Today is Norwegian Independence Day, a yearly event marking the end of nearly three centuries of control by Denmark. In Norway it's a mad happy day, filled with parades and parties.
Here is my Norwegian flag flying on the edge of the garden, the first time I've hoisted it myself as flag-flying was Frog’s domain.
The Norwegian flag has double significance for me as, unbeknownst to me, Frog had ordered me one just before he died and it arrived the day after he died, along with some brackets for hanging spotlights, which was a project he was engaged on at the time. (As you can see, his death was a surprise to us both.)
Frog was a hoarder and I’ve been clearing his stuff
continuously for the last two and a half years. On Wednesday the lovely AtkinsAuctions from Axminster, whose strapline ‘Old style
values, New style auctions’ describes them perfectly, arrived to take away Frog’s
collection of what’s called ‘vintage hi-fi’ but most of which he still used. I’m
hoping their online auctioneering will reach the geeks, and Frog’s equipment
will go to good homes.
Even though I have exciting plans for the space that’s left,
it was a sad and momentous day and yesterday my back gave way as I was clearing
weed from the pond. Was it connected to the loss or was it the result of all
the outdoor work I did last week when the weather was so beautiful?
Either way, it’s given me the day off today, which is
actually rather nice, and all sorts of sedentary possibilities have been
flooding in, including this blog post.
I do tend to drive myself, probably in order not to think
and feel too much, and have begun to veer between manic activity and depressive
slump. Not good or pleasant. So, in an effort to get out of that pattern, I’ve
cut my coffee consumption by half (from a double espresso at breakfast to a single
one). It seems to be doing something.
Ellie’s a bit like me, in that she finds it hard to slow
down, even at the age of 14, but here she is recently in peaceful mode.
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