New desk diary

 

New desk diary

Tulips adorn the cover of my 2024 diary.

There were tulips on the 2023 diary, too.

I don’t know why I have a desk diary rather than a smaller pocket diary. I haven't even got a desk! I suppose it stems from my working days when important dates were filled in at the beginning of the academic year and added to as the terms wore on.

Anyway, I like space to write in and like to pretend that I am organised. I haven’t yet ‘gone through’ the 2024 diary, writing in birthdays and anniversaries. It’s not a task I enjoy very much. Perhaps it’s something to do with my dislike  of making mistakes and maybe to alleviate that I should write in pencil. When I was a teenager, it took me ages to write a letter because I had to keep starting again after I’d made a mistake. Quite ridiculous!

It is now January 2^nd and I have yet to write in my journal. I’d better get a move on before I forget all the exciting things I’ve done so far this year. 

The blank page stares, challenging me to mark its pristine surface.

It’s grey and dreary and very windy today. We drew back the curtains earlier to let in what little light there was – it gets quite depressing to have the world shut out all the time and we were rewarded by the antics of the blue tits pursuing each other across the garden.

Barry saw a rat cross the patio a couple of days ago and Herschel and Jellicoe have been absorbed by activity out there. The patio lies one step below the level of the sitting room and so they sit at the patio doors and gaze down, tails twitching, ears pricked, observing the comings and goings of wild rodents. Roxy and Gilbert have become interested in specific areas of the patio, as well, pushing their snuffling noses between the rustling, dead stems of asters. We hadn’t seen rats for a very long time until recently and, while each creature deserves its space in the universe, we don’t want to oversee a rise in the population.

Maybe the sun will shine tomorrow. Maybe the gale we’re promised will not materialise. Maybe – a wonderful word, full of promise.