Elastic weekend

September 2, 2018 by Ray Morgan

Time is weird. For example, some mornings I get up, do yoga, have a shower, do my hair and make up, make breakfast, get dressed, check Twitter, and saunter out of the door feeling great about life. Other mornings, I do everything THE SAME as the day before and all of a sudden it's gone 8 o'clock and my hair's still wet and I run out of the door in a sweaty rush holding my toast to eat on the way, undoing all the good work of the shower and zen yoga.

Weekends are like that too. Sometimes they spin by so fast you're hurtling into Monday like a rabbit in the headlights, stabbing at your keyboard in a daze. Other weekends stretch out like a rubber band and you feel like you've done a week's worth of things in just two days.

This weekend was like that. I managed to pack so much in and I don't quite know how, but it still managed to feel refreshing and relaxing. We had our neighbour Iris over for a chippy tea on Friday night. We drank wine and talked about everything you could imagine. From when she was evacuated to Corfe Castle at 7 years old to the time she wallpapered her whole house including the stairs, perched on a ladder. What a woman! We talked for hours, before dropping her off next door at gone 10pm, the perfect Friday night. Saturday I hit the garden centre while Jo was at work. I bought more grasses (I'm obsessed with grasses) more houseplants (I'm obsessed with houseplants), treated my best friend for lunch and she in turn treated me to G&Ts at Corner Club when we got home. Then Jo and I had a cheeky Qmin curry while watching a film.

Sunday was the most extraordinary day for stretching time. We got up early, and I ventured out into the hot morning for fresh juice and bread for toast. I am convinced I heard roosters on Pall Mall - someone please confirm this for me?! The Broadway was already getting busy, in that 'young couples going for brunch in perfect outfits with perfect eyebrows' way (adorable), just like we used to do before we became adept at doing avo toast at home, which is precisely what we had when I got back. Then we spent a couple of hours in the garden.

We planted up all my garden centre purchases, and Jo tended to her bulbs and veg (SPOILER: they have all been destroyed by badgers in the night, we are heartbroken, please send us good vibes and any advice). We repotted a huge pittosporum shrub (read: small tree) and that was pretty stressful, I'm not going to lie. It's a beast. I had compost under my nails, on my face and UP MY ARMS - suncream and soil are not the best combination, I've discovered. God, it was hot. Put those Autumn jumpers away, Rachel, I thought to myself. We got everything potted up and then went indoors to do a YouTube workout. We must have looked a proper sight in our living room but I'm not paying for a gym, and it was rather fun.

After showers (cardio AND soil, ugh), we then went to Chalkwell Park to see one of the Lazy Sunday afternoons at Metal, where the staggeringly good Dylan Howe Trio were playing. Warm sun, seeing loads of friendly faces, and jaw-dropping jazz. And it was all free! Such a nice way to spend the afternoon. There was a 'drum off' between Dylan Howe and Snowboy which was so immersive and enthralling that I think I forgot to breathe at one point. What a privilege to see music performed like that.

But the day wasn't over! We went to the pub to meet a pal, and bumped into other friends, so had a couple of drinks with them and a jolly good chat (we covered everything from Kentwell Hall and curry houses to sex and Paganism) before heading home to eat a late dinner and catch up on all the Corrie episodes we'd missed because we were too busy having fun. AND I managed to put a wash on, clear through my clothes and chuck a whole bin bag of clothes out, while picking up everything off the floor (whoops) and actually putting it away. WHAT is this productive new me?

I can't quite believe we packed so much into a weekend, but it's like that living here, isn't it? There are always gigs to see, nice places to go for a drink, friends to see. Of course, some Sundays call for a duvet day, but other times, it's so good to pack as much in and go back to work on Monday feel like you've well and truly made the most of it. I hope you all had a brilliant one too.