denises

because of the cold.

Highlights were joining a gym and then using its sauna. Although I’m trying to save money for the bathroom and spending money on a gym membership in some ways seems a backward step, this gym is opening new premises just around the corner from me, so I’ll definitely get to make good use of the membership. They are offering good deals in advance of opening, plus free use of the old premises until the move in August. Today I just went and baked in the sauna, which was bliss.

I’ve also spent a lot of time reading Family Matters by Rohinton Mistry which I enjoyed. It was fascinating for the picture of life in Parsi families in Bombay.

I’ve been a bit domestic, doing some housework and shopping. I bought a blanket storage thingy, so I can store blankets under my bed instead of in the study, which has cleared a bit of space.

I went to my usual Pilates class and AA meeting, but I probably should have got out a bit more.

strange activities in my neighbourhood, even odder things happened tonight. A spotlight shone on a nearby building, and rabbit shadows appeared. Apparently it is another TV commercial, but I think some of it definitely won’t make it into the final version. It looked a bit rude to me :)

^{PS These events are really quite extraordinary. I want to assure you that I live in a nice neighbourhoos.}

Lots of exercise – I went to Pilates yesterday, and today I went to see an open home which didn’t look too far away on the map, but I got lost because it was up on a hill via some steep twisty roads.

Entertainment – went to the movies with a friend today. We saw a Dutch movie called Bride Flight, which was good in parts. It was about a 1950s air race between London and Christchurch which was won by a KLM plane. Worthwhile seeing, even if the story and production was a bit uneven. Other entertainment was having local streets closed off for filming a commercial for US TV. Strange things appeared…

Life-enhancing activities – I went to the hairdresser and it turned out my desire for a bit of a change matched her desire to practice Audrey Tautou’s style in the new Chanel movie on a real live customer. A mutually successful outcome! Today I went to the new City Market, where they have various gourmet goodies. I tried some cheese, chocolate, various jams and preserves, and came away with some lemon and lavender jelly. Excellent stuff!

Domestic – I’ve bought fruit and veges, done some laundry and vacuuming, and generally cleaned bits of my house. Following a friend’s suggestion, I went to look at a couple of open homes to get ideas for my bathroom. One place the agent didn’t turn up, and the other, the bathrooms weren’t that inspiring. In particular, a plastic shower curtain in an architect-designed home is not what I expected. There were other things about it that were interesting, and access was by 106 steps or a private cable car. The view was awesome but, sadly, not a concept transferable to my home.