annanotbob's diary

annanotbob's Diaryland Diary

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I'd rather feel the earth beneath my feet

I had one of those moments of perfect peace this afternoon. I'd taken the kids to lunch in one of the pubs down the road, then we fetched Millie from Jane's and strolled back up the hill in the sunshine, eating ice creams. We were all knackered, so Ren had a snooze in my bed, Sara in hers, and I lay on the sunbed in the garden, with Bob on my lap and Millie next to us, in the shade. I'm reading a great book, Someone Else by Reggie Nadelson, a thriller whose central character is a woman in her fifties, nice and measured, increasingly creepy in an unusual manner.

It's quiet in my garden - the comparitive quiet of the city - there's a peaceful background hum of life going on all around. My sweet peas are flowering their little socks off, scenting the air. (I picked up a good tip for sweet peas, which is to cut the tendrils off, leaving more energy for flowering. It works - I picked every bloom off this morning and there must have been at least another dozen open by this afternoon.) The beanstalks are as high as the roof of the shed, there are loads of tiny tomatoes - it was all just lovely.

It all kicked off again later of course - I'd forgotten the joys of a grumpy Sara. I think with Ren on the wagon and me staying at home, Sara felt duty bound single-handedly to maintain the family's honour in terms of festival drug-consumption. After feeling I'd made the wrong choice in not going, I was back to being glad. Sara's 25, she'll do what she likes and she doesn't go over the top very often, but it's never something a mother wants to witness. Not this mother anyway. I think next year it has to be my turn to go on my own, without having them lurking on the fringes of my enjoyment.

This morning was arts and crafts for nutters and very pleasant it was. I'm developing a promising friendship with T, though I'm still quite cautious and I think she is too. But I like her a lot - she's clever and funny and kind, which is a pretty winning combination and she seems to be liking me too. I'm also getting a bit of a crush going on one of the nurses, J. All of the staff there have a kind of Buddhist vibe going on - there's lots of talk of mindfulness, being in the moment and so on, and they really feel easy to be around. Soothing, it is. I'm still making lots of papier mache stuff - bowls mainly, but I'm thinking of embarking on a jug made from a balloon base.

I've smoked all my grass and there's none around. Boo hoo.

So here's some silliness with Three Non-Blondes: