Watervole 2012
it goes on....
February 22nd
Happy Birthday to Piers for the 38th time.
He is coming with Sarah Hector and Toby as well as Ben and Cara for a traditional birthday paella this evening
February 20th
Welcome and Happy Birthday to Jagger Herbert, Bear (Baer?) Bennett.
Congratulations to Rachael, Guy, Finn and Electra
February 18th
4 Days in Rome.
Day one we avoided taxing taxi drivers and walked to our hotel
Day 2 we went to see the Coloseum and the Forum and the Pantheon.
Amazing
ruins, and amazingly continually used
Pantheon, never a ruin at all, always a building.
We read that the Colloseum was built by Vespeian and Titus with the spoils of the "Great Jewish Revolt". I don't understand that, did they pillage huge amounts of gold? Did they then carry that home in ships and on elelphants and horses and did they then turn it into coin and pay for stone, stonemasons, builders, architects and engieners? (and on food for slave labour presumably.) Is that the way the economy worked? Would we be able to save our economy by stealing huge amounts of gold or oil or something? (Or does quantitive easing achieve the same effect by making money?)
Day 3 we went to the Vatican and St Peters and the Vatican Mueum including the Sistine Chapel.
Opulence. It exuded opulence. What talent and paint and space and wealth on display.
I was taken by suprise by the Pieta. Didn't know it was there just on the right of the entrance to St Peters (behind bullet proof glass) and just came in front of it. I was stunned . Of course it is iconic like the Mona Lisa or David, but I was never moved by the Mona Lisa (and haven't seen David) The Pieta hit me; Mary is a wide, young, mother holding on her lap a dead limp son. It is utterly sad, utterly miserable, he is utterly dead with all her memories and hopes. It made me cry. I didn't know sculpture could do that to you.
We couldn't begin to take in the Sistine Chapel. Obviously it's another work of genius but how can you appreciate it when you are standing up with 2000 other people and you have a stiff neck and aging vision. You need a bed and binoculars and a guide and lots of time. We have spent more time on the internet reading it up afterwards than we did in the room with it. Still we were there. Then we crossed the Tiber and bussed back home by one route or another.
Day 4 we revisited the Forum, went inside the Colosseum (it had been closed on Wednesday) and went to a couple of Churches and a shoppping centre and, epicurian highlight of the visit, had a hot chocolate which was a jug of melted chocolate.
Then we flew home.
February 14th
Disovered another rat building a nest directly under the chickens nesting box. It had used the chickens straw, finely chopped up, to make a long cocoon of a nest safe and warm under the shelter of the chicken nest. Surrounding the rats nest was a huge stash of corn, some of it coloured blue. The blue grains are the poisoned ones and the rat has stashed so much food that it was probably eating one blue grain for every 2o wholesome ones and thereby building up immunity.
I've wrecked its little nest, filled its holes and runs with sawdust and set Ginger on its trail to the compost heap. I've removed as much food as possible and if it returns, starving, I shall feed it pure poison.
Isn't that horrid. Does loving chickens also mean hating rats?
The for sale sign was put up in our garden as I was cleaning out the chickens and our details are on Righttmove. Tomorrow we are going to Rome for three days. Back on Friday.
February 10th
Time zaaaps by. PSHT&H were with us for a week and left on Monday. It feels as if there were here for one night only, a complete pleasure and the house is cold and empty without them.
The house marketing has started. We have been photographed, measured, assessed for our carbon usage and we have a viewing booked for next week. We have offered on the property we want but they have ignored us and we know it is under offer from someone else; there are huge uncertainties, is it likely that we will sell in a short time ? and is it possible that if we do, the vendor of the house we want will not have exchanged before we can tell him we have the cash?
I find the whole thing very unsettling. I like being at home, homemaking, and don't like to be uncertain of the basics of living. They do say that stress levels of moving rank with bereavement and divorce and I agree.
And nothing may happen... we may still be here in a year's time anyway. I think one of the things that is so troubling is the analogy with moving on in life,. When I do surveys I now have to tick the last box in the age list. Ben & Piers have pointed out that we should consider the problems we may have with stairs. . I bloody do not feel old and still want projects and ambition and ideas going forward, not to sink or be sunk into cosy oblivion.
February 5th
Calm, temporarily, has descended on Brookend. PSHT&H have gone to visit Sarah's parents.
They have been staying with us since Monday while their house is being re-arranged. It's been delightful, mostly. It's amazing what a huge amount of washing is generated and what copious amounts of food are needed to sustain an active family of 4. And Henry. Henry is the nicest dog in the world but he's 6 times too big for any known domestic dwelling. When he bounds up to greet you in the morning you don't know whether his tail will smash the glass door of the cupboard or his shoulders knock over the benches and table. But there's not a nasty thought in his body and he always does what he's told.
Our house is officially on the market. We all went over to Malmesburg yesterday to look at the place we're interested in. Someone else has made an offer yesterday so it's extremely unlikely that we'll acquire it because we need to wait to sell our own before being able to compete.
So next week people will start to come to view. We shall have to dust and put things away. Our lodgers moved out this weekend too so their place needs a) cleaning/repainting and , b) letting. Previously it's been a matter of fighting off likely lodgers, they came knocking on our door. But no one's shown up this time. Maybe it's because the word has spread that we're selling up. Honestly we only confided in one or two people but within 3 days strangers at the bridge club asked me if it was true we are moving to Bristol.