldi other than the Four Seasons? And don't get me started on opera. They have listed Nabucco and Mastersingers on the Hall of Fame already when it is the Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves and hte overture to the Wagner which is voted for, not the opera. The Pearl Fishers will be up soon and yet it is only the duet that everyone knows and votes for. And so it goes on and if that sodding Lark Ascending is No 1 again this year I may just have to get my bow and arrow out. Lovely piece but I have now heard it so many times I am sick of it and judging by the Classic FM page on Facebook so is everyone else.
OK end of rant. Oh no here is another....
Whenever the sun comes out I go into full Grumpy Old Woman of Colchester mode and moan about masses of bare, white, flabby flesh being exposed by the masses. Well, I am now going to be contrary and wonder why every teenager I pass is walking around in hot Sunshine wearing leggings and Ugg boots?
Just a thought.
Classic FM is now playing Beethoven so they have shut me up for a bit. Have a good and blessed Easter everyone.
