Here and There
We’ve had one of those weeks when there always seemed to be something going on. We took down the bunting and having done so, noticed we’d paid little attention to the garden recently. A visit to the local nursery and a few plants later and things look a bit more together.
The warmer temperatures also brought a resident of our garden store out for a breath of air. Our friendly toad greets us each time we open the door to go in there for a trowel or some compost, generally waddling to one side to let us in, thank goodness. It’s dark and a little damp down there, so perhaps it suits him well?
The jubilee continued in spirit for Avening WI’s meeting on Thursday evening, when we wore crowns and enjoyed a bring and share supper to mark the occasion. As always, it was lovely to see everyone’s creativity!
We were glad to “discover” a new restaurant in Cheltenham, too. We’re totally out of the habit of meeting friends for lunch and it seemed like a good reason to get ourselves out there again. Those last two years have left us quite changed in so many ways, haven’t they?
Not just us, it seems. Pre-pandemic, a weekend in early June would see the church filled with an audience eager to hear the Stuart Singers perform their latest repertoire. Well before the concert was due to begin, I would have been there in my front of house role, trying to squeeze a few more chairs in and asking people to shuffle up if they could. Post pandemic, we notice the reluctance to commit by buying tickets in advance, resulting in more sales at the door. Though the church felt reasonably well filled on both evenings, there were far from capacity audiences and I can only assume that still, people are finding it hard to garner the courage to sit in a crowd for any length of time.
On Saturday, I would have loved to have been there in the Liverpool Arena with my friends and colleagues at the Annual Meeting of the WI, were it not for an hotel mix up. Instead, I joined in the fun from home, via a Zoom connection which isn’t quite the same!
I sat listening to the speakers debate this year’s resolution:
“Women and girls presenting with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are going undiagnosed. The NFWI calls on the government and funding bodies to fund research into the female presentation of ASD and ADHD, and for action to be taken to improve the diagnosis process for women and girls, to ensure that they are equipped to better manage these conditions and do not suffer in silence. The NFWI further calls on WI members to raise awareness within their WIs of the issues facing women and girls with ASD and ADHD.”
As I did, I whittled away at my spoon, something I couldn’t have done there in the audience. I think it’s almost finished, though the temptation to keep on whittling is hard to resist. “Knowing when to stop” is a valuable skill, don’t you agree?
A few days of fine weather are forecast, with temperatures increasing as we approach the weekend. Just the right time to welcome some friends to stay then, to go out and about with them and relax in the sunshine. Life is slowly returning to how it used to be around here I’m pleased to say. But when my Hero developed what seemed like the beginning of a cold yesterday, it prompted a familiar nagging anxiety.
Thankfully the test he took this morning was negative!
