258: another breath of French air

Well, here we are back from France, having eaten our own bodyweights in baguettes, boule and in Thing 2’s case, brie.

On Sunday we headed off to Port-Louis where my ever- tolerant family put up with me pottering off into the sea for a dip in my bobble hat. The water was so clean and clear, the sun was out and the kids had a wonderful time exploring rock pools, collecting seashells and poking crabs to make sure they weren’t dead. Port-Louis is always good for tiny jewels of green seaglass so I came back with a pocketful for my collection. Thing 2 wants to try making some jewellery with it.

We hit the beach again later in the week for Dad’s birthday at Larmor-Plage, which is a bit further round the coast and has shiny mica-rich sand. The shoreline was populated with tiny sanderlings sounding like squeaky toys as they skittered in and out of the waves. Cormorants, geese and ducks bobbed up and down a bit further out. We pottered along the headland and onto the next beach, with more rock pools and bigger chunks of glass. The Things are becoming more discerning – not frosty enough, still too sharp – as they scan the sand. Lunch was at Le Tour Du Monde, where I had moules mariniere, and Thing 3 excavated an entire lettuce worth of greenery just to remove the tomatoes from his club sandwich.

Further inland, we took some walks along the Blavet, a canalised river which comes out at Lorient. The towpath has been underwater for a lot of the winter so far, and the water is still high. The usual cormorants were haunting dead trees like baby dragons, a heron and a white egret lurked in the shallows and we were lucky enough to see a few kingfishers flashing along. Tan saw a Daubenton’s bat but it failed to make a second appearance no matter how hard we looked.

The most striking thing is the huge increase in coypu activity. The banks are riddled with their holes and on one evening wander we saw a whole family playing and swimming, including a baby pottering about near its mum. The rain last night was torrential so their dens are probably submerged again.

We continue to be confused as to when to stop bonjour-ing other walkers and start bonsoir-ing. Tan’s working theory is that the entire nation receives a subliminal message that tells them. Is it when the sun reaches a certain point on the horizon? It’s definitely not a time, and we have been soundly reproved on occasion with a “nuit est tombé!’ when we have bonjoured a fraction too late. Answers on a carte postale, please.

Considering it’s February we’ve been incredibly lucky with the weather. It only really turned bad on Thursday when we went to Hennebont for the market. We changed our minds and took the kids to Decathlon instead to spend their holiday money, and then took a lengthy detour around Lorient and Lanester on the search for the Chinese buffet for lunch.

On Friday we headed to Trinité-sur-Mer for the market and a blowy walk along the quay. The kids tried Kouign Amman and looked in horror at tripes and andouilles (so did I) and we ate galettes and crêpes for lunch.

Every trip out seems to have ended with a visit to whatever supermarket is on the way back: Super U and the Leclerc Hypermarket were the favourites. I seem to have gained a whole shopping bag of French food (and I remembered treats for the office!) including my favourite Surfizz sweets, cherry compôte and caramel sauce. The kids are amazed by the range of food on offer. I’ve got butter and proper Port Salut too.

In the evenings I’ve been working on my crochet jumper: the back, front and half the first sleeve are done. I chose the pattern as it reminded me of a jumper I loved when I was at uni – the link to the pattern is in the Insta post below.

Dinner times have been a chaos of conversation, as usual when we get together. I think Thing 3 will be quite relieved to get back to normal!

And now it’s back to normal service – kids are back to school on Monday, I’ll be back in the office and I’ll have to think about what to feed people again. I’ve missed Thing 1 and my Beloved, of course, and I think I’ve missed being woken at 5am by starving felines!

Same time next week…

Kirsty x

What I’ve been reading:

Lost Man of Bombay/The Dying Day/City of Destruction/The Last Victim of the Monsoon Express – Vaseem Khan

Night Watch – Terry Pratchett (Audible)

Million Dollar Demon – Kim Harrison

The Holly King – Mark Stay

257: time flies when you’re being mum

The last couple of months have been bringing home to me how fast the Things are growing up, not just physically (as I crane my neck to look up at them) but in what they are up to. I think I have been deep in denial that Thing 1 is actually planning to leave home in just a couple of short months, to head off to university to do Early Childhood Studies. Thing 2 is revising hard for her GCSEs and had an interview for a professional cookery course at a local college this week. Thing 3 is making his GCSE choices and wanting to join gyms and things.

It does make me feel a bit wistful looking up at them all, especially when the digital photo frames show ‘on this day’ pictures of when they were small: using their dad as a climbing frame, charging off into their first deep snow in the local park, picking me bunches of bright dandelions on the way to the shops, ‘gumping in muddy buddles’ in their ladybird wellies, being hopelessly overexcited at a toy train, being the Littlest Gruff on daddy’s lap at storytime. I still have their first shoes and their first tiny Welsh rugby shirts stashed in my wardrobe, of course, and locks of hair from their first haircuts*. There are certain photos which make my heart melt every time they pop up.

Now I look at Thing 3’s shoes (size 12!) and Thing 1’s varying hair colours. Thing 2 still picks flowers but is now more likely to press them and turn them into art than clutch them all around the town. It used to take ages to get anywhere as she was so engrossed in looking at all the small things. Thing 3 used to make us stop at every lamp post where he’d say ‘that sign means lightning! If there is lightning you must not go in the garden because you will DIE’. It took a while to get to nursery. Thing 1 used to talk to the meerkats that lived in Daddy’s shoes, which was a bit disconcerting but there you are. Who were we to say that there weren’t meerkats in his trainers? Imagination is one of the best things about being a small person, building the world the way you want it – I think if they get to exercise it when they’re small it’s good practice for improving the world when they’re older. I think we’re going to need the imagineers in the next couple of years.

Obviously I know in my head that kids are supposed to grow up (I plan on trying it some time myself) and leave home and be their own people and all that sort of caper, but it seems to have come round terribly quickly and without much consultation. I’m not sure I like it but apparently it’s not up to me….

*Thing 2 is reading over my shoulder as she revises and just said ‘urrgghhh, you kept our hair?’ She’ll learn.

Things making me happy this week

Last week’s post being flagged as not meeting some tech corporation’s community standards – AHAHAHA. Like Captain Vimes says, if you’re annoying the right people you’re doing things properly.
The V&A Academy’s online ‘In Practice’ series – last Monday I did Ekta Kaul’s Stitching Nature session and had an enjoyable evening doing embroidery..
Meeting lots of lovely ex-colleagues from Young V&A as I was in Bethnal Green for a meeting.
Turning a Vicki Brown Designs yarn advent sock yarn set into piles of squishy granny squares. Eleven colours down, 23 to go. She designs gorgeous sock patterns too. Sock yarns are too nice to go inside shoes though.
Making some progress on last year’s temperature tracker which I hadn’t touched since August as I put it down in favour of Christmas crochet. Only four months to go…
The prospect of a lot of baguettes, canalside walks and a week off.

What I’ve been reading:

Million Dollar Demon – Kim Harrison

The Fifth Element/Night Watch – Terry Pratchett (Audible)

Death of a Lesser God– Vaseem Khan

256: pass me a cushion please

Quite a lot of this week has been spent staring into the Zoomiverse (or the Teamsiverse) on an interesting variety of webinars covering everything from young people’s engagement in museums to drawing inspiration from Zandra Rhodes’ digital collections. I found out about baby art sessions from people in Scotland, working with refugees and asylum seekers from people in Wales and bringing the community in from someone in Margate. And all from the relative comfort of my various desks. I had a chat with someone in Brighton about access and another about more general things with someone in Woking, introduced by a lovely friend that I first met online via Twitter. I am not sure any more that meeting someone on Twitter is a good idea but it’s true that technology can bring people together – and bring the world closer.

‘Online’ is a weird and saddening place to be at the moment. My feeds, usually an echo chamber of cats, capybaras, yarn and textile makers and people I like in real life, are filled with flabbergasted ‘look what they’ve done now’ news from over the pond. I think the general vibe is similar to when you watch those stupid people trampolining on Lego or staple-gunning sensitive bits of their anatomy for the shock value, except that this is a man and his cronies who are doing serious damage to the people around them. The first female head of a branch of the military – fired and evicted from her home with three hours notice for allegedly following EDI policies too zealously. Blaming EDI hires for a plane crash while the river was still being searched for fatalities. Pardoning violent, racist rioters. Rolling back the rights of trans people. Ending birthright citizenship, blocking refugees, going after Alaskan oil, acting to reverse climate change action. Moving to change the constitution so he can run for a third term. My lovely American friends (none of whom voted for him) are in despair, and that’s not too strong a word.

I read one piece this week where white women who’d voted for him were shocked that the anti-EDI orders were applying to them too. What did they expect was going to happen? They’d be immune because they’d supported him? To him they are nobodies. He’s been handed the power now, so he no longer has to even pretend to care – not that he ever bothered with that. His son posted (rapidly-deleted) threats that anyone standing in the way of the administration would be rolled over by the MAGA machine. The world feels like the first twenty minutes of a post-apocalyptic blockbuster, except that it’s real. And if this is the stuff he’s doing above-board, what’s he doing that can’t be seen?

He’s not our president but the impact of his actions is felt across the world, and the power he’s handing to his megalomaniac cronies who now feel entitled to bring their brand of power-hungry aggression to Europe is concerning. When the French president feels it necessary to tell a tech billionaire based in the US to back off from European politics, something is going wrong. Not that he listened – he’s now backing the right wing ‘Make Europe Great Again’ rallies. I’m assuming that this crony and, indeed, the Cheeto’s weird wife, are immune from being deported as immigrants but – again – there’s no guarantee so they should perhaps be a little wary about putting all their eggs in one orange basketcase.

In typical fashion, this appalling state of affairs seems to give people over here – including some who remain on my friend lists for historical reasons only, but who I often mute for 30 days when the racism gets too much – a licence to be publicly racist, posting content about refugees. Reform are gaining seats in by-elections. The pathetic Tate has allegedly set up his political party. They say that people who ignore history are doomed to repeat it, but no one said anything about selective historical ignorance. The people mentioned above are actual historians of one kind or another, who can talk for hours on the subject of various wars, but who don’t seem to relate the right-wing rants they repost to the history they know about.

Like everyone else I don’t have any sensible solutions and it’s probably not practical to watch the next four years from behind a cushion, as if it was an episode of the Triffids or something. What I can do is carry on being a safe space, and treating the people around me in the way I’d like to be treated. Do the small things and watch the ripples of kindness expand. And hope that the world comes to its senses sooner rather than later.

Things making me happy this week

A muddy walk with Sue, Jill, Heather and the Bella-dog on Sunday afternoon, through the floodplain and ending up at the pub for coffee and a chat
Chilly swimming on Sunday morning with Jill – it wasn’t frozen but even the swans were a bit wary about hopping in

Making use of the yoga mat as a blocking aid for the Spiderweb scarf, which has seen a lot of wear this week
Starting a crochet jumper inspired by one I wore in uni, and turning mini-skeins into little granny squares
Getting caught in the rain on my Saturday long walk….and finding a bus going in my direction just waiting for me. It would have been rude not to get on it…
Thing 3 turning 14 and Thing 2 making the cake

This morning we’re dog-walking rather than swimming, which will at least be warmer! Next week I’ll be coming to you from la belle France where (if we’re lucky) the waters will have receded far enough for some long walks.

Kirsty x

What I’ve been reading:

Hardcore 24/Look Alive 25/Twisted 26 – Janet Evanovich

Jingo/The Fifth Elephant – Terry Pratchett (Audible)

Fear of Flying – Erica Jong

Million Dollar Demon – Kim Harrison

255: a straight answer to a simple question

January is over at last, and as I am a contrary little being I have been looking into gym memberships – well, swimming for me and a junior membership for Thing 3 who has been nagging me for ages. Good GRIEF but these places make it hard to find simple information – like how much a particular membership costs, for example, or the types of membership there are.

For Golden Lane, the closest pool to where I work, I can find a page where I can pause, freeze or give notice of cancellation of my membership but no information on how I can become a member. At Better Leisure – Ironmonger Row Baths – I can find the membership page (yay!) but then need to start filling in forms and promising the soul of my firstborn (sorry, Thing 1) before I can find out how much it is although they do offer a swim membership which covers the outdoor facility at West Reservoir as well. At the one Thing 3 wants to join, you can’t join as a junior online which is fair enough but surely they could at least tell you how much it is?

Honestly, it’s like all the leisure centre websites have been built by teenagers or possibly by my Beloved as they are all incapable of answering a simple question with a straightforward answer. It surely can’t come as a surprise to service providers that people might want to get this quite important information without having to enter any personal details, or delve down through multiple webpages? I don’t want to talk to people on the phone, or wait for them to get round to answering enquiries, especially as the former action, from previous gym experiences, is going to be the hard sell on me rather than just answering my questions. Actual example:

Me: So, how much is it per month?

Gym person: how much do you think it should be?

Me: OK, £20 per month (having lost patience with the shiny-tracksuited sales ‘associate’)

Gym person: Oh, you can get that out of your head.

Me: well, perhaps you should have just answered the question rather than wasting my time then? [channelling my inner Dad]

The whole point of the internet and websites – apart from cat videos, of course – is that information is at your fingertips. The only plus I can derive from this is that at least these sites aren’t pervaded by chatbots, who are clearly designed by an evil imp in some infernal circle of hell and whose very name is a laughable lie as they do not, in fact, chat….they answer a limited number of pre-set questions with more questions and can’t actually provide any information, or even let you speak to someone with a human brain who might be able to provide assistance. I can only assume that AI ‘assistants’ are also in their teenage phase….

Things making me happy this week

A ten-mile training walk on Saturday morning, through Magdalen and High Lavers to Moreton and back. I spotted a kestrel, a red kite, a sparrowhawk, a little egret, a heron and – for some reason – a large goose sitting in the middle of the road. The rain held off and I didn’t get shot by the enthusiastic hunting family out past Magdalen Laver. Road-only walk apart from a short stretch past Moreton, as the fields are basically a swamp again. Big thanks to the landlord of the White Hart for letting me use their toilet…
Visiting the Art Club at South Library with illustrator Grace Holliday, where we explored play and architecture and met some lovely people who are very excited about the Centre
Finishing an extremely fluffy blanket for GT2, who stayed over with us on Friday night so his mama could have a night out. Endless Sesame Street turned out to be better than the Wales v France game
Finishing this Spiderweb Infinity Scarf in one of the hand-dyed yarns from the Waltham Abbey Wool Show – not shown as it needs blocking!
Thing 2’s excellent cinnamon rolls
A really positive parents evening for Thing 1 followed by a drink with Miriam (while Thing 1 eyerolled at us from behind the bar)
The Last of Us – especially episode 3, one of the most beautifully written pieces of television I have seen for ages

The thing annoying me this week is the press insisting on peppering all Marianne Faithfull’s obituaries with ‘Mick Jagger’s ex-girlfriend’ references – never mind the amazing albums she’s made in the 55 years since they split up, the work she’s done with Nick Cave and PJ Harvey and others, and the whole life she’s lived since then….grr! Go and listen to this from the gorgeous Easy Come Easy Go album of covers. Go!

And today I am off for a swim with Jill and I have no idea what else the week is bringing….

Kirsty x

What I’ve been reading:

Feet of Clay/Jingo – Terry Pratchett (Audible)

Million Dollar Demon – Kim Harrison

Fear of Flying – Erica Jong

Tricky Twenty-Two/Turbo Twenty-Three – Janet Evanovich

Bad Day at the Vulture Club – Vaseem Khan