Pink

I calculate that over the last ten years I've spent more time in my offices and than I have in my homes. For a long time I felt more comfortable at my desk than in my house, and I felt a sense of relief when I put the key in the lock each morning, and a pang of loss when I closed the door behind me at the last possible second at the end of the day. But yesterday I went into work to drop off my clothes for the week, and I felt so alienated in that space. The institutional, grey carpet, the perfectly acceptable and perfectly uninspiring beech veneer furniture, the blinds - they are all so very blah. There's no life in that space and no welcome for me. Unlike the room in which I am now sitting, the office at work as neat as a pin with no dolls, toy engines, prams, wraps, mislaid socks, towels to mop up Nell's spits, and pen marked furniture. There are no scuffs, flakes, marks on the carpet, and bits of dog and cat fluff. There are none of the bits and pieces of my current life. Boring.

I think the office needs some pink, so tomorrow when I go in these will come along with me.
They're hyacinths, pink and happy. I'm hoping they will remind me of the garden and home and family. And when I start to lose my vision and get sucked in to the ever increasing demands of work, they'll remind to shift my focus back to what makes me feel best. Besides, I think we could all do with a little more pink in our lives.

In the meantime, they're sititng in my study at home, brightening this cold and wet day. My plans to build a compost heap and plant more green manure have been scuppered by the weather, so I'm doing the week's baking and making some soups to freeze for those days when I come home to shattered to cook (I don't think the freezer is big enough to store all the meals I'll need to deal with that eventuality).

Eating from the garden: not much really, just the last of the walnuts in some more muffins. It's a barren time of year, between the last of the bok choy and the first of the cabbages. If we needed the garden we'd be going hungry now.