A Fairly Relaxing Ash Wednesday

Wednesday, March 6, 2019

Bombay

A Fairly Relaxing Ash Wednesday

     Namaste from Bombay!

     It was good to awake to the knowledge that I really did not have anything on my schedule today nor any pending interviews that needed to be transcribed nor any appointments. It was a day to catch my breath, as it were, before the next lot of interviews need to be carried out and transcribed. I have, by the way, finished 40 interviews to date...an enormous amount of work even if I say so myself.

So I blogged, had my breakfast of muesli and coffee while watching TV (Come Dine With Me) and then got dressed and set off for the gym. I finished within an hour and then went home for a shower. This seems to be the tenor of my daily routine on days when I have no morning interviews scheduled. 

     However, after a shower, I had to go to Dad’s place as Valerian, Russel’s physiotherapist, was expected. The session went off very well, in our opinion as Valerian was far more gentle this time round, spoke with a much softer voice and less rapidly and seemed generally more cognizant of Russel’s limitations. He left him with a few more exercises to be done...let us hope they will work out well.

Once Valerian left, I set off for the shop of my photocopy man, Jay, as I had to print out some documents, sign them, have then scanned and emailed off to my publisher—they were papers related to the signing of my new contract for my next book—very exiting indeed!

     Once I got home, I got ready for lunch and because it is Ash Wednesday, I had a purely vegetarian meal with dal and my stuffed eggplant. A short nap later, I sat reading my novel. It is a new novel by Helen Simonson and is called The Year Before the War. It is, of course, set in 1938 in the quaint little Sussex town of Rye which is charmingly cobbled and has ancient Tudor gabled houses along a street called Mermaid Lane. I have read about 100 pages so far and it is as charming as its setting. A young teacher comes to the town to take on a new job and is introduced to the Lady of the Manor and her handsome nephews. I simply cannot guess where this will go although I am pretty certain there will be a romance in it.

Because it is Wednesday, Dad and I had the Novena to attend as well as a special Ash Wednesday Mass, I left a little early for church. Dad conducted the Novena and because he also has the microphone on Wednesday, he sang a bunch of old fashioned hymns that I have not heard in a very long time. I got home then to have my dinner—just the last of my eggplant and a tomato soup—and then I continued watching a new detective show on TV called The Sinner.  It is very dark but also quite compelling and I am eager to find out how it will all conclude. 

     As I said, there is nothing exciting to report today—but I am quite pleased to have this respite—this quiet time is much appreciated before the pressures of work build up again.

     Until tomorrow...