It’s barely been a week and, oh no, I just had an accident of horrific proportions. This is a disaster. You see I was just about to say that after just a few days 500 words in and of themselves just isn’t very intimidating anymore. And then I left my Chinese keyboard on, so when I started to say that I inadvertently started writing characters instead of words in English.
Inevitably my brain immediately suggested we up the ante and try to write daily, in Chinese. This is a far more intimidating proposition. 我喜欢学习中文。现在我觉得很不舒服写汉字。
I have class in fifteen minutes. I need to set a couple of reminders for myself and then get back to some basic study. It’s been a couple of weeks and I think it is time my routine begins to stabilize. E was direct with me, I cannot lean on my short term memory and need to spend time practicing between classes, else I will never build the solid foundation of capability I am looking for.
Fair enough! I need to get into the habit of looking at her notes the next day.
The day has passed and now it is 9.31pm. I have had conversations with my neighbours, to my left as I sit looking out of the back window on the first floor of the house is the family headed by C and ? (P?) at 21 Sandy Mount. To my right is S and hmm, this would work better as an explicit list.
- P and D (Retired)
- Man in his 90s, family around the corner (Frail)
- S and B(?) (Retired)
- Me, a long way from retirement!
- C and P, three children, ?, H, and youngest son ?
The good news is that both were happy with me chopping down the coniferous trees at some point and both were content with me using fires to clear out the material which can be disposed of that way. And so I had my first controlled fire this evening. Burning most of the branches which I had trimmed from the hedge and some of the stuff my dad trimmed while he was here along with some of the fitted cupboard from the two front rooms.
I asked D for help and, when he agreed, went to get him so he could help me carry the tumble dryer, washing machine, and chest freezer into the house. As I write, the sounds of the tumble dryer in the living room are echoing through the house, just reinforcing the value of better insulation for both thermal regulation and sound control too.
I am also washing my bedding as it got dusty from the work at M’s flat and while it wasn’t too bad to use, I am glad to be able to wash it. I have the feeling I am passing from a period of lawlessness to a state of being organized and normal again. I can shower, wash and dry my clothes, drive my car, and eat.
The next major hurdle is food preparation and storage. I have bough a chest freezer and placed an order with the local supermarket for some freezer staples. But really I need to get the water heater set up and either clean or replace the hob so I can cook eggs in the morning.
The oven frightens me, but the good news there is that a basic oven is very inexpensive, they’re essentially boxes with heating elements, so I can get a new one for very little and be immediately in the business of preparing lots of tasty meals to go in my fridge and freezer. On to tomorrow!