Breathe ...

Well, that was a bit of a washout, that day - or at least the weather was. There were times when I looked out into what seemed like fog but was in fact rain, or cloud, at sea level, and there was very little temptation to go out. Yet go out I did (there I go, paraphrasing Larkin's Church Going - the word inversion for emphasis, like a Latin poet ...) - I went out to pilates class as the rain set in seriously, and came home in the torrents. And then Himself went to the studio to try the first class for Men on Mats that our teacher's trialling - I feel so much benefit from all that strength work and the stretching and balancing that I want to share it!

But I was wondering, nevertheless, if my recurring thought on days like this is shared by other blippers, when at the start of the day you find yourself perhaps thinking longingly of a nice bath, and bed - or perhaps that after-dinner collapse in a comfy chair, telly on, ready to let go? (I'm not sure if that's really a question, but it feels like one.) Today I was so tired after the exercises that I sat slumped in a chair with coffee, then lunch, and felt I could just stay there. (Lunch, by the way, was a small triumph of deliciousness: I'd forgotten to make bread, so instead I fried sort of frothy crêpes of sourdough starter, spread some bashed avocado on one half of each, topped it with rashers of grilled bacon, added a sprinkle of balsamic dressing and folded over to make a hot sandwich.)

However, the Presbyterian work ethic that still infects this Episcopalian convert had me out of my chair doing Italian on the computer for ages. Duolingo have quite arbitrarily changed some of the voices that read the examples out and there's one unintelligible man as well as a squawking woman to confuse the ear. Is this Duo's plan - to tease with difficult voices? Are they doing it in any of the other languages? 

I'm actually blipping a corner of my sitting room, where I only sit in the evenings unless it's Christmas (work that one out!) The Stressless sofa is extremely comfortable, the lights are welcoming. The little table lamp on the left belonged to my mother - it has a strange pale pink ceramic sort of base with stylised dolphins on it, and I've loved it since early childhood. The  Canaletto print on the wall was the first picture we bought when we were first married - one of these big block prints that were all the rage then - and spells "home" when I see it. And then there's the iconic Ladderax - you can tell we set up home in the 70s!

News on the booster jag front: I seem to have recovered, more or less, from mine - just a tender arm left. And Himself had a phone call this afternoon: could he managed to get up to the hospital for 8.30am tomorrow? So good all round, I think.

Extra is a collage involving my lunch.