Friends

Yesterday, I did some browsing in shops and ended up buying two pairs of trousers. One pair for work, another pair to replace a pair that I've already mended but now seems to be worn beyond further mending. I didn't spend any actual money on these trousers as I had a balance to use on a gift card. I also browsed in a bookshop, but I seem to have reached the point where I have so many new unread books at home that I'm not very tempted by anything. That's not going to last.

Today, I picked up my summer top sewing project and managed to finish it. I didn't have the patience to understand how the instructions wanted me to sew the collar, but I think I got the gist and didn't have to unpick anything in the collar, so it must have been more or less what I was supposed to do. So that's a summer top finished, in November. I don't expect to actually wear it until several months from now.

I put in an order for more fabric for my next two projects and got most of it delivered this week. One fabric I wanted is print-on-demand, so who knows what the wait will be like, so I ordered it separately. And I realised I needed to order more rib in a different colour because the one I ordered clashed with the fabrics I'd ordered for the main body and sleeves, so I've done that. So the next step is to wash the fabrics I've got and start cutting the pattern pieces, and maybe there'll be some sewing at some point too.

The cold is still going through its stages and today's coughing has been nasty at times. I didn't get up to much beyond doing my weekly shop this morning. In the afternoon my train journey via Gatwick was uneventful. It's a small thing, but beating the train journey planner by making a quicker change than it suggested also felt good. Nice, breezy, but no longer warm autumn sunshine at both ends of the journey.

The cough was pretty bad on the first part of the train journey and in the last hour before I was heading out to the concert. I was fully expecting to have to make a quick exit at some point because it got uncontrollable. It didn't come to that, thankfully. I managed not to cough during either half but the interval was pretty bad. It did take frequent sips of water.

There was also an unexpected, quick rain shower about 20 minutes before I needed to leave for the concert and another after about 10 minutes after I'd got back, so I clearly got lucky with the weather and stayed dry. It was very breezy regardless.

The concert was very good: a baroque group playing Purcell, Bach and others, interweaved with readings from (mostly) Oscar Wilde's letters and other writings. There was a clear dramatic arc from pleasure, suffering but with no regrets, to redemption and reconciliation and being at peace.

I'm going to another concert at lunchtime tomorrow, and will do some wandering around town before it.

Finished since the last reading post
When Will There Be Good News?, which I liked.

The Voyage Home by Pat Barker. I think I've enjoyed the previous two in the series more than I did this one, but it was still good.

Currently reading
Started reading Co-intelligence by Ethan Mollick. Also started reading The End of Innocence by Simon Garfield. I don't think I've made progress with anything else.

Reading next
I've got a library book waiting