There are a number of new effects resulting from spending this extended time in one place: I'm really enjoying some of them. For example I have discovered that towards sunset the small but useful boot-room has a moment when it is lit with slanting pinkly gold light that utterly transforms it. No longer is it the humdrum spot where I take my boots off, because it's briefly and dramatically lit like a Malibu beach house waiting the arrival of Marilyn Monroe and Yves Montand for a script reading and a cocktail.
Two weeks ago I put some pale daffs in a vase, and one evening I walked through during the magic time, known to filmmakers as the golden hour, and I was amazed and thrilled by their brief glamorous makeover. So when the daffodils wilted I replaced them with some wands of blossom in bud- that was a very nice look for the sundowner event, but didn't last long as the blossom came out very quickly. Today I replaced the blossom with the results of my (exhausting!) clearance of an utterly overgrown flowerbed outside the kitchen window: I put together a bunch of deep red valerian and acid green alexanders; they just had their film star lighting treatment, and looked very lovely.
Other favourite spots I'm enjoying include the window sill behind the kitchen sink, where I currently have a tiny EB jam jar from years ago, filled with daisies.
Meanwhile, in the hall I have arranged some branches of beech, whose leaves are still tightly rolled up, mixed with larch twigs whose needles are just emerging. This has been another surprise, picked on a recent foraging trip in search of fir cones of any type, for firelighters; the larch smells wonderful, a nice whiff every time I come into the house- natural air freshener!
On the worktop in the kitchen I usually have a glossy bunch of bay, because this looks handsome, and I can easily pick a leaf or 2 to put in the water when boiling potatoes, which makes your spuds taste surprising and delicious.
Tonight I'll add them to the spaghetti when I'm making macaroni cheese. Margaret is good at finding interesting things to watch on streaming services- we plan to watch the end of Unorthodox this evening, and I can't wait for that. My contributions to our viewing are mostly on DVDs from charity shops- but I scored high a few nights ago when I persuaded her to watch Let's Make Love; neither of us had seen it before and it's a cracker- Marilyn Monroe chose Yves Montand as her co star and they are fabulous together and still the acme of glamour: inspiring in all sorts of ways!