Is this summer?

What will winter bring if rain, wind and cold temperatures are now normal for summer? I don't really mind; I have lots of reading to do, although it would be nice to do some of it sprawled on the person-sized patch of grass out the back. My flowers don't mind it; although the Madonna lilies took weeks to open, they look marvelous now, in spite of the drenching they received yesterday.

Meanwhile, I was reviewing exam scripts. Not very comforting for my vanity or even what I wanted to do but it was the only way of discovering the marks for my individual exams. I discovered that I was unremittingly second class last year and there are no grounds for hoping it could be otherwise - in archaeology. I shall now move graciously on and concentrate on my 'good' subject. At least I can console myself that I was top of the class there.

I am reading up on landscape: theory, symbolism,painting, gardens, all aspects. All fascinating: I do hope it works out as a dissertation project. The worst thing that might happen now is to discover that someone else is doing something too similar but I reckon I could sidestep their choice and develop another angle if I have read widely enough.

What with banks keeping me busy running around in circles with weird and sudden reversals of policy and unfathomable errors made at my expense, trying to complete repainting my front door despite the inclement weather and workmen digging the road outside AND trying to sort out a few appointments and keeping up with friends, requiring much time on the telephone, bus and computer, I wonder how I ever found time for a full-time course.
The real GOOD news of the week is that my grant has been approved and the fees will be paid. It seems I mistook the amount of the MA fees - they will be paid in full, leaving me only a small registration fee to pay - and the grant has increased slightly - probably only by the cost of inflation but it is a relief, seeing that most of my income will shrink this year. Thank you so much, Irish Government - what a touching faith you show in me! Shall I ever get the chance to show my appreciation?

Too much gratitude - I had better return to Grumpy Old Woman mode. I see the rain clouds approaching; time to don the raincoat once more and sally forth to do battle with the direct-debit arrangements at the bank.

just another bank holiday weekend

I am finally back home after a surfeit of holidays, some would say. Personally, I wish I were still away if I could be in Edinburgh or London - or Brittany, or Italy. Maybe not in burning-up Greece or monsoon India.
Here we have had the traditional Bank Holiday rain since last night but it is brightening up now that everything is truly sodden.
I don't care since I am trying to get some reading done. Since I am taking up the MA course, I need urgently to find a dissertation subject. The more I think about it, the less clarity I feel. I could do with having my 3rd year mini-dissertation comprehensively reviewed and critiqued, but of course, my supervisor is away and won't be back until September - and it's a bit dubious how much help I will get there anyway, considering the total lack of it during the course. I don't know the mark I received for it yet but can probably discover that next week, IF there is anyone in the office.
According to a friend, I will end up with an overall 2.1 degree, even though I got a 1st in HA, as the new marking system applies only to the modularised students. I might have guessed the the information given on the website did not apply to the students in 3rd year! That is how it has been for the last year, so why change now? Going by the exam website, it had been my understanding that the 2 subjects will now be regarded separately and also on my judgement document, under Overall Grade, it appears only as 'AWARDED'. How confusing; I will discover the truth eventually I suppose. What a pity I couldn't have stretched myself that little bit further and got the 1st for archaeology too, but I fear the emphasis on Irish material had me snookered. I might enquire as to a breakdown of marks in both subjects, just for curiosity's sake.
Meanwhile, I am moving on and getting back to the cultural milieu, after all that physical emphasis in Sark (not allowed even so much as a peek at world-famous archaeologist's latest dig), where I did manage to transform some of the flab to muscle by bicycling and swimming every day but it may even now be reverting back to fat.
The trouble is, I now find myself exhausted after a bit of pavement-bashing, so tired that by 6 pm every evening I am fighting to stay awake. I am hoping that I am not sickening with some dread disease but merely suffering some kind of effect from the rigours of having to deal with offspring again plus the effort required to resisting industrial quantities of noise.
One advantage of the rain today is that the Bouncy Castle now installed in my-very-close-neighbour's garden is not currently in operation. I have been subjected to up to 10 hours per day of pump noise on previous days, which have created much the same effect as living next to a factory, I imagine. The pump must be installed close to the adjoining wall, next to my back door and the noise is unrelenting. Their new extension looms over this wall, cutting out late sunlight. Maybe this is affecting me more than I had realised but there is little I can do about it. My neighbour is the parent of a Down's syndrome child and as such, is immune from the normal restraints of manners or empathy with others' problems.
Reading this back - how bitter I sound - a real grumpy old woman! I don't feel that way but I am a person who needs a bit of peace and quiet and that is a commodity that is dearly bought here. All part of the re-acclimatisation process most probably; it's my own fault for having gone away for so long!