Yesterday I planted out deep red geraniums in pots, Spanish style,on the kitchen wall
The winds increased to gales this morning and I found all of the pots hidden safely in the shelter of the front garden stone wall, saved by a kind passerby.
I was going to use the word nice here rather than kind to describe the Good Samaritan but in my considered opinion many nice people are not kind.
Kindness is an action
Painfully nice people just use words
I made avacado on sour bread toast with eggs for brunch
Sorted out cupboards and drawers
I took Dorothy and Mary for a walk out of the village to the East, past Chic Eleanor's. Large White washed home
By chance she saw me passing and invited me onto the patio with a swirl of her scarf in the wind
" Darling John, do have a socially distant double shot coffee and we 'll brave the storm together!!"
I sat on her windswept patio as she made coffee from scratch
"Forgive me, I look a right sight!" Eleanor gasped " I have my lockdown tat on"
This made me laugh as Eleanor would look good wearing a bin bag
We chatted for a while before the dogs got bored and needed to move on
I made chicken salad for lunch and prepared chicken noodles for my lunch tomorrow at work.
For the first couple of months of lockdown the Hospice kindly made all of their staff a free lunch, which was incredibly kind. Now, realistically that kindness cannot be sustained so it's back to preparing my own.....
Not a bad thing
This afternoon I'm making a hat with a sign on it
The sign reads Happy Birthday Chris written backwards
I'm attending a Zoom family quiz and it's my nephew's birthday !
I ve just popped into Church to leave my donation for bell ringing , I re positioned a painted stone I found on my wall yesterday...it's a pass it forward good wishes stone left by a local child and videod the laburnam , which shines golden in the sun.
Affable despot Jason has added to his huge collection of morale boosting videos on the Street warden's social group...I'm watching them now as I juggle writing this and making soup
There's never a dull moment in your village. By rhe sound of it today the gale is as bad with you as it is here.
ReplyDeletekeeping busy; good man. 2 more weeks of this damn lockdown for us; sux arse.
ReplyDeleteanne marie I know how you feel about the lock down, we have just moved to our level 2 as we are lucky to have very very few Covid 19 cases, I have been stir crazy as I have been off work. First time out of my little town today to a different suburb... and I saw a sign which said 6 foot apart is better than 6 foot under and then I was like ohhh.
DeleteJo in Auckland
I feel so tender today. Painfully so. And this post brought tears to my eyes with its sweetness and...kindness.
ReplyDeleteBrave dearheart x
DeleteKindness is a treasure for sure. I googled it and it is defined as "the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate." How important this trait is, not just now, but always really.
ReplyDeleteThanks, John, I find kindness in your blog often!
Wow ... where did this wind come from, at least it brought a bit of much needed rain with it. I love the sound of a socially distanced coffee, little things mean a lot at the moment, including little acts of kindness such as the person moving your pots to a place of safety.
ReplyDeleteOh, I love the hat idea. You're so clever. Interesting thoughts on nice as opposed to kind. I had a friend who first got me thinking about that in the '90s. She was a very gently soul and was regularly described as "nice." She hated it and had the same take as you on the word. It reminds me of the lyrics of the witch in Into the Woods: “You're so nice. You're not good. You're not bad. You're just nice."
ReplyDeleteI have met nice
DeleteYou like them and trust them
And they often give you nothing when the chips are down
Some "nice" people learned to take a nice-stance as a way of avoiding conflict and confrontation that we can’t tolerate, a stance that is “I’m happy if you’re happy,” meaning I do whatever I need to do because your being upset makes me anxious. It doesn't automatically mean that we know what you need us to actually "do" for you. We would, though, if we knew how to!
DeleteI've been let down quite badly by nice people
DeleteOh, that's not good.
DeleteWizard idea to print Happy Birthday backwards on your hat!
ReplyDeleteI agree that kindness is an action. "Thoughtfulness" can be either words or action. Whatever. I'm glad your pots of geraniums were saved from the wind.
Yum! Chicken salad and chicken noodles.
How is dear Winnie doing?
Hugs!
Sunbathing at the moment , dreaming of overalls
DeleteAh, solar power and dreams of fit workmen. What could be better? :)
DeleteHugs!
Oh dear a sudden shower!-he has had to remove his workers chamos to dry in John's cosy cottage-only his heavy tool belt to cover his modesty x
Delete"Lockdown tat" -- LOL, how delightfully phrased!
ReplyDeleteOur Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, often asks that we be kind. Kindness and empathy are two wonderful things about her.
ReplyDeleteOh my that wind brings back so many fond memories of my summer holidays with my gran in Betws. Seemingly the weather would always be relatively ok until we hit the "Welcome to Wales" sign and then we got the howling winds and pelting rain. But I never minded as I loved it. But it is weird seeing that as today here we've had 28° and absolutely glorious so it's strange seeing how different it is elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteI am not at all religious but my lovely Presbyterian grandma was a big influence on my early life. She certainly believed in deeds not words and would say 'By their fruits shall ye know them.' She had a cracker for when she thought people were being judgemental: 'Oh Lord, I thank thee that I am not as other people are.'
ReplyDelete"Forgive me, I look a right sight!" Eleanor gasped " I have my lockdown tat on". I think a lot of us would make the same shameful confession as we potter around the house in any old bit of clothing that comes to hand.
ReplyDeleteAvo with sourdough and eggs...yum! You are a man after my own heart.
ReplyDeleteI thought the rock said BEHAVE! Brunch sounds delicious, good to hear you are taking care of yourself and being healthy.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a pleasant day, stay kind
ReplyDeleteA bit of multi-tasking was going on. I understood that only women could multi-task.
ReplyDeleteCoffee with Eleanor on her windswept patio. Wuthering Heights, you lucky man.
ReplyDeleteDo you make your own sourdough bread John?
I wonder if you realize what a fun time you have in your little village with all your grand neighbors.
ReplyDeleteI thought that painted stone said 'BEHAVE'.
ReplyDeleteMe too!
DeleteJo in Auckland
In your picture on the right side of you and Chic Eleanor...is it just me or does she look like Nicole Kidman? Only better! My granddaughters name is Elanor...she is very chic also although she is only 4 ;-)
ReplyDeleteWow, very gusty...could hardly hear you over the wind. I love laburnum my Nan had one in her garden and we used to use the fallen flowers as pretend confetti when we as kids had pretend weddings! You've had a busy kind of day.
ReplyDeleteJo in Auckland
What a lovely day puttering about, you have a way with words reading todays post made me think back when I used to listen to stories on the radio and I hung onto every word.
ReplyDeleteMost beautiful Laburnam tree adding much bright color to your windy day - just stunning.
ReplyDeleteLike Eleanor I am in 'lockdown tat' most days here - however I'm off to pick up my farm eggs from the Sat. market soon so will have to make the effort to get dressed up a bit.
Enjoy the weekend and hope the weather is calmer soon.
Dreaming of overalls....such a dear girl! Be kind...
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ReplyDelete