Saturday 25 January 2020

Saturday

Saturday, as I am sure many of my readers know, is rarely my favourite day.   Last Saturday I had a lovely day with my God-daughter and her husband but visitors on Saturdays are quite unusual unless they are here for the week-end (rare now because I find entertaining quite difficult these days except for the few who come and treat the place like home (ie make their own beds, stack the dishwasher after meals (better than I do), get up later then me so that I can have a quiet breakfast and gather myself together and various other small things.)

It is now a quarter to three in the afternoon on a day which promises a deterioration in the weather.  Now and again the sun bursts through the cloud but it is certainly chillier and the forecast is for the weather to become more 'as it should be in January' by tomorrow.   But here we have had a lovely sunny week.. 

So far I have communicated with three friends by e mail, waved to a neighbour and chatted to the Post lady for a couple of minutes (commiserating again about the loss of Tess as she has a Border Terrier too).   Luckily my monthly magazine came this morning as did my Daily newspaper - so plenty to read and plenty of puzzles and crosswords to do.

It's funny how leisure activites have changed with the advent of televisions and then computers and all their appendages isn't it?   I sat drinking my cup of tea a while ago, thinking of what my parents would have been doing on a Saturday afternoon.   Well it isn't all that cold, it's fine, there's scarcely any wind:    my Dad would no doubt have been out in the garden, cutting back this and that, having a bonfire of prunings that had been lying about, forking over a bare patch if it was dry enough (we lived in the Fens and often the soil was slow to dry out).   Mum would have had a pile of mending waiting in her sewing basket - socks to mend (no throw-away when a hole appeared in those days - does anyone mend a sock these days?), buttons to sew back on - even - would you believe it - sheets to turn;  she used to turn sides to middle on good quality sheets if they began to be thin in the middle.   Summer Saturdays (if fine) would be saved for one thing - Crown Green Bowling - their pleasure in the Summer.

My young days it would often be Walking - driving to some beauty spot and walking seven or eight miles, picnicking or calling somewhere for food on the way.   I expect this happens still - that is a pleasure that disappears as arthritis creeps on.
But there is still much pleasure to be had if you look for it.    The door bell has just gone - a friend has popped in for a chat and a cuppa - so put the kettle on, cut a couple of slices of Date and Walnut cake, up the Central Heating - three o'clock, just the right time for a cup of tea.   Cheers!

 

18 comments:

JayCee said...

Our Saturdays are generally very quiet too. The Daily Telegraph crosswords, perhaps some washing or light dusting if in the mood, then preparing supper. Tonight we are visiting friends for supper so nothing for me to do until it is time to get changed and venture out into the cold.
Enjoy your tea, cake and chat x

JanF said...

Funny that you mentioned mending a sock, it's something we have not thought of in years but, just yesterday, I did a kind of darn in the toe of socks which I wear to walk in the Mall . We walk almost two miles there when it is not nice enough to walk outside. The sock was not a knitted one, but a heavy duty type nylon and my big toe had poked through the end!
Usually on Saturday we go out for lunch and otherwise are quiet. One Saturday a month we volunteer and help serve at the big Community Meal here, it's free for anyone who needs a hot meal. We serve about 300 meals.

Rachel Phillips said...

Yes, I do mend socks and the darning needles and darning wool are always by my chair so that I can darn while watching tv. Today has been good because I went out early to an exhibition and it feels like a satisfactory day. I have also done some washing, am roasting the pheasant and a neighbour has been round delivering the parish magazine and stopped off for a chat. One of my better Saturdays and yours too by the sound of it.

Gwil said...

On a cold Saturday afternoon my parents liked to listen to the BBC Home Service on the wireless. Mum would very often be knitting. Dad would read every word in the newspaper. Sometimes somebody would call round, usually a relative. We’d put sliced bread on a toasting fork and the teapot would appear. There’d be talking in a kind of Wenglish. A mixture of Welsh and English. Sometimes we could have jam on our toast.

Bonnie said...

It does sound like a pleasant Saturday. I like your thought of considering what your parents would have been doing today back in their day. So much has changed that affects our daily activities. Many changes for the better but not always. Enjoy your weekend.

Midmarsh John said...

As well as darning socks my mother, who was a machinist, would make shirts last longer. When the collar started to wear thin she would unpick it and sew it back reversed so the fraying ended up on the inside when the collar was folded over.

angryparsnip said...

Lately Saturday is just another day for me. I want to get back into doing more fun or interesting things but I seem to be overloaded with work. By the time Spring comes I want to have most in order so I can take care of plants and watercolor.
parsnip

Heather said...

That sounds like a very pleasant Saturday, and even the weather wasn't too bad. I find that Saturdays are very much like other days of the week, but I don't mind that.

Yellow Shoes said...

I mend socks Pat! And this week I turned a collar on an old shirt to get more life out of it. My mother used to “sides to middle” sheets. I love mending. x

The Weaver of Grass said...

John and Ann - I had completely forgotten the turning of shirt collars - yes my mother used to do that too.

the veg artist said...

Saturday is much the same as any other day to me, as unlike you I don't get out much - in fact, I've not left the house since before Christmas and it is getting a bit boring now. The cold exacerbates my pain, so I'm trying to be patient and waiting for it to warm up. Darning - no, although I have turned collars and put in new zips in my time!

Tom Stephenson said...

Doorbells, date and walnut cake. Perfect. Darning socks, no.

Joanne Noragon said...

You missed turning collars. I just looked up and saw someone else reminded you. And, I darned a sock tonight. Of course, first I knit it, seventeen years ago. Its mate already has a darn.

Bea said...

Cheers, indeed!

I haven't darned a sock in years. I now use old socks as cleaning rags.

Librarian said...

A friendly visit for tea and cake - that's nice!
Most Saturdays, there is either household stuff to do after I've been out for work all week, or I am travelling to O.K.'s. If at all possible, we go for a walk or hike once the household jobs are done. Often, we are invited to birthdays or meet up with friends in the evening, but we also enjoy a quiet evening with a nice meal, a bottle of wine and each other's company, after we have not seen each other all week. I really like Saturdays!

The Weaver of Grass said...

So one or two of you still darn - I used to quite like doing it - such a neat, tidy result - but never seems to need doing for me these days.
There was a good new Railway Programme on Alaska later in the evening, which I thoroughly enjoyed so the evening ended on a high note.
Thanks for calling.

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