Wednesday 10 November 2021

Unreserved cushions

 


Autumn everywhere here. Yesterday the sun came out and there was a butterfly warming itself in the sun on a wall first thing in the morning. Today it was drizzle all the way. It never ceases to amaze me how these delicate creatures survive out there.

I am constantly thinking about snacks at the moment, which isn't good. Maybe the colder weather. I am like a bear laying down a few layers of fat before I go to sleep for the winter. The dog is on board with it and even the middle boy has declared that he is now open to eating everything and is no longer Fussy. The biggest boy eats anything, provided it is vegan, so I am branching out a little in the cookery department as well as eating all the snacks.

The main news in town is that (a) some people put a load of fireworks in a dog poop bin and blew it up and (b) one of Bertie's dog chums was bitten by another dog. Honestly, without dogs on the block there'd be no news at all. The dog friend is okay, a bit of an unfortunate event, with a very lively dog meeting a dog who was trying to avoid other dogs. It must be very hard if you have a dog who needs to be away from other dogs. They had gone to a very quiet spot at 10pm to be alone, then out of the dark came the lively dog.

I tried to interest the middle boy in going to the theatre to see Macbeth the other day. He just said 'No thank you' very politely and disappeared, which is pretty much his modus operandi to many things. It was a student production and not in the main theatre. I did find the booking arrangements a bit alarming, so maybe it's just as well he didn't fancy it. As well as reserved seats there were unreserved seats, reserved standing (standing! for two and a half hours! What is this, football???), unreserved standing, reserved cushions and unreserved cushions. I had visions of some sort of musical chairs style scrummage to bag a cushion before the thing kicked off. Can you imagine? For me it added a big fat layer of stress to the whole idea. I am very much the type of person who likes to sit down. Wherever I am, I am pretty much always looking for a comfy spot to sit. I love walking about the place, across the countryside, up the mountains etc. but as soon as it's over, I am looking for that sofa. So the idea of standing up for the whole of Macbeth or not getting a good cushion filled me with dread. I could offer to get it on DVD, but I am pretty sure that will be politely declined as well, so I probably won't bother. The middle boy and I are very much ones for the quiet life. I don't believe I've ever heard him raise his voice.

Sadly, the rest of the household are all about the noise. Well, I might be a bit shouty at times as well, but only because THEY MAKE ME. The dog has huge empathy with everything and can detect even the tiniest nanogram of irritation in a half-sigh or the slightly sharp putting down of a pen. He gets up and leaves silently, with the air of someone who expected better and will not dignify such behaviour with his presence. It comes to something when even the dog is disappointed in me.



10 comments:

  1. Brilliant post! I admit to being quite amused by the exploding dog poop bin! Your middle son sounds like a sweetheart; I loved the polite 'No thank you'. I'm with you on the sitting down - I love going to The Globe but only with a seat booked, none of that groundling business. There's probably a law that states that snack consumption is inversely proportional to ambient temperature. If not, there should be because it's pretty much the state of affairs round here too! :O) xx

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  2. Oh how lovely to still see red admirals. No flutters in my corner; I think they’ve all found a cosy log pile somewhere. Totally empathise about the complexities of booking online. To pay for standing would really annoy me and as for the cushions lol! I’m for a quiet life too although the occasional shouty voice does have the shock and awe factor. Have a good day with calm dog walks. B x

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  3. Lucky you seeing a Red Admiral, and that's a lovely looking tree.
    I'm sure that thinking about snacks is an indication of the time of year.
    Your musical chairs and cushions paragraph had me smiling. xx

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  4. He he...made me chuckle...which is what life is all about...or rather should be! x

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  5. What beautiful fall scenes, and a nice round up of anecdotes, too. Poor chum of Bertie! And now I’ll be thinking of snacks and already I am wondering *what kind of snacks is she after?”

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  6. Loved this post CJ, your observations make me smile. I'm so tempted to get a dog too.
    Jacquie x

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  7. I wonder how they would have coped if you had taken your own cushion? As well as the snacks? You could have settled in comfortably for several performances! My youngest went to see a student production of Romeo & Juliet last week and was rather bemused by half the actors being on screen, most still holding their scripts, everyone wearing black so that it was hard to keep track of who was who (especially as some people played more than one character) and the distinct lack of snacks available to keep her conscious through the second half :) xx

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  8. Ruby hates dogs coming bounding up to her and being over exuberant. She's fine with steady dogs that give her time to decided= to have a sniff. I don't think arriving just before lockdown helped. She likes to assess the situation before she is comfortable. We have her on a long extendable lead as if another dog bounded up to her she would either hide behind us or run off. Running off in a manic would be a problem. She's fine being close to other dogs as long as they play by her rules.

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  9. Those are great pictures. I can completely sympathise with you about that performance it would have put me off, sometimes these things can have slow periods anyway so on the floor with a cushion Iwould be in danger of falling asleep. Have a good week, I like the dog news I have three myself.

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  10. Oh, this made me laugh, can you imagine it, all the arguments about who's having which cushion, much akin to train seats if you sit in one which happens to be reserved. That's not to mention the unreserved ones! I'm with you on the snacks, I've just eaten two Tuc sandwiches, something I happened to come across in the supermarket which I hadn't had since I was a child and which happened to drop into the trolley. Still, those were the last two in the packet so at least I won't be tempted any longer. Lovely photos showing how the days can differ from golden to grey, and everything in between at this time of year.

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