Saturday 5 May 2012

It's been a bit of a miserable week.  In the scheme of things a cancelled swimming race, more perpetual rain and yet more dental issues (suspected gum infection this time, necessitating mouth temperature food and exceptionally nasty antibiotics) are frustrating/annoying/painful and only grim in lowercase.  But it seems like GRIM things are happening to so many people who I know and are close to at the moment that they are by far outnumbering the GOOD things.  And even though there are good things happening, such as tomatoes continuing to grow and getting to the end of the week, it feels like they are so small that they can't possibly counteract the grim things.  It's a balancing dilemma that has really been on my mind.

So today, I tried to think about things a bit differently.  I'm not going to be able to do anything necessarily to counteract the GRIM things.  And I can't stop the little grim things from getting me down.  But perhaps I can try to achieve some small good things and eventually they will start to add together and make things feel a bit better...  A culmulative effect perhaps, I hope it will work a little.

So, with a cancelled swimming race, I decided that I could still swim outside, but that I would prefer to swim somewhere nice and warm given that it was cold.  About 6km from where I live is the little town of Woodstock which has a small 25m outdoor pool which is usually too warm to swim in, but today it was just the job.  It takes about half an hour to cycle there as it's uphill and invariably into the wind, but the cycle ride back (it's a circular route) takes you through Woodstock, and gives you glimpses of Blenheim Palace and Oxford airport, and through some country lanes.  It's only the second time I've made this outing, but it is a perfect Saturday trip.  The pool was practically empty, and swimming backstroke looking up at the sky made me feel very small and insignificant but strangely grounded.

The other reason for going to Woodstock was the rather wonderful Woodstock Bookshop.  It's an independent, few of which seem to exist these days, and always stocked with lovely books that I want to take home.  Mother-in-law gave me a book token for my birthday which I discovered last night was far more generous than I had expected, and I'd asked the WB to get in a copy of the Slightly Foxed edition of Look Back with Love by Dodie Smith. It is a mark of the sort of bookshop that WB is that they already had a copy on hand.  Browsing idly, I also picked up The JM Barrie Ladies Swimming Society.  Given that I smelt of chlorine and had wet hair and had been cheated of my openwater swim this weekend it seemed like a good thing to get.  I had been offered a lend of a copy, but a book token is a good excuse to buy a book to read right now.

Oh, and if any of you have had anything significantly more GOOD than GRIM happen recently, please share it.  I'd genuinely love to know that good things are currently happening to the people that I know and care about.

19 comments:

  1. Hugs. I hope you enjoy The JM Barrie Ladies Swimming Society; I thought it was perfect comfort reading, was quite endearing and I thought of you in the (brief) swimming parts.

    GOOD things for me: impending trip to New York and hopefully purchasing a flat.

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    1. Yes, it's a bit short on swimming so far! Any flat news?

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  2. I know exactly where you are coming from. I have some GRIM things going on, and you are so right in what you said, and today I have enjoyed making some cakes and even washing up. Tonight I am going out and doing the driving, so that is a nice thing as well, not sure if the late night will work with the gym in the morning but going to give it a go!

    As it is a bank holiday I have Monday scheduled as a reading day. I might even pick up that book to read as it is on my pile.

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    1. Hope you enjoyed last night and survived the gym!

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  3. Hello Verity, so sorry to hear about your grim times. I'd like to read both those books. I'm currently reading re reading Jane Eyre & have Mollie Panter-Downes Wartime stories by my bed. Hope you have a restful weekend.

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    1. Thank you. Hope your weekend is restful too - three days for you!

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  4. Hello Verity, Sorry about all the grim stuff. Seems like that with a lot of people I know too. What a good thing that an independent bookshop was able to come, at least partially, to the rescue. I know that's a silly way to put it, since how is one "partially" rescued, except perhaps by someone with very settled opinions?

    Someone suggested I try using the free service at moodscope.com to monitor my mood. I only started on Thursday with a fairly low 25% result, dropped to 17% yesterday, but managed 47% today. I suppose that means I'm now "fair to middling".

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    1. Moodscope is interesting; I'm not sure I can bother with it everyday but the email they sent me today had some good thoughts in it.

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  5. Well, something lovely happened at work the other day. My supervisor's daughter was married on Wednesday so several of my colleagues brought in their wedding albums, we decorated the staff room and ordered in lots of fancy cupcakes to feel included!

    Sorry to hear things aren't brilliant at the moment, Verity, but a bike ride through country lanes and a swim sound like wonderful therapy. Take care.

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    1. Oh that is lovely. Weddings are lovely, and how nice to get our the wedding albums. I am often looking at our wedding photos.

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  6. just sending you a hug. It's always darkest before the dawn, remember that. x

    ps. my wisdom tooth has been killing me this week too - it's the worst type of pain!

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    1. Hope your wisdom tooth improves soon Rachel, mine is a post extraction infection so technically it's not the wisdom tooth... Gahhh. Why were we given them?

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  7. Well two good things have just happened to me thanks to you - I've just added Woodstock as a place to visit when we go to Blenheim in the summer, and I hadn't heard of The J.M. Barrie Ladies SS book, and as a Barrie fan I want to read it. I hope things cheer up for you soon. Hugs and thanks!

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    1. Oh yes, Woodstock is LOVELY, far lovelier than the "village" where we live. Blenheim is practically in Woodstock so it'll be hard for you to miss it.

      The book isn't terribly JM BArrie centred, but it's quite light and readable.

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  8. Hi Verity,
    Something good that perpetually happens to me is reading your blog! Also I have some lovely freelance work as an occupational therapist starting, which should help the family coffers.
    I hope your wisdom tooth probs improve, feeling unwell always makes everything else seem worse too.

    David Nolan thanks for tip re Moodscope. I have joined up - great concept. Like their daily blog too - really up to date stuff on the psychology of mood/happiness/depression.
    Thanks for that. (Still waiting for you to start up a blog.)

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    1. Thanks Merenia for your lovely ecard. Excellent news about your freelance work, good to do something outside the family too I guess? I guess you are heading into winter now just as we are supposedly heading into summer. I shall try to explore Moodscope more having missed theirblog when I gave it a go earlier.

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  9. I'm also sorry to hear that you have some not so happy things happening at the moment, I'm in the same boat at the moment. But on the positive side, this weekend has been about my high school reunion and meeting up with people I haven't seen in decades. I have felt happy and sad at the same time throughout the weekend, but I wouldn't have missed it for the world.

    I hope that things get better for you soon, and like you, visiting bookstores always makes me feel better. Take care.

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  10. Hope that by the time you get this you are well on the mend and that you can wave goodbye to the beastly antibiotics. Maybe you're getting a year's grimness out of the way in one go?

    Non-grim news from me:

    *The dog is asleep on my foot. She's snoring.
    *I had a lovely time running my local 5mi race this morning.
    *I went for a long walk in the rain this afternoon. It was lovely, especially in the bluebell woods.
    *I have cake, and I've given cake to lots of nice people this weekend.
    *I'm going to visit friends tomorrow, who I haven't seen since Christmas. Very excited!

    So, not grim here. And I'm grateful and appreciative.

    Hope you feel better soon.
    xx

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  11. Hope you feel better soon lovely! My sister and I opened our first cake shop on Monday, it is called Vintage House Bakery and I haven't really talked about it on my blog but I am loving it! I know what you mean about the GRIM things and you are doing what's best, taking each day as it comes and looking for the positives xxx

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