First Autumnal Weekend

Lillian Harvey, via Women Reading

I'm sure I've raved about this many a time, but I love love love the word autumnal. It makes me think about Mr Tumnus the Faun in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and he's a good faun really before he gets turned into a stone statue by the White Witch, so that has to be a good thing, doesn't it?

Last night, all the clocks went back an hour, which I didn't even notice until about 1pm, because I am totally reliant on Modern Technology to tell me the time and the Modern Technology doesn't need my help to fall back an hour. Thus, I woke up at 8 o'clock, fully rested, and managed to read the rest of my Ngaio Marsh detective story while drinking coffee and with the Boy wrapped around me. Later, we went to the vegetable markets on the Waterfront and ate steamed pork buns. Is that not Sunday Morning Heaven?

In fact, all round, this weekend has been a super uber grand old time. I tidied and cleaned the hell out of my room, so NO MORE AMBIENT DUST! I read Ngaio Marsh detective novels in the autumn sun and my Virginia Woolf biography in bed. Shannon and I made pate and James bought all the meat in the world to cook on the barbecue on Saturday (seeing out the last of the sunshine with meat). On Friday night I socialised for the first time in quite some while - I challenged the Hermit within! And the Hermit said "ok, but as long as we can watch The Wicker Man on Saturday night" so I did that too.

And finally, I'm waiting for my baked potato to bake so I can have a dinner of potatoes, and mussels, and tomato and avocado salad. I have a lovely warm and clean bed to curl up in, a mitten to knit, and an episode of Time Team to watch. A creature of small pleasures, I am Very Happy Indeed.

Something that happened in the weekend

Hello lovelies, I hope that you had a good Labour weekend! Or if you're not in New Zealand or had to work on Monday, I hope that your regular Monday was good and that you had a good regular weekend. I went over to the Wairarapa on Monday and had a wonderful picnic of smoked salmon and homemade bagels at the Pinnacles (about ten minutes drive before Ngawi). Then Shannon, Jo, Mark and I walked up the riverbed to look at the rock formations themselves.

It took me about fifteen minutes to get sick of the rocks and the shingle scree, turn around and walk back to the car to drink cider and read my Agatha Christie autobiography alone in the sun. Now that's what I call a holiday! For reals though, I suddenly got all hating on people for talking and being jolly, and I needed to be alone PRONTO. The Social didn't work so well just then.

Can I just say that I used to be quite the Social Young Miss. Sometime over the last couple of years this has shifted, leading me to my almost hermit-like existence of the last few months. Don't get me wrong - I am super happy to be squirrelled away sewing French knickers, knitting socks, baking bread and watching episodes of Time Team. But it's rather a strange thing to reflect upon in hindsight. I feel like I should say that I need to get out more - but mostly I think I should finish that second sock. And get my driver's license so I can go solo on a road trip. Heaven.

I booked a week off work in November and I am HANGING OUT to sit around at home and be a Lady of Leisure. It shall be so nice! I hope that there is sunshine and that I can sit around all day and write and read in the aforementioned, hypothesised and much desired, sunshine. Fuck yeah sunshine. And being a lady of leisure.

Aaaaand that's all I have today my lovelies. Except, may I note how nice it is to have a bunch of new season's carrots on my desk, for munching? I read this article in the Stone Soup and decided to try and eat more vegies. I'm pretty shit at it.