Another weekend over. Of course it's not the same as when I was a schoolteacher anticipating the busy working week ahead - all the demands upon my time and those endless human interactions. There was never enough time to get everything done.
Nowadays, I do not have to don my metaphorical armour on Monday mornings. Most mornings are the same - sleeping late and then getting up for an unhurried breakfast with a big pint mug of tea before taking a shower when I feel like doing so. As The Eagles sang, I can "Take it Easy" and I am not complaining. Welcome to retirement.
On Saturday morning the doorbell went. I was still in my dressing gown. In case of accidental exposure, I adjusted and re-tied the belt on said dressing gown. Good job too because two earnest religious missionaries were on the doorstep. Two women.
Before they could get into full flow, I cut them short - telling them that God does not exist and that I had been an atheist since childhood. "Sorry to let you know", I said. The older woman replied, "That's all right. We respect other people's opinions" and I said, "I am sorry. This is not an opinion. It is a fact. God does not exist. It's all a myth.". And before closing the door I said "Good luck!"
Even though it was only yesterday, I cannot remember much else that happened. I picked the last of the plums and I made a nice evening meal - fried chicken, baked potato, fine green beans and a tomato salsa that I created using some of the excess tomatoes from Shirley's greenhouse. I also read another chapter from a book on Buddhism that I am currently reading. Oh and I also spoke to our son Ian who is holidaying on the French Riviera with his girlfriend Sarah.
Today (Sunday), after showering, I went up the garden to clear a neglected area close to the stump of the horse chestnut tree we had removed in May. Shirley was keen to create a "bug hotel" using logs and, branches and other redundant wood. Of course this helped the clear-up operation. We began with a builder's wooden pallet. Earlier, I had watched Queen Elizabeth's funeral cortege leaving Balmoral and proceeding to Aberdeen along a sunny high road, under trees on the north bank of The River Dee. Fare ye well sweet Majesty - the true Queen of Hearts.
Before long, it was time for me to get back inside to prepare our Sunday dinner - roasted loin of pork, roasted potatoes, roasted carrots and parsnip, tenderstem broccoli, sage and onion stuffing, Yorkshire puddings and homemade onion gravy - followed by strawberry cheesecake with fresh strawberries and vegan vanilla ice cream.
During the preparation of said meal - Frances, Stew and Little Phoebe arrived. She called me "grandma" after rehearsing "grandpa" in the car. Never mind, she's getting there with her fast developing language skills.
This evening I caught the bus up to Bents Green and another quiz night at "The Hammer". Trouble was that the quiz company "Redtooth" had failed to send the pub the week's questions so I ended up just chattering with Mick and Danny. Mike's on a holiday break in Llandudno, North Wales. I caught the Number 88 bus home at 10.48.
And that folks was my weekend in a nutshell.
About 2:30 a.m. this agnostic's wishing the peace of the night and a fine start into another week.
ReplyDeleteBlessings to you my son!
DeleteYou covered lot of territory on this post. Your Sunday dinner would be a big hit with me. I like things roasted.
ReplyDeleteIt would be great to have you at our dinner table Red.
DeleteAs a fellow retired schoolteacher, I don't miss the stress of Sunday nights, and the constant work to be done and never enough time; I also love dawdling over my coffee and taking my bath whenever I want or not at all. I especially enjoy being able to use the restroom (toilet, loo) at any time without leaving a class of 35+ unsupervised. I'm sure I was marginally dehydrated my 37 years of teaching due to severely curtailing my liquid intake!
ReplyDeleteThere cannot be many trades or professions that inhibit toilet visits as teaching does. This cannot be healthy. Ironically, some schoolchildren are forever asking to visit the toilet.
DeleteA very well-filled weekend. Mine are spent slothing around while I read the paper which seems to take longer than it should and waiting for the cat to get off the bed so I can make it. Anything else that gets done is counted as a bonus.
ReplyDeleteSloths—the sluggish tree-dwellers of Central and South America—spend their lives in the tropical rain forests. They move through the canopy at a rate of about 40 yards per day, munching on leaves, twigs and buds. Sloths have an exceptionally low metabolic rate and spend 15 to 20 hours per day sleeping. And surprisingly enough, the long-armed animals are excellent swimmers. They occasionally drop from their treetop perches into water for a paddle.
DeleteSo much sentiment for our Queen, she certainly stole the hearts of her people. Do you make your yorkshire puds by the way? Can't stand Aunt Bessie's ones.
ReplyDeleteOf course I make the Yorkshire puddings myself Thelma. I am distressed that you would ask such a heinous question!
Deleterecipe please.
DeleteA walk-less weekend, but a good one nonetheless. Your meals sound sumptuous and delicious, grandma!
ReplyDeleteThanks Mike!
DeleteIn the early 70s my husband lived in a shared house in Cambridge with 2 other chaps...no TV. One evening 2 women of similar ilk to those who came to your door came a knocking! As they had nothing much better to do that eve they invited them in and saved the whole road from them for an hour or so!
ReplyDeleteIt can be a kind of sport but should be done politely and in good humour. I looked into the abyss and there was nothing there.
DeleteWell, your weekend was more exciting than mine!
ReplyDeleteWere you watching paint dry Carol?
DeleteIt sounds like a satisfying weekend. Low stress, send the liggie ones away from you door with facts, family, friends and food.
ReplyDelete"liggie" is not a word I have encountered before. I guess it's derived from "religion".
DeleteI have got the faith to be an Athiest. We get JWs calling sometimes. They have some strange beliefs like Jesus returning in 1914. At least they call unlike the major denominations. I missed the football results on Saturday yet they allowed the rugby and cricket to be played. Strange.
ReplyDeleteThat was strange about the football wasn't it? I think the football authorities acted too swiftly - creating extra fixture problems down the line.
DeleteThat sounds like a good weekend to me. And the food! You made a couple of feasts for your family! I'm curious about your fried chicken. How do you make it? I love fried chicken but only make it about once a year due to the trouble and mess. Plus, it's not exactly health food. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm off to the allergist this morning for allergy testing, so no Monday morning back-to-work blues for me! For this Monday, at least.
First of all I put a scoop of plain flour in a bowl and then I season it with salt, pepper, herbs and chicken seasoning from a spice jar. Mix it all up. I put some oils in the pan with a little butter then I heat it up to a medium temperature. I douse the chicken breasts with the flour mixture - getting them as well-covered as possible. Then I fry them top and bottom. I don't want them to be over-fried or dried out. To stop spitting of oil I usually use the frying pan lid or better still a splatter screen with a handle. When I am confident that the inner chicken will be hot and cooked through I carefully pour some beaten egg over the chicken breasts as I turn the heat off. A little more turning and then the fried chicken is done with an eggy accompaniment. What came first - the chicken or the egg?
DeleteI like your response to the door-to-door god salespeople.
ReplyDeleteIf those ladies had tails then they left with their tails between their legs.
DeleteGod exists if you believe it - a bit like Tasker Dunham.
ReplyDeleteDo your children mix up their beloved but flawed earthly father with The Omniscient Father?
Delete"God does not exist- sorry to let you know."
ReplyDeleteOoh boy. They were talking about you all day, I imagine.
Okay. I was with you on the chicken frying until you poured beaten egg over the cooked breasts. WHAT?!
We cover the chicken in beaten egg and usually milk before it goes into the flour, thus making more of a crust on the chicken when it's fried.
I prefer my way but I accept that Americans in the Deep South have a long history of making delicious fried chicken.
DeleteI can't remember the last time I got a religious caller to my house. But especially this time of year with our midterm elections fast approaching in 6 or 7 weeks, we do get a handful of political callers. I just take their literature, tell them I'll read it and then toss it in the trash after I close the door.
ReplyDeleteLiving out in the country, I am surprised that you don't greet them with a blunderbuss!
DeleteI doubt those ladies will be back. There is probably a discreet x marked on the pavement outside your home to warn others:)
ReplyDeleteSounds like it was a nice weekend. I'm grounded, as my husband calls it, I'm not allowed to go for walks in hopes that my foot will heal faster. I spent the weekend cooking and working on a quilt.
Isn't that what women did in "The Handmaid's Tale"?
DeleteIn Glasgow on a Sunday night in winter, shop assistants will give you a smile and say, *Enjoy what's left of your weekend.*
ReplyDeleteI remember telling this to my late brother, who lived for thirty years in Los Angeles, and he would laugh uproariously.
He had a strongly developed sense of irony and used to quote W.H. Auden's words about Los Angeles - the Great Wrong Place.
He met Joan Didion who told him that California was a trash society.
She was appalled that Britain was copying America with its malls & fast food franchises & Carmageddon.
Haggerty
I had to look up Carmageddon.
DeleteYou gave us a lot of conversational fodder with your post. A very enjoyable read. I burst out laughing over your interaction with the religious ladies at the door. I haven't had a door to door visit like that for years but I'm pretty sure my polite response to their arrival once got me marked as a "maybe' on their list.
ReplyDeleteI am not a "maybe" Melinda. I am a restricted zone with land mines.
DeleteI am impressed by your Sunday feast! We usually only eat like that on holidays! Sounds yummy, Neil!
ReplyDeleteWe eat like that nearly every Sunday Ellen.
DeleteMy dad has the best way of dealing with Jehovah's witnesses, on opening the door he says "No religious callers here please, only God himself."
ReplyDeleteOf course He never comes to call and never will.
DeleteAll sounds good to me.
ReplyDeleteBriony
x
Uneventful ordinariness can be appealing.
DeleteGood news from the Ukraine ….
ReplyDeleteFor now anyway but how can a little mouse defeat a Russian bear?
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