Another chapter opens as I am determined to 'improve' the garden for 2018, lose weight (I don't mind if dresses no longer fit, they are replaceable), get fit (I'm off to Dartmoor in under 3 weeks) and get back to reading.
So, what's brought this about? Everyday for about six months , while waiting for my bath to fill, was spent reading Robert St John's book 'From the Land of Silent People' recounting his departure from Yugoslavia as the Germans invaded in WW2. My interest was that he went to Crete and also that my uncle was engaged in the war and died when his plane crashed flying back from Albania to Greece. Once read, I quickly switched to Dilys Powell's 'The Villa Ariadne' which recounts the people who populated Sir Arthur Evans house at Knossos. This confirmed that reading settled things in my brain better than scanning the laptop screen.
After Barbara's memorial lunch I was unsettled. That continued through the next day and, to an extent, still lingers. But, I have equipment to prepare ground for a wild flower area and for preparation of a vegetable patch. The preparation of the latter started years ago when I took up an old path and relaid it elsewhere and started tipping lawn cuttings etc on the bare ground to provide some compost. I was tempted to just find another part of the garden as the original site was piled high with woody cuttings and lawn clippings. On Saturday I decided that I must follow my original idea and after 11 hours spread over the next three days, I removed 5 yard sacks of un-composted leaves etc., and 4 green sacks of chipped woody growth and the area is about ready for the tiller.
The exercise bike has come out and after a rather boring time on it on Sunday evening I realised I needed the kindle! So tonight, the TV was put on silent, French Cafe Music played and after strapping the kindle to the bike I rode while reading the first 3 chapters of Elizabeth Bennet, covering some 6 hypothetical Km. The book kept my interest, and I cycled to my fancy (and in time with the music) ... this seems to work.
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