Sabbatical

 

Wednesday: I've been working too much and it was a lovely day, so after a couple hours of work in the morning I biked with Francisco to the Courtauld Gallery. In the evening, Francisco and Q and I watched the Prime Minister debate. 

Seurat--man painting a boat

Van Gogh

Is that a clay pipe? 

Vanessa Bell--there was a small exhibit about her!

A Vanessa Bell woodcut!

VB

...which makes me think of this Morandi from the Estorick

The creation of Eve!

Satan tempting Eve--with a human head! (That's a woman's head, isn't it? I think this artist is doubling the women in this equation.)

St. Francis preaching to the birds

Are those peacock feathers? 

These wild poppies.

Packing: 

The stack of books I didn't finish, the bottle of Demanovka mostly full, the craft project full of missteps and so little skill, the Christmas-present board game we never played. 

And the little toy airplane shaped like a parrot that got lots of use. The pick-up sticks and Pit cards happily played. Blaze's watercolors. The mudlarking treasures--the enormous piece of pottery Blaze so proudly found that we don't have room for. Now I'm a mess, with a glass of Demanovka. Transitions are tumultuous times.

Thursday: Saying good-byes and thank yous at one place. And then ice cream and a walk with an old graduate school friend--I'm so grateful for time with him this year. 

Friday--coffee-shopping with Francisco. Q got to have a flake 99 ice cream at school with some other kids as a reward for participating in the reading challenge. Blaze got to go to a farm for the day with 60 other reception kids! They made candles--he was so excited to tell me how they made them. That boy is serious about his crafts. 

Saturday--confession with our dear priest--boy I'll miss him. A stop at the library. Francisco took the boys to the park. And the family let me teach a class to them so I could practice before I pop into a classroom for an afternoon next week.