Today was still cold and windy but I walked. I put on layers and the long puffy coat I'm so glad I bought this fall. It comes to mid calf, very good against the wind and cold today.
Not much of a walk, but about fifteen minutes outside in this weather feels like more and I was glad I'd gone out. If you don't keep walking you can quickly lose the stamina, and I'd like to keep it a while longer. I did succeed in turning corners without tripping, always good.
Now I'm having a pot of tea while I attend to a bit of Freecycling.
Mats, acid free drawing paper in various sizes, some scraps of Arches hot press. There are quite a few artists and hobbyists in this neighborhood so I'm hoping they're claimed.
Elsewhere there was a discussion about children's emotions and how they need to be taken into account and often aren't.
Mine, as the smallest of a large family, certainly weren't by older sibs, who targeted me. My parents were too busy and harassed just supporting their family and doing all the physical work of housing feeding and clothing, to take anything else into account.
Sometimes this can result in people growing up with underdeveloped skills in recognizing and addressing emotional needs, and it can show in various ways.
Some people simply can't cope with life responsibilities, like a couple of my sisters, who were totally dependent on their husbands, with sad results.
Some develop the other way, with inner resources, like another sister. Once in a while I'm briefly in the first group, but more often I live in the second, pretty self reliant.
To the point of pigheaded, maybe..my unmarried sister certainly was. And we did share DNA.
I have a question for readers: I finished the Delderfield, which is part one of a saga, but part two isn't available right now. What's another saga you can suggest?
I read and loved the Cazalets, and I can always turn to Trollope, but I wonder what might be more sweeping?
Maybe I'll reread the Forsyte Saga, if I can get through the death of Philip Bosinney. Any ideas, please? I'm thinking generations of families and events.
Happy day everyone, here it's keep warm against icy drafts, but some of you are keeping cool in blasts of heat. Reading can happen either way.
Hah - the cedrtain sister was pigheaded? We won't go there!
ReplyDeleteGood for you for getting outside - I refused to set foot out the door yesterday and today and it doesn't bode well for tomorrow either if we get the predicted snowfall. There's already about eighteen inches of the horrible stuff out there and we certainly don't need any more.
You may lose your Canadian card if you keep on not liking snow!!
DeleteAnd yes, about the sister -- IYKYK!
The Circle of Ceridwen by Octavia Randle. Not necessarily brilliantly written but very well researched and a fascinating insight into the times of the Danes and the invasion of England.
ReplyDeleteI would love to own a puffy coat but it just doens't get cold enough here for me. What would I give for some snow right now!
Thanks so much for the suggestion. I'll check it out.
DeleteYes, I can't see a puffy coat working for you!
No going out today. It never quit snowing, walks are not shoveled.
ReplyDeleteBetter home, then.
DeleteMy series are all light reading, and it sounds like you're looking for historical sagas. Looking forward to what others suggest.
ReplyDeleteGetting outside for even five minutes, especially at this time of the year, makes one feel so virtuous upon coming back in. And a good 15 minutes adds the stamina you mention, as well as a chance to see what your wildlife friends are up to (perhaps nothing, if they're sleeping in as you're stepping out). Puffy long coats for the win!
Chris from Boise
The wind kept everyone sheltered, no birds, not even squirrels. Too much sense!
DeletePS, interesting thoughts on children and emotions. You rose to the top, despite/because of it all. You have inner resources in spades, and they (and a certain amount of pigheadedness) have stood you in good stead, especially where young HS and the last years of HP were concerned. And now you are a good exemplar to us all with the same, applied to your own self and well-being.
ReplyDeleteChris from Boise
That's flattering, and I have to agree with the pigheaded bit! I think the ability to function well alone is vital for women, who are often the surviving partner. I notice I was much less distraught by lockdown than a lot of my friends.
Deletei admire your resolve to keep moving. I believed that I would always keep moving but a couple of days of a dodgy hip have told me that some people who put up with a lot more pain probably have every reason to not want to move so very much.
ReplyDeleteYes, once that comes into the picture, you reconsider!
DeleteMy parents had some very good characteristics, but were often verbally and emotionally abusive. I remember the good moments with my father because they were so few and far between. My mother was on a toggle switch and you never knew when it would toggle. I’ve been surprised how long the damage lasts. My sister died at 29. She, too, survived and found her way but was still damaged. I’ve also been surprised over the years by friends who were raised by addicts and grew up to be clean, healthy, and confident while their siblings grew up to be just like their parents.
ReplyDeleteI really wonder how much credit any of us can take for how we turn out. Such a grab bag of possibilities.
DeleteWe go on our little walk almost daily. The cold doesn't stop us, at least up to a certain point, but precipitation can. As for the other, we are what we are through genetics and what life throws at us.
ReplyDeleteI think your cold is more of an issue than here. You're pretty hardy.
DeleteI love R F Delderfield books and have most of them. Try the Swann family saga by him, or To Serve Them All My Days or The Spring Madness of Mr Sermon. Hugs Xx
ReplyDeleteThanks for the ideas. I've read what's available in both my library systems , but you never know. If there's a great Kindle deal..
DeleteThere's a series of seven by S.J. Parris, set in Elizabethan times, which I'm not reading in sequence, annoyingly. There are also the Marcus Didius Falco novels (20 of them) by Lindsey Davis, with plenty of incidental information about life in Ancient Rome, also available on Audible. The Bryant and May series (13 books) by Christopher Fowler, with lots of fascinating historical information about London, is also very entertaining. I could go on . . . but won't.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the ideas! I'll check out the Parris ones. I've read all my library has of Bryant and May!
DeleteI'm never sure whether my comments appear . . .
ReplyDeleteAll the ones I see appear! They're welcome.
DeleteI very much admire your ability to cope and figure things out on your own. Resilience AND strength. For whatever reason, as a child your spirit helped you to understand that no one else was going to be there to meet all your needs and so you best learn to fulfill them yourself! And you did. Fascinating how different siblings had such different coping mechanisms.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you've read all of Philippa Gregory, right?
Thank you for those encouraging words. And yes, all the Gregory available! Also that other writer about Tudor times and thereabouts, Alison Weir!
DeleteThe suggestions coming in are great, and maybe other people can use them,too.
Hmmmm...I am not great on family sagas, I must admit. Not really my thing. The first thing that came to mind for me was "The Thorn Birds," and I read it so long ago I barely remember it. But I know I liked it.
ReplyDeleteInteresting observations on kids and their feelings. Learning to be a self-carer and self-motivator is a good thing, for sure. I like to think I emerged from my own upbringing with similar skills.
Remember Chamberlain in the movie? That's a long time ago. But your reading of Streisand might count -- she's a one person saga!
DeleteYes, I'd say anyone as organized as you has probably had to develop skills for surviving and thriving.
That sounds like a nice walk to me, particularly when followed by a cup of tea.
ReplyDeleteIt was, if a bit challenging.
DeleteI'm a self-reliant middle child who doesn't have a clue how to handle emotions. My mentally challenged older sister (brain damaged at birth) and epileptic younger brother had all of mum's attentions while they were younger. When she left, she took them with her, so I was even more alone. I managed.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I read from you, you managed brilliantly and have not passed on the inattention in your turn. Go you!
DeleteNot a family saga, but Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin terrific series (20 + one unfinished, as O'Brian died before completing it) are nautical historical novels set during the Napoleonic Wars. Focus is on friendship that develops over a couple of decades between Captain Jack Aubrey (Royal Navy) and his ship's surgeon Stephen Maturin, a physician/surgeon, natural philosopher, and intelligence agent. Great characters with all their flaws; their tales cover much about the history of the times--nautical and otherwise. The books are excellent and especially good if you can download the audio versions (CDs, sometimes might still be available?) from your library. Mine has them all. Helps with the sailing terminology and the narrators--usually Simon Vance, or sometimes older versions by Patrick Tull--really bring the stories to life.
ReplyDeleteThank you. This sounds promising. I like that period, too.
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