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Moving On
Well, the start of my workday today was tipping the dead pidgelets out of the nest with a garden hoe. They were too putrid for me to open my office windows and it's getting up to 32°C (90°F) this week so I wasn't willing to wait for them to dry out. I wonder if something has been lost from horror writing in recent decades as the vast majority of the population has no first-hand experience with maggots. You can say 'maggots' and people go 'ew' but it's another thing entirely to see a belly turned to a whole writhing mass of them, the biological equivalent of TV static (another rapidly obsolescing reference). That was a treat. Another dose of protein for the compost bin, though, and a deep, visceral understanding of why burying the dead is one of the first things to come along with sentience in human evolution.
The actual day started (fairly late, as I was up until 2 last night drawing) in a much cheerier way, harvesting the first of the cherries. They are sour, but no less useful; I only got a small bowl full, but with the heat this week, the rest of them should ripen faster than the birds can eat them. I should be able to get a few bottles of compote out of the haul. My pantry-filling grocery order is coming today, and they were out of elderflower cordial so they have substituted sour cherry. I am awash in cherry. How narratively appropriate.
The PM has announced that pubs will be allowed to repoen from 4 July, with certain restrictions in place. I am a little ashamed that going to the pub is one of the very few things I've actually missed in lockdown – I don't like being drunk, and after my honeymoon of exploration upon discovery that Beer is Good* I'm not even that fussed about craft. It's more the atmosphere, and at this time of year, ducking out of the blazing sun into a dark, close interior for a bit of refreshment. It seems every pub I pass in my exploration of this area is very, very promising, and it's bitter not to be able to step in. Of course, it will also be risky, especially around here where people are already rather blasé about social distancing, but we have got one of the lowest incidences in the country so maybe it's not ill-placed. The weekend of the 4th will be absolutely mad, but after that, I look forward to keeping the local in business and eating something fried for the first time in months. And the independent artisan café I pass on the way to groceries has reopened for takeaway, so I can get another species of mind-altering liquid, and – dare I breathe the word – pastries. Corona World is slowly retreating towards the horizon. Soon I'm going to have to talk to people ...
And there's a goldfinch nest on the corner of the house. There's a chorus of tiny squeaks every time a parent comes to visit.
*So Long As It's Not Lager
The actual day started (fairly late, as I was up until 2 last night drawing) in a much cheerier way, harvesting the first of the cherries. They are sour, but no less useful; I only got a small bowl full, but with the heat this week, the rest of them should ripen faster than the birds can eat them. I should be able to get a few bottles of compote out of the haul. My pantry-filling grocery order is coming today, and they were out of elderflower cordial so they have substituted sour cherry. I am awash in cherry. How narratively appropriate.
The PM has announced that pubs will be allowed to repoen from 4 July, with certain restrictions in place. I am a little ashamed that going to the pub is one of the very few things I've actually missed in lockdown – I don't like being drunk, and after my honeymoon of exploration upon discovery that Beer is Good* I'm not even that fussed about craft. It's more the atmosphere, and at this time of year, ducking out of the blazing sun into a dark, close interior for a bit of refreshment. It seems every pub I pass in my exploration of this area is very, very promising, and it's bitter not to be able to step in. Of course, it will also be risky, especially around here where people are already rather blasé about social distancing, but we have got one of the lowest incidences in the country so maybe it's not ill-placed. The weekend of the 4th will be absolutely mad, but after that, I look forward to keeping the local in business and eating something fried for the first time in months. And the independent artisan café I pass on the way to groceries has reopened for takeaway, so I can get another species of mind-altering liquid, and – dare I breathe the word – pastries. Corona World is slowly retreating towards the horizon. Soon I'm going to have to talk to people ...
And there's a goldfinch nest on the corner of the house. There's a chorus of tiny squeaks every time a parent comes to visit.
*So Long As It's Not Lager
no subject
Huzzah for takeaway coffee & pastries!
Do the pubs do Takeaway Beer/Fried Things? I'm a bit nervous about you going Full-On Pubbing within the next few weeks just yet, esp. since the British Govt. Plague Advice sounds like people should *actually* just remain on the *previous* stage of precautions for twice as long as said govt. says...
no subject
The two pubs in the village are both completely closed, but they both have sizeable gardens and patio seating so once they reopen they shouldn't find it too difficult to adhere to safety regs. I don't want to go full-on pubbing for a few months at least, but light pubbing – sitting outside with table service – is the sort of biomedically cautious reopening of hospitality that has been undertaken in other places and come out fine. But we'll see, anything might have happened by 4 July.