MrsM, chef de cuisine

Bodegón con atún
Picasso

MrsM is multi-tasking:
sorting laundry, planning menus,
listening to MrM, and cooking rice.
MrsM is at the top of her game.

The phone rings. It is MissM!
There is so much to talk about.
Books! Holidays! Cooking!

MrsM instructs MrM to sieve the rice.
MrM starts sieving and looks alarmed.
"There is something not quite right here"
MrsM looks into the saucepan.

there
is
no
rice

MrsM forgot to put in the rice.

It is a very public humiliation

*****
This post is for MrM
who accepts MrsM as she is
with all her multiple failings.

*****
Recreate this scene!
Put on some music!
Turn up the volume!

The Man Who Planted Trees

This is a very slight book
but it lingers in my mind
long after I have read it.
Jean Giono tells the story
of a Provencal shepherd
who travels across the hills
planting 100 acorns a day.
The acorns become trees
and the barren hillsides
become alive with woodland.
At the most basic level
this is an ecological fable
but the shepherd did not exist
and the hills of the Vaucluse
are not shrouded in trees.
I know these things
even before I finish reading
and yet the story clings to me.
This is an allegory of hope,
of persistence, of belief.
It is not about trees.

the road to uni

So...MrsM and MissM loaded the car with the clothes and the boots and the shoes and the handbags and the books and the wine glasses and the corkscrew and the breadknife and all of the essential items that you need to be a proper student and set off down the motorway. They noticed lots of other cars which were also going to uni and realised that everyone else had even more stuff. MrsM and MissM were particularly impressed by the boy with the ironing board.

As it is a long way to uni-land MrsM and MissM stopped overnight at a B&B which MrM had booked. It was not obvious from the website but the B&B was a centre for 'spiritual healing' and MrsM and MissM sat on the pink sofa pondering the leaflet describing the therapeutic opportunities. MrsM was tempted by the Angelic Reiki which channelled the healing powers of the Angelic Kingdom - reassuringly this worked while you were fully clothed. MissM pointed out that they were staying in the Ruby Room and so they were already experiencing the 'vibrational energy and colour of Crystal Healing' at no additional cost. It may have been the careful Feng Shui alignment of the beds or the multiple rose crystals but they both slept deeply and awoke with unblocked Auras and fully aligned Chakras ready to hit the road.

MrsM said to MissM "Remember, the Angels of Love and Light are always there for you ..." MissM replied "I know, I only have to ask for their help."

then MrsM chose the music and MissM turned up the volume and they set off again...

Thursday Evening

Tonight I am grateful for:

a sweet email from MissM
an hour with friends in the pub
a message from MasterM who has not got mumps
an ipod that was rescued from apparent collapse
a husband who makes me laugh
an evening looking through photos
the prospect of the long weekend ahead
and the end of a frantic week.

That's all - but it is enough.

Mirrors _ 2

Staand naakt
Georg Hendrik Breitner (1857 - 1923)

MrsM has a secret habit
(previously unconfessed)
of listening to indie music
and she has fallen in love with
a Brighton band , Mirrors.

MissM generously offers
to accompany her mother to a gig
and so MrsM checks out tour dates.

Alas, the band is still newish
and the venues are not large.
The next suitable date is
Naked Tuesday
at the Corsica Studios.

MrsM dolefully remembers
that she is now grey haired
and reluctantly decides that
Naked Tuesday
is not really an option.

Sigh.

Water Play

hot soapy water

shiny blue china

bright red saucepan

music turned up a bit too loud

MrsM wonders guiltily
if she should be having so much fun
at her age

wednesday evening

It is after supper. MrM is speaking to his father on the phone next door and watching the cricket with half an eye. MissM has just returned from watching 'The King's Speech' with her friend, the Talented MissI, and is sitting on the other side of the table texting the Charming MasterN. She has a new, glamorous hairstyle and turquoise nail polish. I admire the vase of amber roses on the sideboard, try to compose a suitable reply to a very funny message from MasterM in his new house in Stellenbosch and hope nobody will notice that I have played the same track on repeat. I know that in a minute I must get up and wash up the wine glasses and I wonder how to capture the peace of this very ordinary, precious moment.

In the end I decide that it needs no icing.

*****

Edited on Thursday after reading her post:

This post is for Ali,
who loves orange,
a friend and continuing inspiration to me
and everyone who tries to balance
family life with personal creative expression.

MasterM is back in town

MrsM
Are you sure it is sensible to go to the party?
The snow is very thick.
The trains might be cancelled.
You might get very cold...
maybe even pneumonia.
If you really have to go
you must take wellington boots
AND a hat
AND gloves.
Do you have enough money?
What about a phone?
Why are you taking that Santa outfit?

MasterM
Settle your petals,
I am 21 now.

MrsM wrings her hands
and starts some baking therapy
consoled by her trusty iPod.

Image from:
Golden Age Paintings
Thank you, Hermes!

black on grey

When I leave the Department
the sky is a black swirl of rooks
and the sound of their flight fills my head.

On this evening, after a day of rain,
the sky is milky grey
and I stand in the car park, watching.

It makes my heart ache a little,
this ending of another day,
and I wait until the flight ends,
my face turned up against the wetness of the air.

Shed Your Love - The Helio Sequence

The Shine of the Sun

Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears; and sometimes voices
That, if I then had waked after long sleep,
Will make me sleep again; and then, in dreaming,
The clouds methought would open and show riches
Ready to drop upon me that, when I waked,
I cried to dream again.

'The Tempest'

*****

1.
'the isle is full of noises'
the Lithuanian students next door had a party...

2.
...and a very smoky barbeque.
(maybe 'sweet airs' is not quite accurate here)

3.
maybe the 'sweet airs' refers to
the roses in my garden
which are blooming profusely.
Obviously neglect suits them.

4.
'a thousand twangling instruments'
that would be my iPod...

5.
it has to 'hum about mine ears'
because otherwise it drives my family mad.

6.
I have a particular penchant
for The National at the moment.
MissM refers to it as
'bearded lady music'.

7.
I absolutely adore
the gravelly baritone
of Matt Berninger.

And his lyrics.

8.
I went shopping with MissM...
(more about this later...
but that just about covers the 'riches' part)

9.
Just as we left Oxford Street
'the clouds methought [did] open'
and thick, heavy drops of rain
fell out of a blue sky.

10.
I stared at the TFL poster
and tried to absorb the words
by saying them over and over again in my head.

11.
When I got home I lay on the bed
and fell fast asleep with exhaustion...
and 'when I waked,
I cried to dream again.'

12.
So...
that was my weekend...
but Shakespeare said it better than I could.

How was yours?

...making choices...

I need to spend time
in the world behind my window.

I will be back
before you have even noticed
that I have gone.

Have a lovely day!