life – Page 25 – Louisa Parry

3BT – funny, big & ugly; music to smile to; Boron’s blinks

1. I run upstairs to get my phone and see cracks of daylight around his wardrobe doors. It jars me for a second before I remember: there is a window – a floor-to-ceiling window – at the back of the fitted wardrobes. I laugh out loud. This house is so funny, it’s perfect for us.

2. Music that’s made me smile today:
a) the Divine Comedy’s new album ‘Bang Goes the Knighthood’. The whole album (aside from ‘When A Man Cries’) is great perky-pop but it’s ‘At the Indie Disco‘ which leaves me grinning like an idiot: it’s my 1997 down to a tee. It’s like Neil Hannon stole my diary and wrote a fun tune from it.
b) I’m trying to find something for us to listen to while I’m gaming and John’s programming. “This is music to choose music to,” I explain when Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass’s ‘Up Cherry Street‘ starts playing. It’s impossible to keep still when that’s playing. Moronic head dancing a-go-go.
c) The music I pick is the first ‘69 Love Songs‘ album by the Magnetic Fields. I’ve listened to it so many times that the great lyrics wash past me while I’m Theme Hospital-ing but I smile as John laughs, hearing phrases for the first time.

3. Boron is dozing on the armchair – the fireside chair that’s been moved into the corner for the summer. When I look over at him, he half-opens his eyes and blinks slowly at me.

3BT – keeping separate, worth the work, evening walk

17/6/2010 / louisa / 0 Comments

1. The clear oil cuts through the beetroot-stained vinegar on the plate.

2. I’m re-reading ‘I Capture The Castle’ by Dodie Smith yet again. The introduction to my edition tells me: “[Dodie] rewrote every line, under [husband] Alec’s critical supervision, hearing every line of dialogue in her head and unable to stop thinking about it even in bed. … She kept a 100,000 word notebook on the progress of the novel, recording how each character changed, and how even the minor characters, down to the [family]’s dog and cat, were kept in play.” One of my most favourite books.

3. After dinner, we go for a walk in the woods – I want to show John the new meadow I found and a balmy summer evening seems to be the perfect time to do it. We follow the faint paths to it, then through it, then away from it, stretching out into the horses fields then twisting back in the woods and home. We’re sweaty and nursing nettle stings by the time we make it home but have had a wonderful time.

3BT – found heaven, I’m not THAT lazy, surprised to love it

16/6/2010 / louisa / 0 Comments

1. I call John when he’s on his way home. “I’ve found heaven,” I tell him. “Really?” he asks, “are you phoning from there now? How’s the mobile reception?”. In fact, I’ve found yet another new part of the woods – daily walks for over three months and we’re still finding new bits – and it’s beautiful. A small glade at the hill, out of the way and as I enter, two red butterflies dance above the waist high grass. Judging by the path and the grass, no one has been here for months – or next to no one. There is a crushed crop circle of grass to one side of the clearing – is this where the deer sleep?

2. The bus driver is incredulously when I get up to stand near the door – had I really just waited ten minutes at the start of his route to go one stop? No, I explain, but I couldn’t hear what he was saying when I was sat down. I think he likes I’ve made the effort and we chat about holidays, travelling and the internet until the bus fills up.

3. If all kids were like them, I’d become a teacher in a shot. Wednesday nights at drama are amongst my favourite times of the week.

3BT – puppy love, unusual blooms, kitty love, John love

14/6/2010 / louisa / 0 Comments

1. I’m pawed, I’m licked, I’m nibbled all over. He can’t decide whether to eat his lunch or play with me so runs back and forth between both options until I’m tired. When I get back home, Lily thinks I smell very interesting and I’m grateful for her comparative calmness.

Later on, they play together in the garden. We watch over them like proud mums as they jump about with their helicopter tails.

2. I can smell garlic on the way up the hill but it’s only after leaving the meadow that I spot the former stream bed covered in wilting leaves. I decide to collect some more seed pods but without a basket, have to carry them in a bunch by their stems. I feel like I’m carrying a bouquet designed in the atomic era.

3. In turn, both of the cats visit my knee and I close my eyes to fully appreciate how they feel, sound and smell.

4. I’m so glad when I get a text just before midnight to say he’s on the train, the last train. Just over three hours later, I wake up suddenly and so do the cats and the dog. I hear keys in the door, a shuffling, a quiet unmistakeable cough. Lily’s tail starts banging on the bed – she knows who it is too.

Last week’s Tweets (up to 2010-06-13)

13/6/2010 / louisa / 0 Comments

I like the rhythm of next door's tumble dryer spinning against the party wall, gives the office a womb-like quality. Making me sleepy though #
Saw a jay in the garden at lunchtime. Silent bob nowhere to be seen though. #
.@johnleach just quietly moved his head up & down until i realised the HILARIOUS joke he was making re: my last tweet. I might leave him. #
Had to get stabbed three times before a sufficiently pumpy vein was found. Not fun for a needlephobic! #
@swirlyarts I make them in GIMP – each frame a separate layer in reply to swirlyarts #
Hurrah for traffic jams – i'd have missed my bus if the road hadn't been clogged ;) #
There should be a rule that bus stops can't be within smell range of curry restaurants. #
RT @manupatree Wild Garlic pods & Hop shoots and some other stuff http://bit.ly/dpzISO << great idea, I'll pickle some pods this weekend! #
A long shot but does anyone have a white kimono or kimono-esque robe that we can use as a stage costume for a week in July? #
@davidsmalley the actress is only 13 and slight, but i think that *might* be a little small. ;) in reply to davidsmalley #
@strowger78 hurrah! were they as soft as you'd hoped? in reply to strowger78 #
@strowger78 fluffy kitties! cute pics :) in reply to strowger78 #
@johnleach what more could you want from a search engine? I mean, aside from the results in, alternately, marquee & blink tags. in reply to johnleach #
@Caius Awesome work – makes me feel queasy looking at it. Put a swirly animated gif background on the results page and you're THERE. #
@davidsmalley authentic 1998 stylee. in reply to davidsmalley #
Had a wonderful date night with @johnleach (& Lily). Dinner at Coopers in Guiseley, followed by a walk around the park & cute doggy playing #
I've got that weird feeling again where it feels like my feet are on backwards. #
@tim_waters yes, we're ikea ninjas these days. instead of being deadly assassins, we buy cushions but doing it sneaky ninja style. :) in reply to tim_waters #
Home Delivery Network just dropped an Amazon package through a window in our porch onto tiled floor, 6ft below. Good job it wasn't fragile! #
Went to the fete at the Leonard Cheshire Home on Clara Dr with Team Slater – bought cute hankies & cake to eat in 1970s style in the garden. #
Following @manupatree's cue (http://bit.ly/dpzISO), I pickled some wild garlic pods today. Might try making something tapenade-y tomorrow. #
Oh, and inspired by stinky garlicky hands while cleaning my teeth, I'd also like to try doing something with the pods & some mint… #
Clearing out some old uni books. Anything with "cyberspace" (or, double gah, "hyperspace") in the title automatically goes in the to-go pile #
I am to blame for all the rain. I ended the 1st hot spell by buying shorts, the 2nd flipflops & our new patio set arrived yesterday. Sorry. #
Only doing about 3 things on my to-do list for today but have done chores, baked scones, gardened & spun yarn. So it's ok, I forgive me. #
@tim_waters hurrah! are you using a kit or did you collect the spores yourself? mushrooms are on our to-grow list – you can be our guru. in reply to tim_waters #

3BT – embarrassing, nearly there, alchemy

13/6/2010 / louisa / 0 Comments

1. We stop at the park on the way home – the park that looks like a stereotypical village green, next to a church, with a cricket pitch in the middle – and run around with Lily. Despite her initial excitement, she tires quickly and we sit down next to her. She immediately gets up, walks to the other side of the path and sits down again. We laugh, imagining her saying “Ugh! Muuum! Daaad! Don’t sit near me and embarrass me in front of the other springers!”.

2. Rain stops play in the garden so we retreat inside. We unpack some books – some of the last boxes to be unpacked since the move. With each box we empty, we free up a little more space, feel a little more settled.

3. The magical transformation when the flour and butter are completely rubbed together. The light powder and sticky solid become almost grainy.

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