March Items
31 March


I'm writing all this in May.

Normally, when I have a break away from writing, I cover it up by scribing from notes taken at the time. This time I don't even have notes to work from. I'll be working from memory and bald diary entries for general signposting as to chronology.

And, frankly, I've been under a cloud for some time now. Not gone under but certainly well below par and keeping myself apart so as not to come apart.

What I'm going to do is simply to jot down as much as I can under a few headings.

Item - Easter

Well Easter was within a day of being as early as it possibly can be this year. To link in with the Jewish Passover feast (the bible tells us that the crucifixion took place at the time of the feast of the Passover), Easter Sunday is held on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox (or thereabouts). This year, the vernal equinox was Thursday 20 March; the full moon was Saturday 22 March and therefore Easter Sunday was 23 March.

One understandable consequence of this temporal positioning was that the weather was inclement for most of the time. I'd hoped to get out into the back garden and begin teaking the garden furniture. As it was, the Saturday and Sunday were complete write offs although I did manage a little garden recreation on the Monday.

And I listened a lot to Classic-fm's Hall of Fame which, as usual, is more interesting at the start with the lower numbers than when you get nearer the top ten which tends to be inhabited by fairly usual suspects.

Item - Weather

Well, having eased into what looked like being an early spring during February, this month has turned out to be much chiller than in recent years. It's been cold, it's been wet, it's been grey. We've had snow, sleet, hail. Less here in the micro-climate of the Liverpool Bay than in the rest of the country but enough for it to feel less than clement.

Apparently, there is a strong La Niña current in the Pacific this year. This is the opposite of the El Niño Pacific current which produces heat waves. La Niña is associated with a cooling effect and this year's is part of the reason behind the record cold snaps in China, the late snow falls in North America and the Arctic blasts which have swept over this country.

Item - Gardening

And, of course, all of that has had an effect upon our back garden. Various plants which had decided that spring had sprung, like the clematises, the roses and the less than hardy fuchsia, died back under the onslaught of morning frosts.

So, many things that might have flowered by now have been held back. The exception has been the hellebores which have had a very good year.

I've bought and have planted out some heathers under the rosemary bush which continues to flourish. The heathers are doing nicely and have flowered white and purple throughout the month.

Item - Eating

As part of a developing concern for thrift, re-cycling and reduction of waste, Ross and I have embarked on another of our occasional experimental journeys. We've started making soups.

The best so far was a broth which used a lamb shoulder bone as its basis and had various bits of vegetables as well as some selected pulses thrown in. Really, you can't go wrong - you just throw things in a pan, let them simmer for a long time and then marvel at the results. I can see that, as next winter comes on, we'll be venturing along this road a little more.

Item - Listening

I've spent a lot of this month listening to operas on the day of their premier and have racked up...

This burst of opera premieres (particularly Verdi) has to do with the way that entertainment and carnival and Lent were all portioned out in the nineteenth century. It's been fun but I don't see myself listening to quite so much opera the rest of the year. It's aurally exhausting.

Item - Reading

I've read a couple of books too continuing my appreciation of two continuing series.

Spook's Secret The Spook's Secret by Joseph Delaney is the third novel in an ongoing series which I started in January. I'm happy to say that standards were maintained here too. Good. [Three Stars - Good]

Miracle at Speedy Motors I've also been reading Alexander McCall Smith's No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency novels now for something approaching five years. The latest novel is The Miracle at Speedy Motors and it more than approaches the good standard set by the previous works. [Three Stars - Good]

Item - Watching

No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Over Easter, that first novel was the subject of a BBC drama. It was an excellent presentation made all the more poignant by the untimely death of director, Anthony Minghella. It's never easy watching an adaptation of a well-loved novel. I have spent so much time with the characters that they are embedded in my mind's eye.

So, Jill Scott wasn't really my idea of what Precious Ramotswe looks and sounds like (she's older, larger and has more gravitas). Anika Noni Rose didn't have Mma Makutsi's constantly referred to bad skin. The little white van was a flat bed truck and not a van.

But I found that I could put all of those things aside because what was shown on the screen was so obviously right in terms of the spirit of the works. It was an excellent entertainment throughout. [Four Stars - Excellent]

Elizabeth II We haven't watched too many films this month. The most vaunted was Elizabeth - the Golden Age - a follow on to Elizabeth which we saw and loved in 1998. This film is a great disappointment. It is too concerned with stylistics and loses all the urgent thriller quality that made the first film. Poor. [One Star - Poor]