Picture post

There have been two major themes to my week: beauty and flippancy.

This has been the best February weather I can remember: it's been uplifting. Having bright blue skies and snow-dusted fields that are crunchy to walk on has been SO MUCH NICER than the February dross that the Peak District usually has to offer. i.e. grey skies, dingy landscape and ubiquitous mud.

The dawns have been stunning:

Through the bedroom window

Leaning out of the front bedroom window

It has been perishingly cold but I have wrapped up warm and been out every day but one, and even took a flask of coffee with me on a circular walk round the village.

Inside the house I've been painting. I finished the clematis painting. 

Covid February

The flippancy angle I mentioned at the beginning was sparked off by watching the cat lawyer video ten times over and counting, because it creases me up every single time. It's something to do with the combination of the eyes flicking, the whites of the eyes, and the voice of the unfortunate lawyer saying 'Aaahh.' I have laughed so much it's made my chest hurt. I have laughed so much I even changed my profile pic on Twitter to this:

We occasionally watch Channel 4 News for ten minutes or so in the evening, but I have not been able to bear reading the news online this week, because the incompetence and corruption of this government so incenses me. And apart from signing an endless stream of petitions and writing fruitless letters to my MP there appears to be nothing I can do about it. 

Turning to flippancy has been a welcome release, so last night as we watched the serious interviews on zoom with Krishnan Guru-Murthy - even though these were serious, worthy experts who were NOT politicians, and who were definitely worth listening to -  Dave and I did a running flippant commentary. The unfortunate lighting on one of them made his moustache look green, prompting Dave to say "Now HE would benefit from a cat filter." 

Our commentary went on for some time and amused us both.

This is what being locked up for a year has brought us to: folie a deux. It's better than uxoricide or mariticide. Oh yes. Thanks to Dave, the Latin at Hepworth Towers stretches well beyond Carpe Diem and Vive Hodie.

I hope the sun is shining for you this weekend.