Monday 13 February 2023
I’m in Lewisham, sitting in my favourite armchair by the balcony door with the door wide open. The flat, as usual, is warm without any need for heating and the cool outside air is comfortable. I can hear traffic, the occasional aircraft, more birds than you might expect and any minute now at least one train will go past. The noises are familiar – train now – and being partially outside yet not being cold is a pleasant feeling. Tomorrow morning will be very different, unsurprisingly. It’s 07:09 here, sunrise is at 07:18. In Selkirk, sunrise today is 07:41.
I have a lot of stuff to take up to Scotland today, mainly work stuff and shopping from India. Since being back in London, I’ve thought more than I maybe have done for a while about the flat. Whenever we travel from London to Scotland, we take up as much stuff as the car or we can manage. Every time I come back to the flat, there are gaps where things once were. As a result of our raids on the flat, even though there is still more in the flat than most people own (we both have a lot of stuff, far too much stuff), it looks a bit sad with chunks missing, books tipped over where some have been taken and clusters of things that are not priorities but which always end up as ‘if there’s room in the car’ additions that still haven’t been taken.
Every time I come back here, I think that I will have plenty of time to give the flat a good clean and rearrange it around the gaps. I never seem to have spare time when I’m here. Our next trip down here is around appointments/work at the end of March and I envisage being busy then too. I’m currently wondering about coming here for a long weekend before then for the sole purpose of sorting the flat. As I look around the living room now, I realise it doesn’t quite match the image of ‘home’ I have when I picture it from afar. It needs to be reassembled and the gaps filled and areas of extra space used so that ultimately the absence of stuff will just mean there is more floor space and more things in appropriate homes.
I’m looking forward to getting back to Scotland today and having Carla to stay. I’m also looking forward to fresh air and a break from cities and pollution.
As for the issue of no water from the spring, long story but it really should all be okay. Ditto, wildly optimistic the heating will still be working, though not particularly effectively. Over the next week or so, it’ll be good to add a bit of Indian colour to the house.