Some bloggers are very good about recounting their daily lives. In fact, for many it is their staple blogging fayre. I admit that I am not so good at this kind of blogging. I tend to branch out into poetry, photo walks, memories, current affairs, films and books etcetera. Making ordinariness a pleasure to read about is quite a talent in my view.
This evening I can't think of anything else to write about so let's go for the everyday- mundanity, ordinariness - call it what you will.
Shirley and I had to look after Little Phoebe for three days this week because she had contracted impetigo. She probably picked it up at the nursery school but because it is infectious they wouldn't allow her to attend her day sessions. The poor little mite was quite poorly with it and out of sorts with herself. She had an unpleasant rash above her chin but this has now largely cleared up thanks to antiseptic ointment.
She likes to sit on my knee as I show her YouTube videos of children's songs - often with cartoon characters. Through her I have encountered a children's TV clown called Mr Tumble who stars in plenty of BBC videos. At the moment Phoebe loves a counting song called "Ten Apples On My Head". It's American and until ten days ago I had never come across it. She rocks and claps her hands wrapt in concentration for a few minutes.
On Thursday night, Shirley was at her monthly Women's Institute meeting so I settled down to watch a really good film on BBC 4 - "If Beale Street Could Talk" based upon a novel of the same name by James Baldwin. It was a tender, well crafted piece of cinema which spoke with resignation about the insidious rhythms of racism experienced by urban blacks in America.. Though the driver's lash is no longer cracked and trembling girls no longer stand on auction blocks, there are plenty of other ways in which they can get you if you happen to be black. Above all, "If Beale Street Could Talk" is a love story with Tish played by KiKi Layne and "Fonny" played by Stephan James.
Yesterday a tree surgeon called Lee came to see us. Some time in the not too distant future, he is going to be taking down our forty foot horse chestnut tree. It is thirty five years old and was grown from a conker that my son picked up when he was a three year old boy. I plan to save some of the wood for carving and making cutting boards. Perhaps I should have planted it some place else all those years ago. It's amazing how it has grown.
Of course there has been grocery shopping to do and meals to make this week. Last night for example, it was sirloin steak with baked potatoes, green beans and broad beans, fried onions and mushrooms with grilled tomatoes. And there were rugby matches to watch - France beating Wales and England losing to Ireland but at least on the football front my team managed to pick up a point at Birmingham City on Saturday afternoon.
Well, that's me - attempting to capture a sense of my everyday life - domesticity. Clearly I need more practice in this sphere if I am going to develop a comfortable, conversational tone. I must try harder and maybe I will make another effort pretty soon. I am very sorry if you were bored.
I read my first Baldwin book last month and will admit I struggled with it. (Go Tell It On the Mountain) Now I will watch your YouTube clip. I had a book as a child called Ten Apples Up On Top. Perhaps it's similar.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the video Kelly! You can dance to it too!
DeleteSounds like a pleasant happy life and it is enjoyable to read your post! I like hearing about your life and find it interesting too. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteWell, thanks for your kind support Ellen!
DeleteThere'd have to be something wrong with you if you didn't like stories of Phoebe or cutting down trees or a good dinner!
ReplyDeleteMake sure you play the video Red! I am sure it's just up your street!
DeleteI'm not at all bored, although I did doze off for a bit, not enough sleep last night maybe. But now I'm thinking about steak and baked potatoes. Manna from heaven. I haven't had a steak in almost a year because the prices are ridiculous, so I buy beef mince and make stacks of burgers to fill the freezer. They're an acceptable substitute in my eyes. I quite like hearing about day to day stuff in between the lovely photos/walking posts.
ReplyDeleteOn the day of your birthday, why not treat yourself to a proper steak River?
DeleteNot bored in the least little bit. Though I did turn off '10 Apples on my Head' a quarter of the way through. Reminds me of playing 'Brum' continuously which was my eldest grandchild's favourite. Notice you had plenty of veg with your meat!
ReplyDeleteI have never played "Brum". I guess it is based on the city of Birmingham. Do players have to get round the inner ring road?
DeleteAccounts of other people's daily lives do not bore me. I find them entertaining and interesting, and can often learn something from them along the way.
ReplyDeleteYou smooth talker JayCee!
DeleteIf you bought yourself a wood turning lathe you could make fruit bowls.
ReplyDeleteI might get fed up with it after the second bowl.
Deletedo check they havent stuck a crafty tree preservation order on your tree , they did that to a sycamore in the front garden , western power had to jump through hoops to take a single branch off . Nobody ever told us it had a preservation order .1000 fine and it only takes a phone call to the council to check
ReplyDeleteThat's good advice Kate. Thank you. I will do it.
DeleteYou must have patience to sit through Ten Apples on My Head - I gave up after a minute! There is nothing wrong with describing your ordinariness. It makes you more human. (Not that you are not human, but I mean it pads out who you are.)
ReplyDeleteYou mean that you never got to the end of "Ten Apples on My Head"? Oh dear, ADDY - what will become of you?
DeleteThat sounds like a nice relaxing family day. Good to read that normal life goes on in these uncertain times.
ReplyDeleteYes, do check for a Preservation Order on that tree - there could be a blanket order on all the trees in the neighbourhood. We experienced something similar in our last house in the UK.
Thank you YP, steak and baked potato has given me the answer for my dinner this evening - I'll go and take a steak out of the freezer right away! I'm running low on veg., so it will have to be broccoli, beans and carrots.
Enjoy your steak Carol! I have checked Sheffield Council's website and there are no tree preservation orders in our immediate neighbourhood.
DeleteLike you, I'd struggle to blog about everyday life. However, I still find myself returning to your last post about Rotuma, and how adventurous it was to go on VSO aged 18 straight after A levels. There must also have been pressures to 'get a proper career started instead of dossing about'. I used to see students who about to drop out of a wrong course would be worried they had 'wasted a year' and were 'a year behind'. It was hard to convince them I was they hadn't.
ReplyDeleteYour last sentence doesn't make sense Mr Dunham. Back in the late sixties/early seventies, the notion of "a year out" was not common currency. I was in the very last cohort of VSO school leaver volunteers though that is how VSO had begun in the sixties.
DeleteApologies for an extra 'I was' due to incomplete editing.
DeleteYou also struck lucky with the posting. My friend went aged 23 in 1977 and was sent to Northern Ghana in sub-Saharan Africa. He had been hoping for something like Rotuma.
I find it rather comforting to read blog reports from various 'ordinary' daily lives around the world, as contrast to catastrophes, wars and politics that we get fed more of than we are able digest through other media channels anyway.
ReplyDeleteI worry about Ukraine and the plight of the Ukrainian people all the time and I have to force myself not to let this crisis take over my blog.
DeleteIf Beale Street Could Talk is a lovely film. It does stay with you awhile after seeing it. Regina King is one of my favorite actresses
ReplyDeleteShe got a "Best Supporting Actress" oscar for her role.
DeleteI can remember watching videos with Owen and Gibson years ago that quite frankly, bored me to pieces but they loved them. Now August and Levon thrill at watching diet coke and mento explosion videos. They beg me to show them to them on my phone. We also enjoy watching videos about octopuses. Those, at least, are somewhat educational and quite amazing. Sharks are popular too.
ReplyDeleteAs Phoebe is a little girl, I guess she will be more drawn to butterflies, hamsters and unicorns. Incidentally, do unicorns really exist?
DeleteIn toy stores the world over. Assorted sizes.
DeleteLike the others have said here, your account of everyday life at Pudding Towers is not boring at all. What is ordinary to you may sound rather exotic to someone else. I, for instance, have never looked after children, never visited a WI meeting and never had to deal with a tree surgeon.
ReplyDeleteWhat a shame about the tree, but sometimes these things must be done. I think daily life makes the best blog posts! (As you can probably tell from my own blathering on.)
ReplyDeleteThe everyday is not boring at all - and can be an important reminder, especially in such distressing times like these, that life goes on.
ReplyDeleteThe challenge, however, is to make such writing universal, typically through reflections and insights that resonate and connect rather than simply recalling personal events. The really great personal writers do this so well - Orwell's diaries or those of Jose Saramago are good examples. In a sense it's the difference between writing 'from' our experience rather than simply 'about' it.
"It's not about me' is a mantra I try always to recite as I write, though all too often failing.
Quite interesting, actually. I find it fascinating to see how people in other lands spend their time. Not every day, mind you, but from time to time.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy finding out about people's daily lives: what they're thinking, doing, reading, watching, etc. We're all so different. Glad that P. is better. I'm pretty sure that both my kids had that. I don't think Grandson has...yet.
ReplyDelete