1. I take advantage of the clear sunshine to go to the allotment. The plots are looking a bit sorry – neglected during the bad weather and patchy because of the season – but there are bright spots: the green shoots of next year’s garlic, thick nodules replenishing the earth underneath the old runner frames and by the time I leave, there is a netted off section of bed incubating overwintering broad beans.
1b. After the digging at the plot followed by a shower and a walk in the cold, my body feels like it does after I’ve been swimming: exercised but still alert.
2. A range of packages arrives: a pin badge and handmade mug for me, and an old broken accordion for John to fix. I’m glad we can afford to indulge our hobbies and interests.
2b. The mug is nice – don’t get me wrong – but it’s also interesting to see that it’s flawed (the base could be a lot neater, the handle is a bit wonky, the glaze is very even but not perfectly so) and that’s ok. It gives me more confidence in my own pieces.
3. We look back through our old comic strip. It features photos of our friends (well, their bodies) and our old house – I spend as much time looking at those as I do the words. We laugh as we remember the photo shoots and the other parts of creating it – I laugh as I spot my leg kicked high and remember when we faked a shot of a bum using John’s arm, or him having to pose on the toilet for another strip. Ten years ago now.
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