Weekend fragments
May. 3rd, 2020 04:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dolorosa_12It seems ridiculous to say that the highlight of the weekend was getting a new kettle and toaster delivered (but we got them for 'free' on the basis of credits earned by Matthias through using direct debits for certain payments; also I am enough of a millennial to appreciate that they have rose gold trim), walking to and from Grantchester as the sun rose, and eating crêpes for breakfast, but such is lockdown life.
*
Matthias and I finished the final season of Black Sails on Thursday, and I'd been planning to write a longer review of it over at![[wordpress.com profile]](https://p.dreamwidth.org/1225b00cee13/-/s.wordpress.org/about/images/wpmini-blue.png)
dolorosa12, but in the end I lacked the mental energy. I will probably get around to it next week, but suffice it to say that my review, in summary, is oh, my heart. I love these ridiculous people, and how fiercely they fight for survival, and for each other, and how they come to realise that these things are worth fighting for. I knew from the start that Max would be my favourite character, and I rejoice at the ending she got.
*
Yesterday was sunny and warm, and I spent the morning repotting my radish seedlings from tiny pots in the kitchen windowsill into large planters outside, and planted some rocket seeds as well. I'm hoping May is now warm enough for them to thrive. My tomato, chili and bean seedlings remain indoors for now, but in general the garden is bursting into riotous life: the unkillable mint and chives have resurrected themselves after dying back in winter, and the unkempt rosemary and thyme plants have new shoots. I miss getting hand-delivered squash, onions, and beetroot fromnotasapleasure and her husband's allotment, but I'm doing the best I can at home.
Today was colder — it kept threatening to rain, and other than the early morning walk along the river, and dashing out quickly to post some recipe letters (anyone who requested a letter in the most recent post as of 5pm on Sunday should have a letter winging its way towards you as I type), I stayed indoors. I attempted to dry bed linen outdoors (I just love how it smells!) but this had to be rescued from the rain after several hours, frustratingly.
*
My morning was occupied with a long restorative yoga session, finishing off Tessa Gratton's rural folk horror gothic novel Strange Grace (you were right, of course,merit, I adored it), and watching an epic hour-long Youtube video about the Msscribe saga. I was not in fandom (indeed I was barely online) when all this went down, but I can remember avidly reading (and rereading) the Fandom Wank posts about it (and the equivalent post about Cassandra Cla(i)re's plagiarism), and boggling at the sheer level of energy all the various participants would have had to have invested not in fannish activities, but in all the feuds, deceptions and drama. And these weren't teenagers — that's what always shocks me — they were adults, many of whom with responsible jobs, children and presumably some degree of life experience. It never ceases to amaze me, and is kind of entertaining to revisit (in the sense of watching a trainwreck) with the distance of time, in a way that rubbernecking on current fandom feuds and drama is not.
Regarding Strange Grace, if you like folk horror, sentient forests with ancient mysterious forest gods, idyllic rural villages whose inhabitants have made terrible bargains with said forest gods, and plucky teenage heroes whose problems would be solved by both polyamory and heading into the dark heart of the forest to commune with the mythical creatures within, you will like this story. I still prefer Gratton's King Lear retelling, The Queens of Innis Lear, but Strange Grace is also great.
*
I always feel around this time on Sunday afternoons that the weekend has somewhat run away from me, but given I have much more control of my time while I'm working from home, I feel less stressed about potentially wasting available free time and not 'using my weekend properly'. Normally by this point on Sunday afternoons I'm already switching gear into work mode, but today I'll be cooking something slow, and warm, and nourishing, drinking a bit of red wine, and curling up with Matthias to make a start on the next batch of backlogged Netflix shows, without feeling any of the tense anxiety that I normally begin experiencing as the evening shifts closer to Monday.
And then the week will start again.
Matthias and I finished the final season of Black Sails on Thursday, and I'd been planning to write a longer review of it over at
dolorosa12, but in the end I lacked the mental energy. I will probably get around to it next week, but suffice it to say that my review, in summary, is oh, my heart. I love these ridiculous people, and how fiercely they fight for survival, and for each other, and how they come to realise that these things are worth fighting for. I knew from the start that Max would be my favourite character, and I rejoice at the ending she got.Yesterday was sunny and warm, and I spent the morning repotting my radish seedlings from tiny pots in the kitchen windowsill into large planters outside, and planted some rocket seeds as well. I'm hoping May is now warm enough for them to thrive. My tomato, chili and bean seedlings remain indoors for now, but in general the garden is bursting into riotous life: the unkillable mint and chives have resurrected themselves after dying back in winter, and the unkempt rosemary and thyme plants have new shoots. I miss getting hand-delivered squash, onions, and beetroot from
notasapleasure and her husband's allotment, but I'm doing the best I can at home.Today was colder — it kept threatening to rain, and other than the early morning walk along the river, and dashing out quickly to post some recipe letters (anyone who requested a letter in the most recent post as of 5pm on Sunday should have a letter winging its way towards you as I type), I stayed indoors. I attempted to dry bed linen outdoors (I just love how it smells!) but this had to be rescued from the rain after several hours, frustratingly.
My morning was occupied with a long restorative yoga session, finishing off Tessa Gratton's rural folk horror gothic novel Strange Grace (you were right, of course,
merit, I adored it), and watching an epic hour-long Youtube video about the Msscribe saga. I was not in fandom (indeed I was barely online) when all this went down, but I can remember avidly reading (and rereading) the Fandom Wank posts about it (and the equivalent post about Cassandra Cla(i)re's plagiarism), and boggling at the sheer level of energy all the various participants would have had to have invested not in fannish activities, but in all the feuds, deceptions and drama. And these weren't teenagers — that's what always shocks me — they were adults, many of whom with responsible jobs, children and presumably some degree of life experience. It never ceases to amaze me, and is kind of entertaining to revisit (in the sense of watching a trainwreck) with the distance of time, in a way that rubbernecking on current fandom feuds and drama is not. Regarding Strange Grace, if you like folk horror, sentient forests with ancient mysterious forest gods, idyllic rural villages whose inhabitants have made terrible bargains with said forest gods, and plucky teenage heroes whose problems would be solved by both polyamory and heading into the dark heart of the forest to commune with the mythical creatures within, you will like this story. I still prefer Gratton's King Lear retelling, The Queens of Innis Lear, but Strange Grace is also great.
I always feel around this time on Sunday afternoons that the weekend has somewhat run away from me, but given I have much more control of my time while I'm working from home, I feel less stressed about potentially wasting available free time and not 'using my weekend properly'. Normally by this point on Sunday afternoons I'm already switching gear into work mode, but today I'll be cooking something slow, and warm, and nourishing, drinking a bit of red wine, and curling up with Matthias to make a start on the next batch of backlogged Netflix shows, without feeling any of the tense anxiety that I normally begin experiencing as the evening shifts closer to Monday.
And then the week will start again.