The bookshop yesterday had the remnants of a house-clearing in movers boxes, including old sketchbooks, diaries, correspondence, postcards, christmas cards, notes, research books, shopping lists, the works. Often the donations seem quite autobiographical (the oft-seen self-help triples of saving marriage, surviving divorce and living happily single or looking for mr right, becoming orgasmic and living happily single, for example) but I think this is the first donation I've seen that could actually quite easily be used to write an autobiography. The sabbaticals in Italy, the regular catholic vs. protestant disputes, the ongoing struggle with the dentist -- it was all there, set in a tidy framework of novels in three languages and Italian theology. There was also a minor crisis when someone wanted to buy a toilet for his son's birthday, and it looked like we'd run out (the toilets are the most popular of the out-of-season Oxfam Unwrapped gifts) but I found a stash of spares out back so that was OK.
Our usual pub was jammed so we ended up at the second choice afterward the bookshop where I got charged over six pounds for a single drink to which I can only say -- well. That's the last time I drink in Jericho.
I think that anything else interesting was short enough to fit in a twitter. Oh! except for the Gardeners World Drinking Game. Only works on Carol Klein episodes -- every time she propagates, you drink. You can still pick up this week's episode on the iplayer, but I would recommend not drinking anything strong as you will end up slaughtered. I'm working on a version for Monty Don (perhaps every time he says, "and of course, it's completely organic"?) but I suppose there's entertainment enough there what with the mysterious redhead and her small dog.
I'm quite pleased with my garden at the moment; the species tulips came up, and unlike almost everything else, they've not been INSTANTLY CONSUMED by the unstoppable slug army. The twisted hazel has three pitiful little catkins. The bulbs I planted in the crack gardens came up early and got frosted but I'm thinking; Alpines. They can probably cope.
