THIS WEEKEND we watched the 2005 film The Squid and the Whale. Directed by Noah Baumbach and produced by Wes Anderson, it follows two brothers dealing with their parents' divorce in Brooklyn in the 1980s. We both really liked it and ended discussing it for a quite awhile afterwards. We watched another Noah Baumbach film awhile ago, A Marriage Story, and I am beginning to realise that I really like his wistful, slow, snippet-in-the-life storytelling style.
TODAY RESTAURANTS and pubs will be opening for indoor seating for the first time since the last lockdown. Until now, it has been only outdoor seating, and the weather has definitely not been cooperating. Our favourite sandwich shop in town, where we would order for pickup, has become a casualty of the pandemic and in its place, a new chocolate shop will open...
WE SPENT THE past few days back in London, visiting old haunts and discovering new places, eating so much good food and walking and bicycling to new neighbourhoods all covered in wisteria and cherry blossoms; entering gilded and ornate wrought iron gates to parks filled with swans and happy ducks, sipping drinks on terraces and having dim sum for Saturday brunch ...
RANDOMLY CAME across a Pinterest board last week entitled "Beautiful Women". The man whose board it was had been diligently collecting busty blondes and me. It was a mildly amusing, slightly strange discovery to say the least. It's the early May bank holiday weekend here, and while we're being more lounge-y than normal for a Monday, we're back at work for at least part of the day ...
THE CHERRY BLOSSOMS are out, creating fluffy pink poufs in the skyline, against old stone cottages and cloudy spring skies and making everything bright and hopeful. Tiny fallen pink petals line the walkways and flutter lightly on breezes and while it's become a little chilly again, very warm weather is expected for May, so perhaps spring may be taking its time but is definitely on the way.
ON MONDAY WE went into the city for the first time in a long time, stopped for oat milk flat whites at our favourite coffee shop (so nice!), browsed flower stands and shopped for champagne truffles. We had take-away sushi for lunch and ended up on a sun-drenched terrace overlooking the river where we sipped drinks in the spring air ...
YESTERDAY WE HAD drinks on the terrace of one of the local pubs for the first time in six months. It's been a bit chilly lately, but yesterday it was sunny with clear blue skies and it felt, to be honest, a bit strange to be doing something so normal, but also really nice ...
P AND I WERE talking this week about how I may be absorbing the weight of the unrelenting news cycles, the political turmoil, all the constant bad news. I am naturally empathic and find it difficult sometimes not to internalise all of the problems going on in the world.
HAVEN'T BEEN able to stop thinking about Sarah Everard since her disappearance the night of March 3rd. We have been consumed with the news for nearly two weeks now. There have been so many thoughts, so many feelings, a lot of sadness, and a lot of anger. I've been slowly trying to put things together into something (hopefully) coherent, but for now, perhaps it's best to take some time to reflect.
I SOMETIMES MISS the magnolia blossoms in London and think of them a lot. Things are slowly getting ready to open again here and perhaps, if all goes well, we'll be able to visit them again, along with the wisteria in Notting Hill. This week we're deep in things from the past, for the vintage Sony stereo that P won on an online auction through reckless bidding finally arrived today ...
P JUST TOLD ME about a new app that has been touted as the new anti-Instagram app. The fact that there is now interest in Instagram alternatives could be a sign that it is losing its popularity. Either that, or with everyone turning away from WhatsApp in favour of more secure options, perhaps Facebook's reign our privacy and data is finally coming to an end.
THERE SEEMS TO be a strange matchstick shortage in England, almost as if everyone here has succumbed to a winter of lockdown by lighting fires all day long in our stone cottages, keeping cosy and making the best of it. That is definitely what we are doing, and I couldn't find any boxes of matches anywhere and had to order mine from Lithuania ...
Valentine's weekend was cosy fires and late-night conversations, glasses of wine in fluted glasses; music and films, and chocolate. P made an extra special dinner on Sunday and while other years may have been spent at dinner reservations at fancy restaurants, and despite the lockdown conditions, it didn't feel like anything was missing.
I'VE BEEN TELLING P that the key to life is finding things that work. There is a small dehumidifier upstairs that quietly collects excess moisture from the air every day and we now have drama-free internet connectivity. I ordered a clothes steamer that quickly gets out wrinkles on cotton duvet covers and heavy sofa slipcovers and it's just well, so satisfying when you find something that works.
SUNDAY was one of those bright winter days that highlights all the lacy frost patterns on the leaves of hedges and those that trail up tree trunks and along the sides of stone walls. It shone on the frosty blades of grass and the broken panes of ice beside puddles on the gravel road that leads away from the river ...