Like Sand

[tealin]

Yesterday I had some coffee after 3pm so was up and fully alert until 1. There was no reason to do anything else so I just worked until I reached a point where I was either going to go for another five hours or stop and try to sleep; I opted for the latter and, much to my surprise, I actually did. I figured I'd get the rest done in half a day, and could have the evening to goof off in whatever way is available to a boring single lady in lockdown.*

Just a few things to do before sitting down to work ...

• cook another batch of apples into juice (boil, strain, reduce, bottle)
• wash yesterday's dishes
• load laundry into washer
• pay for book delivery (and write note to sender re: Scott's last letter to Barrie)
• pack and send Ko-Fi shop order
• wash today's dishes
• set laundry atop Aga to dry
• register with new GP

I have not spent any time staring into space or dawdling on social media. I have been doing responsible grownup things all day, that absolutely have to be done – in the case of the apples, quite urgently, and as for the GP, well overdue – yet here I am at 4:30pm just sitting down to get started on work.

I cherish my solitude, but there are certainly some times when I resent being one person and having do everything that needs doing in sequence, rather than dividing labour and getting two things done at once. In the shifting definitions and expectations of human partnership over the last century, the word 'helpmeet' has fallen out of use, but personally that's the most attractive part of a relationship, to me – which probably goes some way to explain why I'm still single. 'Seeking teammate for life stuff, not sex' would be a pretty pathetic Tinder profile.

On the other hand, after a summer of pushing various fruits through a sieve with a spoon, today I discovered how a 'vegetable mill' works, and now I have another item on my list of things from this house I hope I get to take with me when the time comes ...

*i.e. watch another episode of The Bridge