Tag Archives: passing time

A Nostalgic Interlude

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OK, it’s not a tragedy, but I was horrified, when booking our next shopping delivery, to find that it will be in March. Yes, two months of the year have already slipped by and we don’t seem to have made much progress. Not only that, but it’s just a week until the end of the month and I have nothing ready to submit. Even worse, I seem to have lost the drive I had when I was in this situation last month. I have also had to plan for a lot of submissions to magazine where I have a long history of rejection, so I’m not likely to have a successful month either. Looking to the future, I wonder if I’m fated to deliver a post like this in the third week of every coming month. Or will I simply buckle under the pressure. February is a bit early in the year to give up on good intentions, even for me.

Julia went to see Flying Scotsman yesterday. It is running on the Nene Valley Railway for a couple of weeks. As you can see, she took some pictures. She would have taken more, but he platform was crowded and she got pushed around a bit. I, meanwhile, was able to stand in the front porch and watch it go by. Once the trees are in leaf again, I won’t be able to do t5hat, but for the moment I can. It reminded me of the time I was about three years old. We had a shop in Blackburn and there was a section of railway track across the road where you could often see steam trains. Well, it was the early 60s, and a diesel locomotive was a somewhat futuristic beast. I remember thee excitement of first being pulled by a diesel. It was very sci-fi, like something out of Gerry Anderson. It was a nice nostalgic moment in a day of worries.

Day 70

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That’s bad. I wrote this nine hours ago, the had groceries delivered, cooked, had tea, napped, watched Tv, got writing, forgot about the blog and then fell asleep in front of the screen. So this is hours into Day 71. Ah well, I do my best. I will now load the pictures and go to bed. Header picture is a mid-19th century Russian Rouble made into a brooch. The other photos are the other side of the brooch (it’s in a spinner mount) and the Maundy money.

Seems like it should be a milestone. Also seems like a lot of the year has gone already.

Rouble

I woke up on a pleasant sunny Spring day and am currently sitting in the dining room typing as the wind buffets the back windows and cold rain patters fitfully against the windows. We are going to have pizza and soup for tea, but are waiting until ASDA delivers the groceries. An earlier delivery means we will be able to relax after the delivery, but also stops us having tea early.

We just had a knock on the door but it turned out to be  a false alarm as it was a cold-caller trying to sell us energy.  He was, to be honest, a very cold caller, due to the wind and rain, but it served him right for disturbing our evening.

Monogram on back

Spin it round and it’s at the front

At work we had a few parcels to do and managed to do a couple of extra deals via eBay by judicious use of email and discount.

We also bought a couple of lots of stuff in, and despite th4 owner’s great efforts, we have piles of stuff all over the place – stacked on counters, out on display and in piles behind the counter. Some of it has already appeared on eBay and I’m hoping it will sell. It is in the realm of “he had fun collecting it”, which is dealer shorthand for “it has no value”.

Amongst other things I packaged up a lovely maundy set (given out at Ely Cathedral in 1987  That’s where my stained glass pictures come from. Then I put a lovely coin brooch on eBay.

Maundy money obverse . . .

 . . . and reverse (they are too shiny to photograph well)

They are not long, the days of wine and roses

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I’m sure I’ve used that quote before, so I apologise if I’m being boring. Here’s the full poem for those of you who want to read the rest. Like the days of wine and roses, it is not long. The title, in contrast, is longer than most haiku.

When I was looking for quotes on the swift passing of time, I couldn’t find one that felt right, so it was back to the reliable Dowson yet again.

The subject was on my mind on the way home today as it was definitely shirt sleeve weather and spring was in the air.

We have a number of domestic projects to get through this summer and I am aware that one sixth of the year has nearly gone. It’s a worry because this has happened before. One day it’s February and the next time you think about it, it’s September and we still don’t have the upgraded heating system or the new kitchen we’ve been promising ourselves for years

Today absolutely flew by, with plenty going on – parcels to pack, coins to sort and customers to serve. It was one of my more enjoyable days in the shop, which has been a bit grim recently. It’s nothing to do with the shop – it’s just that I still haven’t really adjusted to not being my own boss. Or to working with someone who gradually accumulates, and defends, all the stationery in the shop.

I had arrived at the point where I wasn’t really enjoying work and was giving serious thought to employing some of the knowledge gained from decades of reading crime novels. I’m just about to start a new book on my Kindle…

The Royal Art of Poison: Fatal Cosmetics, Deadly Medicines and Murder Most Foul by [Herman, Eleanor]