boiled potatoes and carrots

 This morning there  was no sensation of time, but there was the feeling that it must be late. The church bells were silent, and the weather was bright. Still, there was the constant feeling that it was later in the day.  On the way downstairs look at the french clock, and it informs that it is around about half past eight.

It is early, the feelings were simply wrong.

Make breakfast, there is only one egg today. That was bad planning and the weekend.

Go to the hardware suppliers and buy some electrical conduit. Buy a crate of beer and have an argument with the woman at the till, she is impatient and unpleasant. It is not easy to remain pleasant either.

At home set up the conduits, after a while the son awakens and helps

At the end of the day it turns out that there is not enough cable to fulfil all the needs.

In the evening, go to the studio to collect the selected pictures. 

Return home, make an ultra simple tasty meal of boiled potatoes and carrots.

quiet

 Last night started at the cultural institution near the artists studio and continued at an  Indian restaurant and ended in the studio again. It was very late, it ended at four in the morning this Sunday.

There was an hour removed by the transfer to summer time. 

Awakening today was still earlier than midday . Breakfast was fine, it was nothing special really. Aund the rest was just a relaxing Sunday.

Patched up the unfortunate job plastering around the electric fittings. In the course of the work some water must have shorted the contacts on one of the fittings. This caused the false earth switch to trigger, and the lights went out. But it does not matter, the wall will have dried by tomorrow, and the circuit will no longer be earthed. That will be it finished then, and the next thing will be to apply a second coat of paint to the walls. If that is successful, then the job will be finished in there. There will only be the floor remaining to be done.

It is evening now, and after all the excitement of the last couple of days, it will be simply pleasant to have an evening in the pub.

bo dahl

 spent the day printing picture after selecting them before going out to he weekly meeting in the gallery. Talk shop, photo techno shit. A man arrives and needs information on his camera. Leave it to the master to explain,  cannot be bothered.

Print the pictures, all done.

Go to a poetry reading.

and now in an Indian restaurant that serves no dahl

rubbery

 Breakfast is in a different place today, it is down in the shop. This is a decision just made for the sake of change. It is nice to have breakfast upstairs, but upstairs has no facilities, no running water, and no heating.

Heating should become unnecessary today, the sky is clear blue from horizon to horizon. Standing outside the shop watching the cars go by, the spire of Saint Martins church is reaching brightly upwards.

That is pleasant, sitting in the shop. It is like a café, it is possible to watch the people and the cars go by in the street outside. Momentarily there is a large white delivery vehicle parked outside.. Make an extra cup of coffee in the kitchenette, the coffee was the cheapest, just to test the system. It has an aroma reminiscent of rubber tyres. Other types of coffee smell whiffily of chocolate. But it was cheap, it has to go, and it will never be bought again.

There are things to be done today, and in the late afternoon there will be a meeting with the artist.

purr

 Today was spent at home, there is nothing out there that is of any interest. There have been nothing but attempts to sort the pictures for the exhibition. Some have been successful, it is now that a sensible archive would pay dividends. There is nothing to be done for it, it will just have to work as it is now.

Looking over all the pictures taken during the last few years is not without revelation. There are interesting pictures that were left aside, and there is wonder as to why some pictures were seen to be good in the past.

The time goes by, attempts are made to adjust the printer, not with very much success. A piece of extra software is needed, and that is not for free.

It is pleasant to make small meals for oneself, always nothing special. Just taking care of oneself and nobody else. 

The room that was painted last week appears to be drying out.

And now the cat is running about in the shop, purring happily.

Perhaps it will be possible to go to the artists's studio and work on the selection of pictures. Later on this evening.

rain and nothing more

 Nothing is making great progress. Nothing at all except for a visit to the shops to buy a bucket of paint for the walls and a visit to the food store to buy more potatoes and carrots.

A change of diet is necessary. Call the doctor and have her renew her prescription for the heart medication. This all works automatically now, the prescription is made available online. It is very comfortable

Cook a small feed of potatoes and carrots. With salt and butter it is all very pleasant. Perhaps visiting a cookery course would be an idea.

Print out a few more pictures, it seems a thing worth doing.

A walk in the rain to the preferred apothecary is rewarded by a scrap of paper fixed to the door of the establishment informing that the business is closed due to illness.

Walk to the next apothecary in the rain. The strange pains in the hip are starting again, it is hard to balance on the right leg. The other apothecary is open and has the medicine in stock.

At home, take a rest under the covers. Warm up a bit. This winter of misery has to end.

Downstairs now there is nothing to do but to clean up.

It will be time for bed shortly.

stay at home

 Slowly things are getting better again. Getting up and having breakfast today functioned well here is the impression now that the weather is warmer, that is a good thing.

The cat was very demanding today, it behaved as if somebody had forgotten to feed it. Perhaps this had been forgotten. The poor animal has never learnt how to open a tin of cat food.

Spend the morning trying to organise things.

There is a short visit to a cafe today, watched a very large young woman who works there make herself two very large sandwiches and consume them, one after the next. Well, she likes her size probably, so everything is in order.

On the way to the shops made a detour and visit a key cutting service. They not only cut keys, they make small name plaques for letter boxes. Give the man the plastic window from the letter box and ask him to make a nice name plate. He will do, he says, and suggests a return at four in the evening.

Walk on to the shopping mall, there is now time to buy a small amount of food for the human. Buy potatoes and some oddments,  also eggs.

During the walk notice a strange feeling in the right leg, a diffuse pain and weakness. It is not pleasant, let us hope that it does not become a permanent feature of life. It is difficult to stand on the right leg, and there is a tendency to limp. Later, at home, start to print out some of the sample pictures for the exhibition. Then make a simple meal of boiled potatoes. They are very good small potatoes, absolutely suited to the time of the year. Cooking simple vegetable dishes is fun, and it is not expensive. Perhaps it will become necessary at some later stage to buy an induction hob with two heating areas, but for the moment this one will do just fine.

Decide not to go out today, there is nothing to be said for it.

nine in the evening, time for a drink

 The day started badly, feeling ill. With determination try to make the software work. Things work better for a while, then they do not work at all any more.

The heating does not really work down in the shop, it is chilly. Go upstairs and lie down in the warmth of the upper rooms. They are not really warm, but at least there is something. After a short rest, go out and shop, buy cat food, and bread and eggs and things. Then sort the clothing from the dryer and pack it all away.

Take another rest, there is just no way to feel well.

And then start to work on the projects for a few hours.

It is now nine at night, it is time for a drink.

Autonomous

 it is just ahead of midnight on a Sunday. There had been work all day trying to understand the software and the connections for the couputers. They were all installed by the son, he knew what he was doing but he was unable to impart any of this knowledge to his father. Such a shame.

Finally he left to go on his studies in Bayreuth. Hopefully he had a safe journey. There was a pleasant half an hour in the café before leaving.

As soon as he was gone. nothing worked the way it should-

Went to the pub and spent time doing three dimensional puzzles.

Finally left, and upon returning established that the computer was busily installing updates. 

This is a thing that windows does autonomously.

plans to be made for two exhibitions

 things that happen on Saturday, Saturday is the day that those who work do not work, but try to do the things that they could not do whilst they were working. There is a message from the gallery, there will be no meeting today. So much for that, this will leave more time to do other things.

The two artists call and ask for the preparations for the exhibition. Nothing to do there yet, but it must be done quickly. Look over the backups on the computer, and find nothing. Then slowly start to find things, it is all chaotic. It is hard to find things that have not been catalogued. There is no catalogue of the personal work, it is everybody else's work that has been catalogued.

It is now one o'clock and a little has been done. The whole body is a mass of aches and pains after the exertions of the past week. There is the sound of the siren of a fire engine outside, and otherwise it is a fine day.

There is the show to be made at Hörlkam, there is the show of the Jazz musicians to be made in the Hahn, the lokale otherwise known as the pub.

And there is the big show to be made together with the sculptor. That is in the future yet.

And the pictures for the exhibition have not been found yet.

There are more sirens outside, vanishing slowly into the distance.

Not Today

 Getting up was horrible and applying a lime paint to the walls of the room was bad too. But it took a few hours and it was done.

Getting out of bed was a serious fight with depressions. There were stupid suicidal thoughts again, it is time to be careful again. Do it right and it cannot be undone.

Fit all the switches and sockets again.

The paint will take some time to dry, for it is a lime based paint painted onto damp lime render. That is supposed to be the way to do it.

It all looks grey.

But that is the end to the story of that rooms walls.

Escept  for the area around the electrical fittings. The rendering broke there. That was too bad. It will be repaired sometime.

Not Today.

A warm shower puts and end to all of the work.

Go to the pub to collect the debt. That will be done then too.

quiet

 The mess was cleared, the skirting boards cleaned. 

The room may be painted now, but the tiredness is just too great to begin with that.

There was an evening spent in the pub and time spent with the son watching him repair a computer.

And nothing much was done all day. Perhaps the room can be painted tomorrow and then , but for the floor, all will be done with that one.

tomorrow, the mess

 The rendering of the walls in the shops back room is finished, and rendering is a thing that will be left up to those specialised in the trade in future. There is a smell of lime everywhere, on the clothes, the hands and the hair. It is done now.

The floor in the front room of the shop is cleared of errant footprints, and the small patch on the wall there has been fixed too.

A long hot shower was taken afterwards, and a rest in bed.

The nonsense took all day, the only meal having been breakfast.

This evening there will be a a party at the local Italian restaurant to celebrate the artists birthday. Lie down and rest in preparation for the event. There is no point in being angry about the offers of help that did not materialise.

It is good that the rendering is done. Tomorrow the mess can be cleared up.

look forward

 Yesterday night was a pleasant evening with the teacher and his wife, both pensioners and both happy. They seem happy with each other, and are distressed by a  succession of deaths in their circle of friends.

It was a pleasant Italian restaurant with a silly name.

Afterwards visit the artist. He is working on a new statue. It is a picture of the long dead mother, she died in 1975. Not his mother, the writers.

The morning and the afternoon were spent rendering the walls in the back room of the shop. The work is not finished, hopefully it will be by tomorrow. The work today was exhausting. Recovery is only taking place now. Both arms ache, and the back is sore.

Tomorrow evening the artist will be celebrating his birthday.

Something to look forward too.

the feet will not warm up

 After breakfast take the car to Wartenberg, to buy five bags of wall rendering. It is made of lime, it is hard on the hands and you have to wear gloves. It is difficult to get, for most of the builders suppliers do not stock it. Perhaps they are concerned for safety reasons.

It is a pleasant short drive, it does not take longer than half an hour. The people at the store are friendly and efficient, the whole business is done in under half an hour.

Return home, and unload the five bags. Each bag weighs thirty kilos, the weight in the back of the car affected the performance of the vehicle noticeably. Put three of the bags into the room that is to be worked on, and leave two in the hallway. Then make a cup of coffee with the new stainless steel coffee maker. It was a packet of very cheap pre-ground coffee, this makes the whole delicacy taste very rough indeed.

After a while start to feel the cold. Go upstairs and lie down in the bed, setting the timer for half an hour. This is just for a rest. 

It is impossible to warm up. The feet are icy, even under the blankets. It is not that cold outside, it is not clear what this is.

Later on, greet the wife in the kitchen. She does not return the greeting, she refuses to speak. So be it, that is not a beautiful relationship.

Speak to the son about his plans to make a room for a LAN party. It is hard to imagine that going well. But never mind, it is his problem. He is getting involved in making a single large table for all the participants to sit at. He is trying to make this as cheaply as is possible.

Walk around town, have a cup of coffee and a piece of cake in a café. Buy two wooden broomsticks, they are cheap and sturdy.

At home again, go over the stairwell with a mop, remove the dust, and keep a bit of cleanliness in the house.

icy

It is icy now, it is just an internal feeling. Just because of being unwell, and lonely and fed up. Things are bad today, it is Sunday.

Tidy up the room that will need plastering, establish that the printer will not let itself be repaired easily. It is just an old machine that needs a new head. The wife and the son are madly active on some project  that requires space, and things are suddenly being moved about the place with great energy.

It will all die down soon. Experiences from the past will allow an accurate prediction.

A telephone call with the brother, and it becomes clear that the last person on the phone had turned it onto speakerphone.

Deafening.

And the depressions will not go away.

Saturday waste

 After yesterday's exhertions it was difficult to leave the comfort and warmth of the bed on this Saturday morning. But eventually, it worked, arose from the warmth and comfort and made a breakfast for one. That was nice.

There is a warning on the computer that a delivery is due this morning. These are the items from China, empty cartridges for the printer to hold the cleaning fluid. Check that the content of the parcel is as required, and then pack the items needed for a purchase at the building suppliers and drive to the first one. After a complex drive through heavy traffic – complex because the wrong route was taken –  discover that that building suppliers is completely useless. Drive to another one, and they agree that certainly, the stuff can be collected at the next town on Monday. That is helpful.

On the way back home drop by the basement supermarket and buy apples and eggs and other important groceries.

Attend the midday palaver at the photographic gallery. They are all wound up about politics, American and German.

Go to the department store and buy an Italian coffee maker.

Return home and start to set up the flushing method for the printer. It all seems to work well, the only drawback is that a small part, a blunt needle for a syringe, falls into a full bottle of flushing liquid. The part is not essential, a piece of plastic tubing does the job as well despite its flexibility.

Whilst busy flushing the printer, the son comes in and offers to make scrambled eggs. Just like that, out of the blue. Assent, why not. It takes aquarter of an hour for him to return with a passable omelette.

This is very nice.

After a long time flushing, the printer has cleared the ink from the two channels. It is now necessary to leave the whole thing overnight, to soak, so as to speak.

Make a cup of coffee in the shop, using a small induction heater and the new coffee pot.

trade

 Putting plaster onto walls is not so easy. The milling down of the walls is finished, but plastering is a trade of it's own.

The morning wa spent buying paint, and the afternoon wenz trying to finish the walls in the shops back room.The work was exhausting, and it makeS so little sense to do tHings that are just not part of ones trade.

repair

 it is early, and there is the thought of having to repair that vacuum cleaner in the back of the mind. Perhaps an early breakfast followed by a visit to the unspeakable hardware suppliers to buy the parts and some extra size to bind the wall with. It would be well to finish the project by this week.

It is half past six in the morning, and the grey light of this overcast morning is spreading outside, all the wet roofs outside the window.

Later on we will know more, about whether or not the machine can be repaired.

Breakfast is due to be made in half an hour, and a holiday would be a nice thing.

The son will return from his journey to Munich later on, it will be good to see him again.

dust

 A hazy day of work in a dust cloud, work started at ten and finished at five. The job was simply exhausting, and with only a small amount left to be done the vacuum cleaner broke down, a plastic part that would normally hold the dust filter just broke. It is possible to fix it, but not at short notice.

There is a second vacuum cleaner in the attic, but it is not much good. It is noisy and inneffective. That is just too bad. The work is harder now, but manage to complete the  one wall left.

Clean up the room, there is so much sandy dust from the walls. Sweep up the floor. The dust has carried over on the feet, there are now white footsteps in the other room. Brush the sizing onto the wall, that runs out too.

Go outside and drink a glass of beer.

Look at the news on the mobile 'phone.

Change the clothes, then go upstairs and take a shower.

Collapse into the bed, and sleep for two hours.

Even a strong seventy year old should be careful.

In the early evening, catch the shops just before closing time.

Du be du

 Standing in front of the bank waiting for the tenant to turn up. Look around everywhere, it is a bright sunny day. Still cool, but bright and sunny. Wait, watch a man turn up on a rickety bicycle and stride into the bank. Then look into a shop window, they are selling oil paintings of cows and sheep there. There is a wild boar and a pig to be seen as well.

The tenant arrives and we go into the bank to do our business. This only takes ten minutes, and the money that has been sitting on some secure account is transferred to her private account. All is in order.

Then the ex landlord and his ex tenant go into a nearby café for a cup of coffee. The cup of coffee is good, and the croissant that goes with it is very good too. In fact, the coffee is entirely excellent. As the formal relationship has ended, we are now on personal terms and may use our christian names. Du be du.

In the afternoon go for a pizza with the son. He is hungry, as always.

And in the late afternoon, attack the next wall in the small room. It has the same curious repair on the wall. It is hard to know what to make of it.

And now the back aches, the hot shower helped.

Enjoy

 Things need to be done to the back room of the shop, a filler for the old plaster is needed. The walls have been repaired at different times, and some of the plaster seems to be decaying. A visit to the building suppliers to buy the filler, and then another building suppliers. Buy four bags of plaster, that seems a lot, perhaps it is not such a good idea after all.

Return home at midday and unload the things. Four bags of plaster weigh one hundred and twenty kilos, this seems more as a dead weight.

Take a rest, and then go downstairs and start to work. Paint the walls that have had the plaster stripped off them with the filler, and strip an extra wall. The milling machine that takes the top layer off the wall is heavy.

The afternoon passes, the work is hard and unpleasant, the time is not really available for that kind of thing.

Leave it till tomorrow to sand down the remains walls.

Enjoy sitting in the empty shop with a glass of beer.

enjoy the light and the quiet

 8:13 in the morning of the ninth of March, and there is no great idea of what the day may bring.

Take the prescribed pills, the yellow one, the pink one, the big round white one and the small elongated white one. Wash them all down with the remains of the breakfast coffee. Keep the blood pressure down and keep the effects of vitamin deficiency at bay.

Breakfast was nothing special, or it was special as usual. The sun is glaring in through the window like some woman young drawing attention to her beauty. Look away to not be caught staring, it will be another bright cool day.

Last night was strange, all things are strange now with things going suddenly and speedily out of control without much of a warning. One should have known says the smart ass to the one spreading his wisdom like shit a field. But never, never, and then it is too late.

It is time to get dressed and to resume the chores. It is Sunday, there may be no noisy work in the new studio.

There will be no discussion on the past or the future with the wife without the son, for the age of the father gives him a right to be involved.

Perhaps it is simply a day to go out and to enjoy the light and the quiet, and to ignore the threats of change, destruction and divorce.

8:36 now

The kingdom is available for a curator

 it is twenty past midnight, the call by friends to attend an exhibition confounds.

The exhibition was good in parts, weakly sorted pictures of a profound event eighty years ago.

People will not keep a straight message.

And now it is past midnight and this post is for yesterday. This is inconsistent, but that is the way of things.

Now there are two exhibitions in the offing and no knowledge or experience on how to deal with the matter.

The kingdom is available  for a curator.

studio

 Because a certain amount of money had been taken in, a sort of a tip for work done, celebrate by going to the Thai place. There was a young man there with his mother. He let her run around to get his drinks. He must have been eighteen. He played with his phone without end, and ignored her, except for complaining about the brand of the drink.

He was a young man from Turkey.

Went for a cup of coffee with the son. That was pleasant, that was earlier in the day.

Later in the afternoon, start to mill the plaster from the wall with a power tool. It is hard work, the machine is heavy, but the wall is milled down to the bare plaster within a few hours. The suction system blocks once and the room is instantly filled with a dense cloud of dust.

There is a large bucket filled with fifty kilos of powdered wall coating after the floor has been swept and vacuumed.

That job is done.

Enjoy a beer in what may become a studio.

cats have claws and short legs.

 Cats have short legs, that is why they go on their toes. This thought came whilst looking at a picture of the son holding the cat. The picture had been taken by a friend. In the picture the cat had the heel of its rear foot on the sons arm. It had a long foot and short legs.

The cat walked up the stairs, on its toes, its claws clicking on the surface.

The wife made demands today, demanding a share of the income from the shop.

That is hard luck, for there is no income to be made. She threatens with divorce, that is the way of things. The logic is hard to follow, perhaps it is covering for something else. There are no bills for living costs for her to pay, there have been none and none are planned. Yet still she wants to destroy the income that is keeping things that way. Perhaps it is boredom.

The pictures taken yesterday are all done.

A walk was taken through town, that was nice enough. And cat food, bought. There is no need to starve the animal.

There really is no need anywhere, there is just suffering here.

Ashes

 Up early, dressed and showered, and then get ready to drive to Regensburg. Get ready to be driven to Regensburg to attend an Ash Wednesday service. 

On the way to regensburg there was a ceramic angel to be collected at a university chapel. It had been on loan, and the period of the loan was now over. The one sculptor had an injured back, so that this photographer was the one who helped to move it. Then there was a meal in a restaurant, the service was sharp, unfriendly, and effective.

The music at the service was provided by the university for sacred music.

It was fantastic.

Afterwards, a film was attended, they were films made by a theologian turned film producer. They were well made.

A group picture was taken of a crowd of artists on a sofa. A very large and important bishop stood around in the way. Later people said that he wanted his picture taken too.

A really lovely artist was photographed standing in her studio with one of her etchings. What a lovely woman.

Afterwards, there was fish soup, because it is Ash Wednesday

And now, returned home, go to the pub.

please

Today was a strange day that was spent helping the artist to arrange his studio. This will have to stop, help is all very well, but there are things that need to be done at home. Still, it was possible to glean three very nice seats for the shop and to move the second printer from the hallway into the shop space.Most of the day was spent working in the artists place trying to get things finished.

It is not all easy.

Tomorrow there will be an evening in Regensburg at the academy for church music. That should be interesting. The journey will be together with the ceramicists.

Please explain why there is so much going on.

hopes

 There is stress building itself up all the time waiting for something to burst. There seems endless amounts of stuff that needs to be done, and yet nothing seems to move forward.

Helped the artist with his studio today, but the shop on the ground floor of this house needs to be brought to order as well.

There are invites, but it is difficult to follow them all.

And the wife's silent mode is just a nuisance now.

And there is no wish to write much today.

Assembled a sofa after having taken it apart fro transport. This was less easy than had been expected.

And now the bedroom is icy cold because it had been forgotten to turn on the heating 

Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

after eight

Spent the whole morning pasting pictures into the file, all annotated everything in order. There are only ten of them missing, which is fine. But now the whole morning is gone. Outside in the streets there is a noisy celebration of Fasching, with many people running around in a state of forced gaiety. Some may actually be having a really good time. It is all really very loud, people shouting in the street. There is a long queue  at the café, do not bother to go in there.

The body is freezing and shaking. Stop in a patch of sunlight and write a note accepting an invitation to join a couple in the evening. It is strange how people will pay attention to a single person, and will ask strange questions as to where the wife is and what she does. Just say that things are a bit complicated, and are private.

Go back home and make a sandwich, That is a simple solution.

There will be a pleasant evening after eight.

A quiet meal and a glass of beer in a country pub.

                                                                                                                                                                                                     

Interntions.

There was no toast for breakfast today because there was no white bread. There was no bread in the kitchen, full stop. So made a cup of coffee, and went downstairs and looked at the deserted shop with the three quarters built kitchen. Used the ruler to measure the lengths needed and took a few samples. Drove to the building suppliers and spent almost a full hour trying to get the necessary things together. Once all of this was done, after a considerable amount of help from the personell there. Then drove on to the paint suppliers. Bough a small plastic can of paint and a bottle of liquid to be used sizing the wall. And then drove to the municipal recycling centre to collect a supply of official yellow waste bags. And finally, to the mall, to the basement supermarket.

Bought white bread for toast there.

At home, finished working on the kitchen unit, tested the taps and the drainage system for leaks. There were no leaks.

Later on, walked over to the gallery and had a cup of coffee and a chat. They were talking politics, talking about bullies, talking about it being time to worry about Russia's intentions.