Here is a summery picture from a market in France we visited last year. I can now look forward to going on holiday in August as I finally have some dates for my angiogram! In September after holidays so not that far off.
I didn’t manage to do a blog post yesterday partly due to having a visit from my lovely friend Lesley and her (also lovely!) partner Neil. And partly down to the week just drifting by; I seem to exist in a permanent brain fog which is apparently a COPD thing. I have been feeling like a deflated balloon but Lesley’s visit helped to lift my mood. Having the angiogram dates at least gives me something concrete and a sense that there is some progress. Although not necessarily in a direction to look forward to: I keep trying to dismiss thoughts of the transplant ie unpleasant images of being cut open and dying!
I would rather think of nicer things including the garden which although suffering from lack of rain has got some more beautiful flowers coming out:
We have acquired a mole though, which has suddenly appeared by way of 3 mounds in the grass. There are plenty of mole- ridding services around but I don’t like to think of what they do to the moles even though most say they are ‘humane’. I can’t help but think of Mole from Wind in The Willows and his home: "Once well underground," he said, "you know exactly where you are. Nothing can happen to you, and nothing can get at you. You're entirely your own master, and you don't have to consult anybody or mind what they say. Things go on all the same overhead, and you let 'em, and don't bother about 'em. When you want to, up you go, and there the things are, waiting for you."
Mole was a mild mannered character but our gardener says that they are usually very territorial and will kill each other in fights so perhaps I can put my anthropomorphism to one side for this one.
I always liked that book and writing this I found some more interesting takes on it: The Making of the Wind in the Willows review – Toad, Ratty and a manifesto for gay living. Sorry I couldn’t get the full link to work but it’s on the Guardian site. It’s also in their top 100 books list: The 100 best novels: No 38 – The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame (1908).
Maybe not one for the book group which is later this afternoon. We’re talking about Last Orders by Graham Swift which I didn’t enjoy one bit. The way it’s written makes all the characters speak with the same voice so it’s difficult to tell who is who and none of them is very interesting anyway. I don’t think Booker prize winning books are chosen for being entertaining or good reads, rather that they’re chosen by writers looking for originality in writing style which is often at the expense of a decent read.
I hate getting a duff book to read and I’ve unfortunately just started another one which I don’t think I’ll finish- Conversations With Friends by Sally Rooney. I got taken in by the reviews but the characters are just not engaging enough for me. As it's about non-binary relationships it's considered to be good because of that, but being a novel about non-binary relationships isn't enough to compensate for having boring characters and plot.
I am sure all will be well with the world if I get some new sunglasses so I'm going to turn my attention to that next week.