Wednesday 16 February 2011

I TOLD YOU SO.....

As I have told you before, many times, the reason why I post so much of my past is that my present is without incident. Been there, done that, and now wear the tee shirts - fine as silk with use and washing - as shorty nighties.And to prove it to be true I shall recount this one day, today.

I woke at eight, a good night, turned my radio off at midnight and did not linger too long in that awful 'I'll never fall asleep' limbo. I stretch, testing limbs, ligaments and cartilages. Think about getting up, but JP. is at the door, Milou high in his arms looking down on me. I say 'Good morning', stroke the dog and the man and they leave.

I'm up when they return from their walk although I have taken an age to decide what to wear from my stock of black leggings, black tops and well worn boring sweaters. My dilemma is over the quantity of each I might need today. Yesterday was a three layer day but, we are told by the all-knowing weather girls, that today will be wet and windy with an easterly wind making it seem colder. [sorry...but if it is 6degrees  then surely it should feel 6 degrees] I make it four layers-it is always cold in the kitchen first thing, more so if JP has decided that it isn't cold and has not switched on the electric fire to heat the room. He is later than usual as he met Stavros [ our dentist and friend] and discussed football results for fifteen minutes.

I did tell you...

He has the papers, the kettle is on and places laid [what a star] so I feed Milou, make the tea or coffee and make my toast. We eat and read. I comment a lot, read out stuff, and he does a lot of uhmming and grunting in lieu of responses. I do the code word puzzle...then we swap papers, taking less time with them as they virtually give the same information.

This morning we washed the large windows in the living room-he banging on the outside to point at the places I had missed and I doing the same back to him.

One piece of mail: Damart sent me a key to a brand new Puegeot:  It is mine if I buy at least £20 worth of merchandise from their new catalogue and my name is pulled out of the box. Yeah,right!
Then I go upstairs to be greeted by LM's [youngest daughter] cat . And she too has a routine that she hates to vary. She leads me here to the study where I switch on Paco [computer] then leads me elegantly - there is no other word to describe the gait of any cat, especially one like Mollikins who has an inflated opinion of her own importance - into my bedroom where she jumps on the chair in front of my dressing table and waits for me to make my bed. I then brush her.

I spend a little while logging on, reading any comments and just looking around.
Downstairs again, plump cushions, vac. if needed and dust, always there is dust which doesn't show when the sun don't shine.

See what I mean?


After lunch I took Milou for a walk, short or long depending on weather and state of joints. Then I watched Doctors and finished my latest book Last Train from Liguria by  Cristine Dwyer Hickey, I cannot rate it too highly...beautiful writing and heartbreaking story.

About five o/clock I start to think about  preparing supper, though the menu has been fixed since breakfast-a daily 'must have' discussion broached by JP for whom meals are the most important part of the day-it will be seafood risotto-green salad and the ubiquitous cheeses.

TV comes next...and, since having Sky plus, and the ability to record so much I'm in heaven with The Good Wife, Grey's Anatomy, Bones, NCIS, et al.

By ten thirty we are abed. JP. with a book and me to listen to the radio, stations 2,4,7 or Classic FM.

During this one day the phone has rung three times; all of the calls were 'scatter sales'.
It has been too cold and wet to garden or to dry clothes.
Things will  change with the weather, when we can eat outdoors and I can fulfill my ideas for planting, take longer walks with Milou or even do some watercolours. But, till then, this is our lives, kiddos.

Now you know why I draw on the days when things happened, when we were young and adventurous [or stupidly careless].

Hope I haven't bored you too much.
How do you think I feel?

33 comments:

  1. Not boring; an honest accounting of your day and, with a few changes of details, much like my own. I venture to say that there are those folk still running the "rat race" who would love to trade places with us -- at least for a few days.

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  2. sounds like my life. wake, coffee, breakfast, a walk or wander around the yard (weather permitting), work in the studio for a couple of hours, lunch, errands (if we have any) or work in the studio for a couple more hours, tea, another wander round the yard, TV, evening libation, dinner, read, bed. day after day.

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  3. I loved it. I could read you on pretty much any subject. If this was an experiment I think it backfired.

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  4. Sounds good to me, the best part of being retired is being able to do anything I want or to do nothing at all, I love it.

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  5. :D Sounds like a lovely routine. I love that you 'pet dog and man' and then they leave.

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  6. Sounds like a more elegant day than mine ever are.

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  7. You make the ordinary a place we all want to share.

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  8. Aren't cats just like that? Great description of her highness. Cats own humans....humans never own a cat.

    I think it's great that you have found shows you like that you can look forward to watching on tv. I hate tv these days! Mostly reality shows....and I have enough reality. I like an escape from reality. That's why I go to a movie or watch tv.

    My hubby also is asking about what we are going to eat for dinner at breakfast! Must be a man thing. My reply is always the same...."don't know....haven't set out anything...we'll talk about it later." I should just ask him what he wants and set it out. It would make for less repitition through the day...because he keeps asking til I think of something!

    I am also looking forward to spring. Love petunias....their aroma in the evening is intoxicating! I could just sit beside them and breathe in their Adams-Clove-gum-like-scent all evening and do nothing else and be completely happy. (my grandmother always had Adams Clove gum for us as kids in the early 60's) That is Heaven to me!

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  9. I like days like that and seldom have them as I'm still on the work carousel....don't want to wish my life away but I am looking forward to retiring...and your musings are never boring.

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  10. I think we could all write about our boring every ole days. So why not write about things that happened. My day has been even more boring than yours, many days.

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  11. I really enjoyed sharing your day with you and it was far from boring. It might seem so to you but to me it is extremely interesting. I love to hear how others fill their day.
    Love your choice of meal and hope you enjoyed it.

    Sounds like you have the same problems with arthritic bones that I have. I get wakened up in the night with the pain of it. It has been worse this year.
    I also put layers of clothes on and dread to go into my kitchen first thing because of the cold.
    Maggie X

    Nuts in May

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  12. It was fun seeing you through the day, the choices, the pace. Sounds like you and I finally have time to write and read and sleep as much as we want.
    Not a bad life.

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  13. Your routine is comforting to one who sometimes wonders what to do with days that are so different from those busy days filled with working.

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  14. Not boring - more like peaceful.

    You should feel good - what with JP, Milou, et al around. Those joints could do with warmer weather though

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  15. Of course you should write about 'whatever'. I love what you choose to write about. You're like a personal Winifred Foley or Jennifer Craig.

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  16. I like your routine, no corporate-rat stories just plain life :) love it!!

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  17. I think it was a great day. Thank you for sharing it here. It helped me to learn more about you and JP and picture your surroundings. Makes me smile and appreciate you all the more.

    Blessings today!

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  18. It might never come, but I am very excited for the day that I can be at home and not have to work. I would love to be a stay at home mom, but seeing how I'm not a mom, and we are in debt, it is highly unlikely we will get to that point in the next couple years. I love your routine and look forward to the day I can do the same!

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  19. Reminds me of my days, now that I'm unemployed- but I can only wish I had a cat. It's a mixed blessing, isn't it? The peacefulness is pleasant, and yet the boredom sometimes makes it difficult. My husband also always wants to know what's for dinner, so I plan the menu a week in advance. But here I am, only 23, and already it seems my 'young and adventurous' days are over. I think they ended as soon as I was done with college. Working or looking for work, days now seem to blur together all the same. I enjoy your blog, you are a wonderful writer.

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  20. Oh Moanie, I LONG to spend my days like that! It sounds perfect bliss to me. To leisurely read the papers as you share breakfast together - what an image that conjures.. I haven't done that with my husband in over 19yrs (ever since the children)! Looks like you and your man have got life pretty sussed, it sounds nothing short of idyllic!

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  21. A very similar day to mine! Except that it is me who walks Sid, most of the time accompanied by OH, but not always. Today we drove into town to walk him in the park - and yes, that was the highlight of our day!

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  22. You have all made me feel heartily ashamed of myself. Of course, this is the life that we all long for as retirees...but,,,it is rather like marking time. We, [JP and I] blame financial restraints for our lack of adventure but I have to admit that even if we felt fit enough and money was no object...we would do pretty much the same as we do now. Although we tend to daydream...winning the lottery, buying a Rolls and being Chauffeured around the Seven Wonders.

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  23. Just started following you and absolutely love the purity of your writing! I look forward to the days when my life becomes "boring" like yours. Meanwhile, the work-world calls to me each day and I only ocassionally find time to write.

    May each day bring you peace!

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  24. Hello,

    I just found you through Libby's blog, and I can already tell am going to have a wonderful time reading back through your archives. Please feel free to visit me over at my blog and wander around in my head a while.

    Cheers,
    Marcheline

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  25. Why don't you do things to make your life now rich and full? Are you satisfied with relying on the past for that?
    I almost felt that you are resigned that this stage of your life cannot or should not be adventurous. It made me a little sad - but perhaps I mis-read you - perhaps you meant to convey contentment.

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  26. Each day is special or ordinary depending on how you look at it. A day of calm as you had can't be too highly rated. I've enjoyed reading your post.

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  27. I am a big fan of you! Thanks and please keep writing, somedays a good cup of coffee and a whirl around your site is the best I get.

    Best,
    Benjamin Madrid
    onealonepirate.com

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  28. sounds like a divine way to spend a day or 50 to me!
    :-)

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  29. You hooked me. Everyday certainly can't be an event. I will spend my afternoon today peeking into yours for like you I have an unsheduled life.

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  30. In our home, we eat and read at all meals. Hub grunts and mumbles like your hubby.

    I have a book in which it says that this is the key to a long and successful marriage. "Chatting" is apparently death to relationships.

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  31. Moannie, I've only just read this, sitting with a cup of tea before I head off for work. It feels far too early and I'm grumpy and miserable at the thought of the day ahead. All I can think is how much I'd swap your day for mine!
    But apart from that, this was written so well that it oozed with love and comfort; and that could never be boring.

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  32. Where are you? A week without a new post! I am having withdrawals! I hope you and JP are well and nothing has gone awry in your world! I have just fallen in love with you and your stories and if you lived within traveling distance, would be making daily trips to visit you just to hear about your life. I kid you not!

    I read your comment about daydreaming about being chauferred around the seven wonders....my hubby and I do the same thing....if only we could win the lottery....but we never even play....lol.

    You have a sparkling personality and a warm soul. I am drawn to your blog. Please keep posting.

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