Into Spring

That sense of urgency and excitement I described in the last post is still here now that I am back in Ireland, but it is tempered by extreme tiredness (I fell into bed at 2am). So instead of tackling the things that are at the top of the list, today I have been  procrastinating with domestic tasks, lazy coffee breaks in the uni and organising. And I may watch another part of Mildred Pierce tonight - I am making the five-part series last a few weeks instead of watching it all within a couple of days, as I sometimes do with DVDs.

 

| What remains from my trip home - a fast-disintegrating manicure with my mom's coral nail polish that I cannot bring myself to take off just yet. The sunlight is deceiving; it is bitterly cold, with sleet and hailstones. I dressed rather optimistically in a linen skirt (with tights, Mama!) this morning...

 

| Books:
-I am reading this Deirdre Madden book - because I loved Molly Fox's Birthday - and am trying to get Authenticity as well; she is such a brilliant writer. I haven't finished this yet, but am enjoying it (if that is the right word - it is not a light read).
-My notebook and I are inseparable. Now that I try to practise restraint with my diary, this is where all the mad scribbling takes place, but at least it has different categories.
-A friend lent me Drawing Texts - an anthology of essays by artists and other people in the arts about the activity of drawing - years ago and I have found it refreshing and valuable for both my teaching and for myself. Earlier this year I came across it in a second-hand bookshop and I am rereading it.

 

 |  Sorting through my wardrobe. My bedroom is small; the wardrobe is small. While part of me would like a bigger wardrobe, the minimalist in me is pleased, and I find that I still only wear less than half of my clothes regularly. Nice dresses are displayed on the doors and the wall. I am careful with any new purchases; they have to be good quality and ideally ethical and go well with lots of different things. My kitchen cupboards are next. Both with food and clothes I can be extremely impractical (weird food combinations due to lack of planning, lots of flimsy camisoles, but no proper jumpers, and so on), and I need to be better organised.

I am looking forward to the long Easter weekend. We will be working a bit, but the plan is to do something nice, maybe a day trip, and bake Easter cakes (something I haven't done in years). In my family we used to have a Polish Easter cake made with lots of eggs, so I might try that.