The first of March has arrived. We welcomed it in this morning with a happy smile and a nod of expectation but sadly it came accompanied by a hail of rain and a sharp wind.I stood with my tiny graceful elven nose pressed to the kitchen window, a large pile of wet vestments under my arm,waiting for the dampness to change into an aura of blue sky and white fluffy cumulo nimbi, but the rain,it just kept lashing,undaunted and unhindered by the hopes and wishes of we Dingley Dell opportunists. So I have busied myself with other ploys,most of them catching up on some much needed ordering of our toadstool home. Pendragon doesn't know why I bother on a Sunday.
"Dilly Gumm is here tomorrow" was all he would say as I bustled round tidying our lounge and rearranging the clutter in our kitchen. "I know, I said", hearing him but still determined to go my own sweet way.
Dilly,my weekly cleaning operative, does come tomorrow, but I don't want her to think that the toadstool she turns into a small and neat palace twice per week, is left to go to rack and ruin on the other days. Just a small matter of elven pride, I am afraid, and you'll not change it by insisting on practicality and sound reasoning.
If Dilly does the big things, I owe it to her magnificent stewardship to do the small.
Pendragon and I have spent a quiet weekend, walking yesterday by the shoreline of Dingley, eating one of Pendragon's fine meals in the evening and watching some choice programming on the picture box until late.My red curls hit the pillow at eleven and I listened to Grisander
Ellikor's Hearthclub show before sleeping a deep sleep and resting well.
Today,home tasks done, I've been working in our Blue Room, cataloguing used parchments, wrapping a couple of orders, and planning for my Community Radio Show tomorrow. My favourite part of planning is listening to prospective fine tunes,and writing out possible intros and links. It is a creative chore,and hopefully pays off in terms of continuity as my programme themes unfold.
I am now doing my broadcasting in the mornings. It suits me better,as I seem to be livelier and more inventive in the mornings, and it leaves me free to do my writing or business work in the afternoons.
Everyone here in Lobelia Drive seems to be thriving as far as I can tell. I frequently bump into the Fearless Faery either in Dingley High Street or the Supermercantile on the Hill. We exchange greetings,even a bit of gossip or two, before moving on to complete our shopping elsewhere. She seems to have settled in well, enjoys walking her new dog Daisy, and chats to everyone she encounters as though she has known them a lifetime. She is the source of some juicy local tales,too, as I have discovered. How she finds things out I do not know, but she always seems to have some titbit to exchange about someone you know, which leaves you gobsmacked and baying for more. When I meet her next I must study her conversational techniques. Who knows? Maybe she takes my little snippets ,seriously embellishes them and passes them on to other folk in all their glory. I may be The Femme Fatale of Dingley Dell by now, for all I know.
In my quilted blouson and gardening snugpants(which I am wearing at this very moment,I may add) it would be very hard to convince anyone of my
sensual ways and invincible allure. I am cosy, though.
Pendragon only has eyes for me, whatever I wear. He tells me so, but maybe he just needs his spectacle prescription renewed. He is a very alluring individual himself , especially so in a freshly laundered shirt and his favourite beige moleskin pants.He makes me laugh, he dries up my tears when I am feeling low, and he knows just when to boost my self-esteem when it is in tatters or hanging asunder. That's what all great men do and we love them dearly for it.
When Dilly Gumm comes tomorrow I must ask her for an update on how the family are doing. She seemed a little low herself last Monday afternoon.But she was busy ,and in a hurry to finish her duties to keep an appointment on time, so I said nothing. I'll wait till she has finished mopping the kitchen floor tomorrow before broaching the subject.
She always has a short sit-down after mopping the floor,to catch her breath before moving on to polishing the taps. And I am sure a hot cup of meadowmarsh tea with one of my renowned apple doughnuts will set her up for a good chinwag.
Tomorrow will be busy,that's for sure. Business, radio, laundry, cooking, several chatty calls on the woodland phone - all in all ,a whirlwind of a day .
Take care, my trusty friends ,and don't let the Mad March winds bite you to the bone. A teaspoon or two of Auntie Govina's Myrtle Jelly is all you need to keep you safe from the raging swirls and the ice-cold whips.
I'll speak to you soon.
From Amarantha Willow, devil-may-care and downtown roustabout, the talk of Lobelia Drive, the Rainbow Faery.
