1. At five days old, the ginger beer plant is satisfactorily gloopy and the sourdough starter smells divine.
2. Even though the general backstage consensus is that Thursday night was better, John is impressed by the show – the music, the costumes and the kids alike. I clap like a proud mum throughout.
3. Sleepy Lily droops in John’s arms as he carries her to the car.
1. The new floor reflects the light around the soon-to-be-decorated walls. I imagine how bright it will be when we’re finally finished: I can’t wait to work down there.
2. Her tail hits the water in a rapid beat.
3. The wool is tangled. It’s such fun to undo the knot.
4. Backstage, we mouth along the words to most of the songs but it’s only the last one that we join in the dance – the surge of joy that it’s very nearly over for another night.
1. Mia declares that the wild garlic smells “difficult”. She picks leaves throughout our walk though and later, when I’m waiting at the bus stop, I find one she’d hidden in my pocket.
2. I must have a smirk on my face because all the boys leaving hair and make-up tell me to stop laughing at their new orange-tans & slicked over hair. I might be curl-biased but I think the girls’ hair looks great in ringlets.
3. I’m transfixed by how her pumps perfectly match her hoodie – both a lovely dusky purple-pink.
1. The mint shoots tilt south.
2. Lily and the dog stare at each other across the beck, like forbidden lovers kept apart. Then suddenly the spell is broken: they run to each other and bounce around in the water.
3. The songs whirling in my head, I dance along the tarmac line while waiting for my lift home.
1. For the second day in a row, we head out for a walk unencumbered by jackets or jumpers. The dog is in the beck more than out. The stretch of pasty skin between my trainers & my (long) shorts is spattered with mud by the time we return home.
2. They look at each other, giggling and showing off the details of their newly-finished costumes. Suddenly, after months of rehearsals, it all seems rather real.
3. I return home to find he still looks green – I always thought that was an exaggeration but he’s actually green-tinged. The boiled eggs and soldiers finally turn him pink again.
1. Instead of going north into the woods as normal, we decide at the last month to go south instead. We explore the delightful enclave of cottages in the hidden dell, cross the ford – the first I’ve ever seen – and head into the other woods instead.
2. Amidst the chaos of the rehearsal, progress is being made. Some of the good kids from the group are really great, a lot of fun.
3. The air is full of scents and sounds: the fish & chip shop, the curry restaurant, the take-out chinese … and a pipes & drums band playing a concert at the school.
© 2024 Louisa Parry