Just another ordinary winter evening.
With no nightclubs, pubs, theatres, or michelin starred restaurants to tempt us out at night, we hunker down and read trashy novels, or fill-in crosswords.
Bok just sleeps, Freddie watches the world go by, and Lady Magnon kicks off her slippers. The only sound is that of the washing-up machine whirring away in the kitchen.
We discuss the day's news, commiserate with those who are digging themselves out from six foot snow drifts, and we sip our glasses of warmed red wine.
There is little on TV that appeals, so I head off early to bed and listen to some ancient comedy show on Radio 4 extra.
Yup, it's a hard busy old life, but winter is like that; you take it as you find it.
Looks cosy.
ReplyDeleteYes, but I'd rather be outdoors in the warm evening air.
DeleteG’morning Cro.... nice weather for the time of year... not!!
ReplyDeleteOur evenings are similar... but no fire to cosy around.... our architect ignored my design, so the stove in the corner is now the hifi and tv corner.
With the underfloor from our chaudiere, tho’.... we really don’t need a fire... but from CLAS OHLSON (Sweden’s IKEA for men) I bought a DVD-Fireplace... choice of burning logs or Classical music.... I only have to put another log on every 45mins (restart the video).... no ash, no dust, no log carrying or splitting....
We cannot watch any tv here unless we install satellite... which we might, but only for Internet speed.... more settlers have moved in between us and the village and the gain on the bandwidth hasn’t been upped... and watching spinning balls or topsy-turvying hourglasses does my head in.... so....
Whilst herself reads or does crosswords, I sort photographs of moths from my trap.... or look through the photos from the “piege photographique” to see what’s going on out there at night... or day... whilst we aren’t looking....
But, that’s what Winter is for.... a time to slow down, let the body recharge, plan the potager, service the tools and equipment .... but after a couple of months of this, I begin to get “stir crazy”....
let me out!!!
Our TV (Sky) reception depends very much on weather conditions. I imagine that the signal is affected on the way up to the satellite from the UK, just as much as it is on the way down again to us here. So we are buggered on two fronts. However, the reception on my laptop (easyview.eu) is very good, and I've now learned that I can forward it to the TV via an HDMI cable. Even so, there are not that many things I'm interested in watching.
Delete'Stir crazy' is right; I soon begin to become depressed. It's all so dull and damp.
Lady M's left foot is very elongated in this photograph.
ReplyDeleteHer right foot is size 8, and her left foot size 12. Actually, I think it was her sock that was not pulled on properly.
DeleteLooks and sounds great to me. Bok and the roaring fire make it a perfect picture..... oh and the Lady with the book of course
ReplyDeleteWarm and cosy; just as it should be.
DeleteBok says, "I know I should react to this camera thingie, but I am just too comfortable". Washing up machine, haha. Dishwasher.
ReplyDeleteFor some bizarre reason, I can never remember that word 'Dishwasher'. But at least you know what I mean.
DeleteThat sounds like us. We listened to a dramatisation of Muriel Sparks' "Momento Mori" last night on iPlayer radio before tuning in to an excellent continuing programme about the inhabitants of a Georgian terraced house in Liverpool from the time of its construction to the present day. It's lightening up here in the Surrey Hills and I walked over the golf course yesterday to remind myself why we are moving further south to a house at the foot of the Downs in 1.6 acres (sad to give up my allotment after 17 years but there is an old kitchen garden waiting to be loved) and still only two miles from a mainline station to London. It'll soon be spring Cro.
ReplyDeleteWilmington? Firle? Berwick? All lovely villages. There are not many areas better to live than in a fold of the South Downs.
DeleteI'm like you and I head off to bed, but not after I've washed the dishes. We have a dishwasher but I like doing them myself; it relaxes me.
ReplyDeleteGreetings Maria x
I have no idea how to use ours, so I always wash-up by hand (when I have to).
DeleteMany Brits still call a dishwasher a washing-up machine.
ReplyDeleteSo they should; that's what it does!
DeleteLike Maria i like to wash the dishes myself,the best time to think for me.
ReplyDeleteI agree, and it's much simpler too.
DeleteKate Atkinson - one of my favourite authors. Did Lady M enjoy the book?
ReplyDeleteShe loved it, in fact she actually said how annoyed she was that she'd finished it so quickly!
DeleteIt is pretty much the same here, except my Retired Man can usually find some sports game to watch on TV, whether he likes the sport or not. We do try to go out to dinner twice a week just to get out of the house and see people.
ReplyDeleteMost of our decent restaurants are now closed for winter, only the workers lunchtime places are still open. I like to go out in the evenings.
DeleteAll I can focus on is that log burner. Oh how I miss mine now I have just gas central heating, but at least I don't have to clean it out.
ReplyDeleteOr cut logs, or haul it all into the house, or to have to go out in all weathers, etc....
DeleteIt looks pretty cozy at your place from someone who has shovelled a lot of snow this year. It is going to be 32F today. That's a heat wave.
ReplyDeleteNo proper snow here this year (as yet). 32F doesn't sound too bad; even from someone who hates the cold.
DeleteI think this sounds like a wonderful evening to me.
ReplyDeleteWarm and cozy inside, snowy and cold outside.
cheers, parsnip and mandibles
Damp and drizzly outside. We try to forget about it.
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