I’ve had a lovely weekend, a good portion having been spent right here in my leather armchair, reading a yummy mystery novel (Paula Hawkins’ Girl on a Train), shamelessly ignoring the books I have to read for the courses I’m teaching. Sometimes, you’ve just got to pay yourself first, right?
And that I did, this weekend. Even started it a bit early, lunching with a friend on Friday before a long meeting. Saturday morning, yoga class with Paul, followed by our usual breakfast at our favourite little café. He cooked lovely dinners each day, and we watched Le Weekend together (if you haven’t seen it, you really must — besides having long admired Hanif Kureishi as writer and director, ditto Jim Broadbent and Lindsay Duncan as actors, both Paul and I recognized the honest depiction of a long-term marriage, although so far, he and I haven’t managed to stage a dine-and-dash and, I must say, our sex life is considerably happier). We also watched an episode of Wallander together and I caught up on Scandal and The Good Wife.
So besides yesterday’s yoga and this morning’s long run, a joyous ramble in my garden yesterday, and some course prep that couldn’t be put off this afternoon, it’s been a weekend of almost unmitigated laziness (and yes, I suppose the garden ramble is lazy as well, but I did have to budge out of my chair for it). And oh, is that sunshine restorative!
I hope your weekend was a good one as well. Still a few more hours of mine to enjoy, and I’m using some of that time to line up a post or two for the week ahead — one of those posts will be dedicated to breaking horticultural news from my back yard, really exciting stuff, honestly.
Shocking how much energy pours down with that sunshine. Hope it lasts!
Sometimes lolling around is so amazingly good for the soul. Now, I think I'll watch Le Weekend on your recommendation.
I think you'll enjoy it. And yes, lolling is good!
Sunshine too over the Active Little House on the Prairie.
Your weekend sounds lovely – as mine has been too, though in a very different way. One similarity though – Wallander – I brought Mankel's The Troubled Man with me. There's nothing quite like a deliciously dark Swedish mystery to take to bed after a day with four little ones. Wishing you continued sunshine for the week ahead!
Funny that I've never read Mankel, although he's certainly been on my radar long enough. Poor sad Wallander, but yes, deliciously dark indeed and would make a decent counterpoint to your busy days.
I will have to watch Le Weekend, too. It's on Amazon so it will be easy. Your cozy weekend sounds great. I didn't do much this weekend. It's so bitter cold outside that I haven't ventured out except for absolutely necessary trips. I just finished The Girl on the Train last week, listened to it on my phone while driving, cooking, doing laundry, etc. I was absorbed in it while "reading" but decided after finishing that I didn't really like it, probably because I found all the characters shallow and unlikeable.
I had to buy it on iTunes, but it was considerably less than the price of going out to the cinema, and it was Valentine's Day, so . . .
True enough that those characters were not likeable, but the writing was deft enough that I didn't have to be aware of it and the plot moved well (although there was one narrative device I didn't like by the end — to say more would be to spoil the novel for other readers). . . I've never listened to Audiobooks and had no idea that could be done on the phone — what a good idea!
Yes, I download them from the library. They play on my smartphone and on my older, not-smart phone. The advantage of using the old phone I'd that it doesn't "know" about expiration dates so I can keep books on there forever. I agree that the writing was very good, and I found the book absorbing while reading it, but when I'd finished I decided that I hadn't really liked it.
Sunshine here, too, a bit further south. I couldn't resist a garden ramble of my own – so lovely to see all the green shoots and swelling buds.
A little reading (P.D. James), some family time, breakfast out with Tim, and an hour at the sewing machine made for a restful weekend here.
The view out your window is always sensational and those bright cushions and curtains are the perfect frame.
Isn't it happy-making, the garden these days?!
And your weekend sounds just right as well. Now back to your slightly-too-busy days of subbing. . .
I just finished the last Wallander half an hour ago. I kept waiting for him to get a little happier. We have camellias and rhododendrons out here. Everything seems to be a month early. I wonder if I should read Girl on the Train while I'm in transit. Something exciting certainly passes the time.
We're almost at the end as well, but I think we've already realized there's no chance the man will achieve more than a momentary happiness. Camellias, rhododendrons, the native Indian plum is blooming, it's all spring-ing on us. See Marie's reservations, above, re Girl, but as I said, I found I was caught up in it, and that's probably good for travel, right?
The fact that I finished it is in Itself a recommendation. I've had trouble finishing books lately, I abandon more than I finish.
Sitting in a tiny cottage in Lincolnshire and preparing for two days exploring a new town. Just speed read Ruth Rendell and realised I do not like her books. No need to try any more! Soon: breakfast foray. Grey in East Midlands today.
I haven't read Rendell for years and then perhaps only 5 or 6 of them. It's always rather a relief, that kind of recognition, of giving oneself permission to go onto something else instead.
Enjoy your explorations — sounds like fun!
Just want to point out that this is a sign of things to come – lots of restorative, enjoyable time doing whatever you would like. Eeek, so exciting.
Yes, whenever I push aside the anxiety, I know it's going to be good, although I suspect that I'll need to find ways to protect that "time doing whatever I would like"
Oh, you needed that! I too really enjoyed "Le Weekend" with its candid observation of the long marriage. (Very surprised to see it called "hilarious" by some reviewers, as I felt anguish in a number of key scenes.)
There were certainly places to laugh during the film, but some of those were obviously designed to relieve the tension built up by, yes, anguish in pivotal scenes. He really bared his soul, didn't he? And I held my breath hoping she'd be kind despite her justified impatience. . .
I read Girl on the Train while in hospital – fun for a light read. I must see Le Weekend which is obviously rather less light. I had a weekend of enforced laziness (surgery recovery) which was irksome rather than enjoyable, as I was dying to go and do things in the garden or cook something interesting … Funny how context makes idleness enjoyable or a burden.
So much is context, yes, and it's true that enforced idleness is often more annoying than enjoyable, especially while life goes on all around us. . . Glad you're recovering, but take it easy as you plunge back into your busy life.
My weekend was anything but lazy. Rather exhausting, but also exhilarating. "Dress" rehearsal for a choir concert on Friday night, huge birthday party of a very good friend who just turned 80 (and remains a shining example for all who know her) with lots of singing involved, on Saturday, and finally the concert itself on Sunday afternoon. I could have done with a lazy day after all this, but …
That does sound exhilarating — music is always restorative!