So what is it about this pandemic that makes time go so quickly and, at the same time, so slowly? Any physicists out there care to explain? Or maybe psychologists? Whatever it is it’s playing havoc with my list. Some things buzz along and then I get to the end of the month to discover I haven’t memorised the second verse of the poem OR written a letter. Two verses next month. Two letters.

The new things. They worked! As did I in one of my new jobs. I’ve been a listener as audio books are being recorded, alerting the reader to mistakes. So I’ve ‘read’ a couple of books too! It’s surprisingly exhausting but incredibly interesting. I spotted mistakes but often the reader spots them first. It feels a little competitive…..

Learning birds. I decided a good start would be to visit the RSPB site at Newport Wetlands where I planned to join, and possibly buy some binoculars, because keen bird watchers told me I must have some. Unfortunately the building was closed and the wifi from the iPad that would have allowed me to join was not working. Yes, I could join on-line, but the Wetlands will get a small financial reward if I join there, so I’ll wait. So no membership, no binoculars and, as it happens on that particular day, not really any birds. Well, a few. But it is a lovely place for a walk and I spent some time in the only open hide I found to look at the few birds around. I knew not what they were. I have a long way to go with this one.

The following day we went for a walk in the Wye Valley and on a short stop for a banana lunch, a bird I did know came to sit next to me. Gorgeous.

And then, the day after that, this beautiful bird feeder arrived from my friend Kathy to encourage me in this project. I put an apple on as suggested, but so far have not seen a bird feeding – I think I need one of those fat balls. Watch this space, as I will be watching the feeder.

Making chocolates. The chocolate bits and pieces arrived and I’ve done the first lesson. I’ve learned how to temper chocolate and I made a few bars of fruit and nut! The next lesson is truffles.

Walking the Monmouthshire Brecon Canal. First stage – the stages are mine rather than anything official – completed. Brecon to Talybont. It involved a bus, so my first ride on public transport since March, and a pub which popped up towards the end of the walk. How lucky was that?

I didn’t manage to make any greeting cards yet, but I will.

That’s progress on new challenges. Now to catch up with old ones.

Composer of the month was Liszt. He was the rock star of his time – which is partly why I like him – playing the piano with extraordinary skill. At one point in the mid 1800s he performed over a thousand times, playing in pretty much every major city.

I love so many of his compositions. If you don’t know his music listen to Consolation No 3 on YouTube. Oh go on, here it is:

Matts monthly CD was From A View by Floodlights. I didn’t dislike it, but I haven’t listened to it enough. A typical example of what I was complaining about at the beginning. The CD arrived right at the start of the month. I had a quick play, quite liked it, planned to pay more attention to it during the month and then suddenly it’s October tomorrow. I will add it to next month’s offering and listen some more.

Monthly donation. I went environmental this time. There’s a plan to plant a million trees in the Brecon Beacons and someone has cut a request for donations into the bracken on a hillside. I like the idea of a million trees and loved the bracken cutting.

Getting to the top of local mountains. Yay! Pen Y Fan. What more is there to say? The highest peak in South Wales. Accompanied this time by, as well as PV, my lovely brother who had never climbed it, and he’s much older than me. We had a great walk and a well deserved pint afterwards. There’s only one more peak to go to tick off No. 46

A new recipe every two weeks. One of these doesn’t sound like a new recipe. Who hasn’t made a coffee and walnut cake? Well I hadn’t. But I have now. I liked the addition of melted chocolate on top which was a suggestion from Leith’s Bible.

The second recipe sounded a little odd but was unsurprisingly yummy, since I went back to Ottolenghi again. I must move on and be more adventurous. In the meantime I thoroughly enjoyed sausage, chickpea and autumn vegetables.

Bookclub books. Historical novels are not my favourite and so my library bookclub will be surprised that I am giving this month’s book a stunning 10/10. The Convert by Stefan Hertmans gripped me from the beginning. Inspired by a true story told in documents which had been hidden in 12th century Egypt, it’s a story of young lovers running away, being hunted by crusaders, and living an unbelievably difficult life. Highly recommended!

The second bookclub book this month is The Dutch House by Ann Patchett. A realiable author and a great read. A family drama and sibling love. Another recommendation.

And Oh yes, I almost forgot. This month I managed to get together with both brothers and sisters-in-law at the same time! We were six, so it was allowed. We were outside so it felt safe and we had the most delicious lunch at The Crown, Pantygelli. I’ll recommend that too!

August…. the month for facing up to the reality that things are not going exactly as planned. I’ve carried out an audit of the list. Results and conclusions are presented here:

Aim – to complete 70 tasks before my 70th birthday in February 2021. New readers can find that original list in the first blogpost

Progress to date – I’ve ticked off 25 items and concluded that I should be able to achieve 37 more. These findings were better than expected.

Problem areas – there are currently at least 8 tasks I will not be able to complete due to the pandemic.

Proposed solution – rather than wallow in failure I’ve decided to replace the 8 tasks with 8 new ones. It took a while to come up with 70, so this is hard. Nevertheless I’ve decided on 5 already (see below) and will happily accept suggestions.

FIVE (out of eight) NEW TASKS

1. Get a job. Nothing full time. Life has changed almost beyond recognition and I now have more time on my hands. This has been successful as I have been accepted for two jobs as of this month even though I’ve not done much for either one yet. More details on request!

2. Learn birds. I can identify so few birds and would like to be better at it. This one is partly inspired by my nephew Matt’s recent delve into bird photography. His Instagram posts are amazing. It’s not the best time of year to start this activity but I’m not going to let that put me off. And look, I have this charming book to help!

3. Learn to make chocolates. I’ve signed up for an on-line chocolate making course and am waiting for ‘the things you need to make chocolate things’ to arrive so that I can start.

4. Walk the Monmouthshire – Brecon Canal. It’s on our doorstep and I often walk the local part of the canal. I believe it will take about 4 days to walk from Brecon to Cwmbran. Possibly an extra day if extended to Newport.

5. Make all greeting cards from now on. You’ll see at the end of this page that my artistic skills are limited, so birthdays, anniversaries, house moves, new babies and whatever else will be a real challenge!

That’s all very exciting. Now on to August activities.

11. Monthly donation This time it’s to the Hay, Brecon and Talgarth Sanctuary for refugees. An organisation doing what it says on the tin. This felt like an antidote to recent negative press about refugees and asylum seekers trying to cross the channel.

36. Composer of the month August was Brahms. I’ve been listening to some lectures and learning to play one of his waltzes. I haven’t been very taken with the man himself but found it interesting that as a child he played music in pubs and brothels as a way of contributing to the family finances. This was acceptable child labour in the mid 19th century. And his relationship with Clara Schumann is fascinating. Did they or didn’t they?

His music I found a bit demanding although his piano concertos are lovely.

43. Matt’s monthly CD Honey Moon by Beach Bunny. Again, a winner. I wonder if he’ll ever send me something I really don’t like. Maybe at the end of the year I should rank the 12 I’m hoping to receive.

46. Getting to the top of local mountains I made it to the top of two peaks this month. Blorenge and Skirrid. It’s simply stunning up there. Two more to go before ticking this one off.

62. Trying new recipes every two weeks. One was to make use of the glut of cavolo nero from the allotment. I cooked it with chilli and chickpeas, topped with steamed cod.

The second was inspired by this cute video of Pavel’s great-nephew’s girlfriend’s English homework!

I think her chocolat meolleux turned out better than mine, but it was a fun and an easy thing to do!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdndXvV6PZ0

68. Bookclub books. One was Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens which, if you haven’t read it, just do. It’s a very lovely story that transports you to someone else’s fascinating, difficult and inspiring world.

The second Bookclub book was/is Thomas Cromwell by Diarmaid MacCulloch. Not at all my type of book and under normal circumstances I wouldn’t stick with it. But the challenge is to do so and so I will but I’ve cheated. First of all I have to admit to getting the Kindle edition (apologies to booksellers everywhere) but I also ticked the audio box, so I am listening to Thomas Cromwell! Is that cheating? I guess so, but I’m not cheating very often so let me get away with this one. Am I enjoying it? I’ve only just started and not hugely so far.

4. Paint a picture. I’ve left this one to the end so that I could leave you with my deconstructed rainbow in the hope that it raises a smile. Artist I am not, but all is not yet lost – I have one more canvas at my disposal.

This is a very exciting month because, with the lockdown ease….. I’ve done things! I’m still a long way off 70, and I’m sure I’ll need to revise the original list, but a window of opportunity came and I peered through. As you can see, this covid life is making me quite poetical.

I’ll start with the negatives to get them out of the way:

Number 63 – Learn a poem I’m no further than one verse into the poem I’m learning by heart, the good news being that I do remember that verse and can recite it to order. I was going to say without thinking, but I expect that that’s not a good thing to do if I’m going to start to appreciate poetry. Message to self – ‘think about what the poet is saying‘.

Number 54 – Listen to Bien Dire every two months. Listening to the recordings of the French magazine Bien Dire is the second word of that in English. It’s dire and I’m not learning anything. Not that I’m heading off to France any time soon, but if I ever do, I want to be able to chat away to the locals. Or ask the way to the Post Office. Or something between the two. When clearing out a cupboard I discovered the so far unused Michel Thomas French Course CDs. It is now a new challenge to complete the course.

Enough of the negatives. Here are the NEW things and I’ll finish with the usual ongoing achievements.

Number 44 – Ride a bicycle along a cycle path. No cycle path, but after many years, I borrowed a bike and rode it. There is proof. I didn’t ride it far, but I didn’t fall off.

Number 46 – Walk up local mountains. I’ve started with Table Mountain. The least demanding. But oh, how lovely it was. I wrote about the walk from memory last month and I was pleased to see how much I’d remembered. The longhorn cows were there complete with long horns, as placid as ever. Being on top was air punching. ‘Where I used to live’ and ‘Where Pavel grows vegetables’ were clearly visible . Only 4 more peaks to go. All more of a challenge than this one.

Number 66 – Sort photos. The photos had been stored in a large box for years. When I’d decided how to tackle them, it really wasn’t that bad and I would highly recommend biting the bullet and doing this if you have a similar stash of photos. Instead of trying to put them into albums, I bought Ikea boxes (recommended by the lovely Janice), brown envelopes, and sorted according to topic. I threw some away, and am left with three (small) boxes. One for trips and holidays, one for family and friends, and one for the decades of my life. Yes, there is overlap but it’s neat and tidy. I still have albums, but now I have albums and boxes and I pretty much know where everything is. The envelope ‘filing’ makes it easy to access photos and the space taken up is much reduced. Success.

The usual:

Number 35 – a new composer. Rachmaninov. Hmmm. I was lent a book which after the first chapter turned out to be a bit dry and dense. I didn’t finish it. A couple of YouTube documentaries didn’t inspire me either. I liked a lot of the music. I was familiar with Piano Concerto No 2 – the theme from Brief Encounter, and Piano Concerto No 3 from the movie Shine. New pieces I really liked were the Preludes in G minor and C# major . But Rachmaninov himself? Not as interesting as the others I’ve been learning about. He seems to have been generally more stable, middle class and financially secure – with requited love! Although leaving your homeland and settling in a new country would not have been easy.

The one thing everyone but me seemed to know about him was that he had enormous hands and so could stretch huge intervals on the keyboard!

Number 62 – cooking new recipes. This month is was za’atar chicken with lemon, and yogurt & tahini sauce. Just typing that makes my mouth water. Do try it. Unless you’re vegetarian/vegan, but even then, make yogurt and tahini sauce and dribble it over everything. You won’t regret it.

Then I made chocolate and hazelnut brown butter financiers. And yes, we all think financiers work in the City don’t we? Well, not only! The recipe called for 5 egg whites so I also make a huge jug of custard. Rhubarb and custard was a daily event for a while. A dish from times gone by, but none the worse for it.

Number 3 – Write proper letters. This month to a sister-in-law in the US who should have been visiting in September. Skype calls are good but we’ll miss the face to face.

Number 4 – Paint a picture. That’s coming along in a rubbish sort of way! I had the idea of a lockdown inspired piece of art. It’s definitely not the one I’ll consider as completing Number 4, but I thought you might like to see the blue sky of lockdown and one of the swallows that arrived at the start of summer!

Number 10 – Monthly donation this month to South Powys Parkinson’s Group.

Number 43 – CD from Matt at Diverse Vinyl. I’m definitely getting, and enjoying, something different every month. This one appealed to the Bruce Springsteen inside me! It’s by Country Westerns but doesn’t appear to have a title.

Number 63 – Plant a herb garden. It’s going well but I’m rather grumpy about the fact that the parsley Pavel is growing on his allotment is far more successful that the parsley I’m growing on his allotment…

Number 68 – Book club books. Only one this month so I’m let off the possibility of reading something I don’t like! The one was Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo. It’s the stories of twelve women whose lives overlap in very different ways at different times. It’s clever and thought provoking. I’m giving it 5 stars. The literary world gave it the Booker Prize!

With only one book club book there was time for more. I went for a bit of a medical/healthcare ride and read With The End In Mind by Kathryn Mannix about end of life care, and Fragile Lives by Stephen Westaby about the patients he met and treated as a cardiac surgeon. I would recommend the first but I’m not so sure about the second. It’s interesting but quite technical and consequently hard going. I wasn’t gripped. Now I’m reading Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld which is a fictional take on Hillary Clinton’s life if she hadn’t married Bill. So far so good.

See you next month.

Well, March 2020 certainly turned into a month that none of us were expecting! Staying in, staying safe. How has that affected progress on my list? Let’s see:

BEING CREATIVE

1. To document the year

Read on!

2.  Write something

Early in month I had a dose of something suspiciously like ‘flu – or a really bad cold. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t THAT ‘flu as I didn’t suffer from a high temperature. It did mean that I missed a writing class, and then couldn’t contribute to the next class, so I’ve given up on it. However, I asked my friend Marcia if she would like to ‘write a novel’ with me. Rather grand that. A story maybe. One of us would write a bit and then send it to the other to write the next bit. Repeat. Well, we’ve started. Who knows how far we’ll get. Marcia is the writer, not me, but I’m hoping her efforts will be an inspiration for me.

3. Write letters to friends who live away This month’s letter went to a friend who doesn’t live very far from me, but she’s not in the best of health and I can’t visit. So I wrote a letter.

4. Paint a picture.

Not yet done but I did get out the easel and make it ready. It’s the perfect time for this ‘at home’ activity.

GIVING

5-16 Monthly donation to a worthy cause

This month to Peak Crickhowell for use by the lovely potter Martin Craddock who runs a class for people referred by Brecon and District Mind

17. Give blood has been changed to Give books

Instead of giving blood, I’ve been giving books this month. Quite a few books! My aim has been to connect with friends at the same time as supporting Crickhowell’s independent bookshop (book-ish.co.uk) during a difficult time for business. I’d like the bookshop to be there on the other side of the pandemic and this is a way to help.

MUSIC

18-29. Learn all the major and minor scales

E flat major and C minor for March. Not much else to say about that!

30 – 41. Study a new composer every month

March was Chopin. And I discovered that 1st March was his birthday, so a perfect choice! We were supposed to see Lucy Parham and Patricia Hodge give a performance of the story of Chopin’s life at the Hastings Piano Festival. Unfortunately the event was cancelled because Lucy was ill. On the train back to London I listened to the BBC Composer of the Week programme on Chopin.

We went to a live transmission from the Royal Opera House of the Royal Ballet performance of the story of Jacqueline de Pre. That was superb, but the surprise was the first half – a ballet called Gatherings. I knew nothing about it, and it turned out to be a collection of dances to Chopin’s music. The ROH music director played the piano live for the performance. Magic.

Pavel and I watched a YouTube documentary about Chopin and another where the American pianist Garrick Ohlson took part in an inspirational interview about the composer.

Gary, my piano teacher recommended a biography which I’ve read over the course of the month. So now I know a lot, and if anyone is interested I’d recommend the book.

Fiona knew that, as well as learning about Chopin the man, I’m also learning 3 of his Preludes. To help me on my way she sent this, which has brought a lot of pleasure:

So yes, I feel as if I’ve given Chopin my all this month.

42. Play a piano piece from memory

The piece I’ve chosen is (coincidentally) Chopin’s Waltz in A minor. I was trying to learn it from memory when Gary, my piano teacher gently suggested that I actually learn how to play it first! I always want to do things too quickly…. anyway, I listened and now I can play it, with the music. So from now on I’m launching my memory cells. Wish me luck! I think it will take several months.

43. Buy and listen to a CD recommended by Matt at Diverse vinyl

Just in time, this arrived:

bones you have thrown me and blood I’ve spilled by kathryn joseph

So very different from last month’s Lizzo and it hasn’t taken me quite so long to begin to find it familiar and to enjoy listening.

Being Active

All being active challenges (44-48) are on hold. We’re confined to barracks and I hope I’ll get to them later in the year.

FAMILY

49. Watch Hugo play football

On hold!

50. Meet up with Chris

We have a date which looks as if it will be postponed. It will be a busy autumn.

51. Lunch with at least one brother and sister in law every two months

We’ve already ticked this off for the first two months but I can’t help adding this meet up. There’ll be a few more I expect. The whole world is Zooming!

FRENCH

52 – 57.  Listen to and read Bien Dire bi-monthly

I am doing this but without a lot of enthusiasm. It’s extraordinary how quickly the thought of travelling anywhere at all has been pushed to the recesses of my brain.

58. Travel North to visit Lesley, and Tim and Penny

Not for a while

59.  Go to the Edinburgh Festival and see Marcia’s play

Joanna and I booked accommodation in Edinburgh but the festival will likely be cancelled. A discussion needs to be had. Edinburgh later in the year for fun?

60. Stay in one of Frankie and Stuart’s honeymoon hotels

Ditto 58

61. Leave 100% tip

I always knew this would be a problem!

62.  Cook a new recipe every two weeks

There’s going to be no problem at all doing this. It’s virtually a new recipe every day! Here are this month’s which were attempted to fulfil activity No 62. Neither was 100% successful this time.

The first was because a non-dairy friend (now there’s a thought!) was coming to lunch. I made chestnut and sun-dried tomato casserole. I love chestnuts but I’m afraid the dish didn’t quite live up to expectations.

Then I tried biscuits. Oatmeal. They tasted lovely but were rather misshapen. Not a problem, but those who know me well will know that I wouldn’t have been happy with that!

63. Learn a poem

I think I’ve decided that it will be ‘I wandered lonely as a cloud’ but friends are still sending suggestions so I’ll wait a while.

64. Plant a herb garden

If the garden centre will deliver I may achieve this, or I may put out a call for spare plants, cuttings. It’s still a few weeks too early so fingers crossed I can get something (trans)planted!

65. Weigh 7lb less according to MJ Fitness scales

Well, who’s not doing Joe Wicks every day and going on an allowed brisk walk? I think this challenge may be easier than I thought. The problem is that I can’t get anywhere near the required scales.

66. Sort photos into albums

After a chat with Janice I’ve changed this into ‘organise photos into boxes’. That’s what Janice did, and I like the idea because it will take up less space and also avoid having to do all those fiddly sticky corners! I have the boxes ready and what better time to start on this Thank you IKEA. And Janice!

67.  Go camping/glamping

Booked to go in May with Marcia – the friend most unlikely to go glamping ever. But she did book and we laughed rather a lot as she was doing so. Now it turns out we won’t be able to go in May, so another activity pushed to the autumn.

68.  Read ALL bookclub books

The Library Bookclub has a month off because this month we have our ‘Christmas get together’. I’ll leave that there for you to ponder.

The Book-ish Bookclub is reading Nothing To Envy. I’ve read it and highly recommend it as an account of life in North Korea. A non-fiction book that is both fascinating and gripping.

69. Something with Emma

We can’t do that either in lockdown

70. Celebratory birthday dinner 2021

Let’s hope so!

Gosh – third (second full) lockdown month. Who would have thought? Lockdown is probably worth a blog of its own, but here I am, reporting on a small number of the 70 tasks to complete before my 70th birthday. Again, no mention of things I can’t do because of lockdown and simply an account of what has been possible. I’m not giving up yet. However, there are more photos than writing this month, so whizz through, have a look, and bear with me.

3. Write a proper letter every month. I wrote a letter to a friend in San Francisco. American friends are not in lockdown but are ‘sheltered in place.’ It’s a cute turn of phrase and I love how it goes along with such things as lift/elevator, pavement/sidewalk. I looked it up, and the origin is that the warning is issued when chemical, biological or radiological contaminants could have been released and residents should take refuge in a small, interior room with no or few windows. Slightly less dramatic for epidemic incidents, but the message is the same.

I wasn’t sure if the letter would even get to the USA. We were seeing no aeroplanes in the pandemic sky. Then, a couple of days after posting/mailing the letter we saw a vapour trail on our daily walk. I looked it up because where on earth could it be coming from, going to. And look!

As you can see, I’m spinning this out….

4. Paint a picture. I ordered extra acrylic paints when I looked at my limited colours. They arrived and I started painting on my one and only canvas. It didn’t take long for me to realise that I actually can’t paint. I have no idea what I was thinking of. I’ve now done some research on how to go about this. I’ve ordered a couple more canvases and I have some ideas. Progress will be made, just not this time!

And as I write the doorbell rings….

Canvases!

Am. Spinning. I. Out. Definitely It!

8. Monthly donation. This time to local women’s aid. Lockdown and the associated increase in domestic abuse doesn’t bear thinking about. There couldn’t be a more important time for services to be there for women and children who need them.

21. Learn scales. Yes I’m learning scales.

33. Study a new composer. I chose the Schumanns this month. Robert and his wife Clara. I didn’t feel particularly comfortable about lumping them together. Apart from two lives in one month being a lot to learn about, I quickly realised that I was downplaying the genius of Clara. She deserves her own month. I went from not being particularly comfortable about what I’d done, to being annoyed with myself. So Clara moves to June.

Robert Schumann wrote a delightful book on Advice to Young Musicians and now the cellist Steven Isserlis has added to Schumann’s advice, bringing the book up to date. I LOVED it. It truly resonated with this old musician!

Schumann was not known as a virtuoso. He played the piano (not as well as Clara) but in his twenties he damaged his hand by using mechanical devices to try to strengthen the weaker fingers. Any career he might have had as a performer was finished. So composing it was.

The story of his life is not a particularly happy one. He was thought to have a bipolar disorder and was diagnosed with psychotic melancholia. He died young. I’ve learnt a lot about his life from this excellent book by Judith Chernaik, and look, there’s Schumann looking so much as if he belongs in that Romantic Era of music.

43. Buy and listen to a CD recommended by Matt. This month’s may just be the best yet and overtake Lizzo. It’s Alone, Not Alone by Tiny Leaves. Beautiful instrumentals, absolutely perfect for lockdown. Highly recommended.

62. Cook a new recipe every two weeks. The cooking. The cooking goes on and on. Maybe I should cook 70 new dishes and be done with the whole project! I think Sue Holden is currently up to Number 66 of Shakespeare’s Sonnets – she’s posting one a day during lockdown. If I’d started recipes at the beginning I could soon finish. You see, I’m beginning to worry about not being able to complete this whole challenge, which may have been a bit bonkers to begin with.

OK back to new recipes. This one was weird but, of course, delicious because Ottolenghi suggested it. Smoked fish (haddock) and parsnip cakes. You wouldn’t would you? But do, because they really were good!

And another unlikely combination. Rosemary, olive oil and chocolate. CAKE! This worked too. It’s been a morning coffee addition for a week or so.

And go on, one more. This time Socca – pan fried gram (chickpea) flour fritters things. Just flour, water and olive oil. Quite delicious.

A quick nod to number 65 here where I am supposed to weigh 7lb less at the end of the year. Somehow or other, even with all these goodies, and gin and tonics, I seem to have lost 4lbs while locked down. I’m only popping it in, because it’s one of my 70 that I’m on the way to achieving. And I find it amazing and amusing, because food is figuring highly in my life right now!

63. Learn a poem. Last time I said thank you for all the suggestions and I meant it. I’ve said I’m not a poetry lover, but I’ve so enjoyed reading the ones you’ve sent. This month is the month that I’ve chosen the poem. Apologies that it’s not one ‘of yours’. It’s one that I vaguely knew of. Justin Webb chose it as his 8.30 poem of the day when Radio 4 was doing that a few weeks back and it struck a really strong chord with me. It’s The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost. I will report on progress. So far I’ve learnt the first line…… I have time!

64. Plant a herb garden This is so funny. Plants I didn’t know I’d ordered keep arriving. The planted garden now has thyme (it already had thyme), tarragon (two lots of tarragon have arrived – regular and French. Does anyone know the difference?). Parsley (I had parsley). Sage (I hadsage). Rosemary (I had rosemary). Do you see a theme here? And Lemon Verbena. No, I didn’t have that. At least I’m doubling my chances of a successful herb garden!

68. Read all bookclub books. Well this was a struggle and it’s extraordinary because the book is by Julian Barnes, one of my favourite authors. A tough one as I don’t much like historical novels. And this is not so much a novel either. It’s filled with too many facts which, although interesting, I’m never going to connect with, or remember. Maybe you don’t have to. On the upside, the book is beautiful and the pages a delight to turn. Thick, off-white paper. Lovely. I enjoyed the touch and feel of the book more than the content.

Thanks for reading. Slow progress but progress nevertheless. If I keep writing I’ll keep up enthusiasm for all the things I can’t currently do.

A quarter of the way through the twelve months I set myself for completing 70 everyday things and it’s not going exactly as planned! However, things can be achieved in lockdown.  I’ll report progress for April, but without repeating what I can’t do through no fault of my own.

I’ve been thinking that I’ll have to amend my list.  In addition to lock down, a couple of already booked activities – glamping and the Edinburgh Festival – have been cancelled so I’ll need replacements for both of those.  But what?  I can’t think of anything other than embroidery or knitting that fits the current situation, and although I have nothing against either activity, they’re not acceptable!  I’m waiting to see what the lifted restrictions look like and the likely timescales.  It’s true that I’ve acknowledged my 70^th birthday by producing this list, but the suggestion that us oldies will need to self-distance and isolate for much longer than others won’t make 7070in2020 any easier!

What did April bring, apart from stunning weather?

2. Writing hasn’t worked.  The novel that Marcia and I thought we might write has bitten the dust.  It was probably a bad idea to begin without a plan, plot, agreed characters, setting or genre, and after starting with a flourish it died a sudden death.  I can’t even remember whose turn it is!

3. Writing letters I need to write 12 letters but haven’t managed one this month. People I want to write to are overseas and I’m not yet going to the post office, so I’ve decided that as long as I write 12 letters before next February that’s OK. I’ll manage to do that.

7. Monthly donation I changed my plan for the month and made the donations to the Crickhowell Scrubs Group who are making scrubs, bags, caps and ear protectors for NHS and Key Workers, and the Abergavenny Food Bank.

17. Giving books I’m still giving books but am running out of people to send to now!

32.  Composer of the month was Bach.  I wasn’t a fan until I started playing some.  The music is a joy to play and, through playing I’ve learned to listen, and I like him more.

I’ve read Horatio Clare’s book which he wrote when walking in Bach’s footsteps from Arnstadt to Lübeck to visit Dieterich Buxtehude, the famous organist. It’s a delightful read whether or not you’re interested in Bach. And it has a beautiful cover:

We had tickets for a ‘Bach, The Universe and Everything’ concert by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.  It was cancelled, but a number of the orchestra members ‘Zoomed’ the concert to YouTube which was a real treat.

A YouTube search came up with ‘A Passionate Life’ – a documentary about Bach by John Eliot Gardner, and 7 episodes of Great Composers from the BBC so although I’m no expert, it’s been good to learn more and I’ve loved listening to the Goldberg Variations, the Brandenberg Concertos, Cello Suite No 1, Air on a G String, and the end of the Art of the Fugue which stops. Just stops.

42. Playing a piano piece from memory Chopin’s Waltz in A minor, the first 8 bars YES (minor hesitation due to performance nerves)

43. A CD recommended by Matt at Diverse Vinyl This month it was Snapshot of a Beginner by Nap Eyes, which I liked enough after several plays. I like how these monthly CDs are so different. Lizzo is still my favourite.

62.  Cooking So easy this one.  It’s all I seem to do.  The new things though:

I tried Sourdough bread thanks to Emma for supplying Bob, the sourdough starter. My sourdough bread turned out more like pumpernickel. I clearly don’t have the knack. Luckily it tasted good.

Courgette fritters were delicious. For the first time ever, I’m looking forward to a glut of courgettes later in the year.

And the unlikely star of the show, Ottolenghi’s potato, leek and sauerkraut gratin with gruyere cheese. Who would have thought!

63. Learn a poem Last month I put out a call for poems and I was so pleased to receive some lovely suggestions. So thank you:

Joanna for Invictus by William Ernest Henley

Debbie for The Peace of Wild Things by Wendell Berry

Lesley for Today by Mary Oliver

Nancy for Inversnaid by Gerard Manley Hopkins and

Rob for alerting me to pretty much every 8.30am poem on the Today Programme!

Thought provoking all of them.

I’ve still not decided.

64. Plant a herb garden Yay! Look…. The Abergavenny Garden Centre delivered herbs and I planted them. I’m as excited as can be to ‘own’ a bit of Pavel’s allotment(s)!

68. Read all book club books Only one book club book this month. Machines Like Me by Ian McEwan. I’m a fan of his so it was unlikely to be a chore and I’m pleased to say it wasn’t. Not his best, but very readable, thought provoking and I loved how he changed history!

That’s it for a lockdown attempt.  Progress is not great, but enthusiasm prevails.