Busy Sunday
I was planning to go swimming at half-past eight today and again woke up stupidly early. So I used the time before the pool opened to clean out the Giant African Land Snails which are now really rather huge - about five inches long. They were a wedding present to Olli and Gareth from the owners of the delightful Silent World Aquarium in Tenby. In February 2008 they were tiny - - - but they've grown.
There was some strange pleasure in doing this job at seven o'clock on Sunday morning, knowing that I was probably the only person in Leeds - in fact probably in the entire country and very possibly the world - who was cleaning out a tankful of snails at this time. Were the snails grateful for their nice clean tank and their fresh lettuce and bits of damp paper? It was a bit hard to tell but I think I did spot a slight hint of gratitude on their faces.
Then I fed the cat and ate a large bowl of porridge and sent a couple of emails and went off to the pool. My friends Jo and Deb were there too and we all decided that swimming is a bit like meditation - it clears your head of worries as you go up and down the pool counting the lengths.
An hour's swimming, then I drove back home and got things ready for the agency meeting. The actors meet every fourth Sunday, unless they're working, and they come to this meeting from all over the country. Today's was a particularly important one with a lot to discuss, as we'd had to cancel the January meeting because of snow.
Everyone had made a special effort to get to this one if they could. It was great to see so many of them together - nineteen people in our living-room: it's a good job that the Victorians built generally large rooms. One of the actors makes the best chocolate cake in the world and she had brought one along. There isn't much of it left now.
So we began the meeting at one o'clock - - - and were just about finished by half past five. I could see one of the new members gaping in astonishment at the length of the meeting. "A good job this is a short meeting," I said to her cruelly - - luckily she knew I was joking!
It was good-humoured and we got a lot done and I love seeing all the actors coming together and having a good discussion like that.
Finally most of them went home, though two of them stayed for tea - we made spag bol - and THEN I thought - - - d'you know what? It's been a long day so far, but I don't think it's going to get much longer, not for me. I'm going to bed soon, I think. Still, a productive and interesting day! I don't often write this blog like a diary entry but I thought I'd just give you a snapshot of a rather busy Sunday.
There was some strange pleasure in doing this job at seven o'clock on Sunday morning, knowing that I was probably the only person in Leeds - in fact probably in the entire country and very possibly the world - who was cleaning out a tankful of snails at this time. Were the snails grateful for their nice clean tank and their fresh lettuce and bits of damp paper? It was a bit hard to tell but I think I did spot a slight hint of gratitude on their faces.
Then I fed the cat and ate a large bowl of porridge and sent a couple of emails and went off to the pool. My friends Jo and Deb were there too and we all decided that swimming is a bit like meditation - it clears your head of worries as you go up and down the pool counting the lengths.
An hour's swimming, then I drove back home and got things ready for the agency meeting. The actors meet every fourth Sunday, unless they're working, and they come to this meeting from all over the country. Today's was a particularly important one with a lot to discuss, as we'd had to cancel the January meeting because of snow.
Everyone had made a special effort to get to this one if they could. It was great to see so many of them together - nineteen people in our living-room: it's a good job that the Victorians built generally large rooms. One of the actors makes the best chocolate cake in the world and she had brought one along. There isn't much of it left now.
So we began the meeting at one o'clock - - - and were just about finished by half past five. I could see one of the new members gaping in astonishment at the length of the meeting. "A good job this is a short meeting," I said to her cruelly - - luckily she knew I was joking!
It was good-humoured and we got a lot done and I love seeing all the actors coming together and having a good discussion like that.
Finally most of them went home, though two of them stayed for tea - we made spag bol - and THEN I thought - - - d'you know what? It's been a long day so far, but I don't think it's going to get much longer, not for me. I'm going to bed soon, I think. Still, a productive and interesting day! I don't often write this blog like a diary entry but I thought I'd just give you a snapshot of a rather busy Sunday.
posted by Daphne at 8:51 pm
3 Comments:
Hey!! I´m glad it was a good meeting!! I sooo sorry that I couldn´t be there...I was just enjoying abit of nice food and nice weather!! Now you can see that I read your blog...since it shows up that you have a reader in Barcelona!! Hehe!! Ben!
The only one cleaning out snails in Leeds? No, probably in the whole world!! How does it feel to be unique? ;)
Over on this side of the pond, everyone was gearing up for the Super Bowl (American football finale). But your Sunday sounded frightfully full as well.
Next time, though, eat the porridge first, THEN clean out the snail tank.
Every time I think we speak the same language, you say something new like "spag bol." SPAG BOL??? It conjures up visions of spaghetti and bologna in my head. I hope I'm wrong.
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