Thursday, December 29, 2022

It's finally over

You can have too much of The Repair Shop. You can have too much of people saying their auntie gifted them the doll in 1953.

GIFTED?

GIFTED?

Gift is a noun, not a verb. The verb is 'give' past tense 'gave.’

You can hear too many people saying their beloved Granny sadly passed in 1991.

PASSED?

PASSED?

The word is 'died.' If you must - 'passed away.'

Even the bloody Guardian is at it. Their weekly email containing their good news stories was obviously written by the office junior's American penfriend.

Otherwise, why would the Christmas Day email say 'I hope you have all gotten the presents you wanted'? GOTTEN? 

The very fact that I was reading an email from the Guardian on Christmas morning will give you a tiny clue about my Covid Christmas. 😂😂😂

This Christmas I finally understood in my gut one reason why Dave hates Christmas, namely, the injunction to be jolly, no matter how you are really feeling. 

One night we switched on the Christmas episode of The Repair Shop, where the workshop was festooned to the rafters with Christmas decorations and everyone was eating mince pies, wearing Santa hats and being silly. But in the outside camera shots of the workshops we could see that the surrounding trees were wearing their summer leaves - full and green - and this emphasised the fakery. I’m not stupid: I know that Christmas episodes of regular programmes are almost never shot at Christmas, but still… 

…neither of us could bear the 'jolliness' and we turned it off. The next night we watched something more bracing - the very last very bleak episode of Kavanagh.

Thank goodness they're over - Christmas and Covid. Yesterday, December 28th  (day 15) I finally tested negative. This means that although I still have blocked sinuses I am not infectious and can see all the family on Friday for food and games. Whooppee!

My social highlight this Christmas was Facetime margaritas with Chrissie last evening. 

My cultural highlight has been listening to an audiobook of The Secret Garden read to absolute perfection by Carrie Hope Fletcher.

Painting-wise I'm working on two paintings - one of cow parsley seedheads in frost, and one called Still life with Covid. I tried painting this:




But it was too hard so I drew it 



and now I am painting it again.

It's finally stopped raining so Dave and I might potter down the Trail to Hassop Station for a coffee.

Life begins again.


4 comments:

Anonymous said...

A rant (but not your fault): I have been checking your blog on my ipad since December 3rd and nothing, nada, I saw on instagram that you had covid so I put it down to that. Today I turn on the computer, which I rarely get access to, to do some things easier done on a big screen and proper keyboard and there it all is ... life in December in Hepworth Towers, all at once its a bit overwhelming. "Turning over lockdown quilt because it was too bright"

I'm so glad you are on the mend Sue. Wishing you both joy and hope as we move to 2023 (and FUN tomorrow - have you ever played the left right centre dice game? Apparently its a hoot, I stocked up on Chocolate sprouts to use as counters but no one was interested on Christmas day afternoon, so I have yet to find out)


love to all

Jenetta

Now I shall go back and read December again ... I may comment further ..

Anonymous said...

I’m so glad that you are over the Covid. I too, cannot stand the use of ‘gifting’ and ‘passing’!! Also the seemingly accepted use by young TV commentators and presenters of ‘You was’ ‘They was’, etc. Grrrr
WTF!
You are too modest about your painting, it looks great. xx

marmee said...

Hi ! Glad you are post covid ! And I had this very day to deal with people saying passed ! Passed by? Passed an exam ?

Sue Hepworth said...

Hello friends, thanks for your good wishes.
Also…I’m glad it’s not just me that loathes the mangling of the language.