saturday 29th september
7.30am
the girls are a slow rising today. "we do not move when we are in total snooze mode . . . and, anyway, it's saturday, it's the weekend!"
how do they know? certainly, I did not tell them; no socially-conscious mouse or casual spirit has paid an overnight visit to pass on this information, at least as far as I know.
the dormitory light is activated and 'yellow submarine' is, somewhat mercilessly, blasted through the speakers. sleepy heads rise without apparent connection to the torso, displaying distinct expressions of bewilderment tinged with annoyance. sometimes, I can be so cruel.
eventually we trundle out into the dark morn. camera-laden, I lead the way but the still half-asleep sisters are not keeping up and there is more sideways movement than forward progression. ignoring this I continue down the lane in the hope that, having remembered to bring the camera, the deer will make themselves available for this wildlife voyeur to record on 'film'. unhappily, but as expected, that opportunity is not forthcoming but there is, at least, the chance to try some low-light shooting and the light is perfect to capture the magical atmosphere.
on our return, famished from my demanding physical effort, I cheerfully decant the contents of the yogurt pot into last night's ashtray. despite the ingestion of two cups of strong black coffee and the usual accompaniment of two seared nicotine and tar wraps the gearbox still seems to be stuck in low ratio. outside, the postman has drawn up in his hired van and as we come out to greet him he presents me with a mysterious package plastered with chinese symbols and I try to remember if I might have ordered some exotic potion,maybe powdered dingbat hip or some other alien concoction in a moment of reverie. still deep in my own personal dreamworld I take in his forecast that it will be a beautiful sunny day. I look up and wonder if he might have imbibed some of the contents. it turns out to be nothing more exciting than the spectacle frames I ordered a couple of weeks ago.
oh well . . .
clearing out and moving the big cabinets upstairs today and then trying to find a home for the tons of unwanted culinary hardware and out of date comestibles. what fun!
