The List: May

The timing of certain events with the arrival of spring has brought feelings of fortuitousness. I'm enjoying exploring pockets of London and the kindness of friends.

Something caught my eye at the end of April: I read that Uranus was leaving Taurus bringing an end to the hardest seven years of the lives of people born under these signs—Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius. The timing of this was uncanny and the combination of several good omens filled me with hope and a lightness as some of my worries lifted.

Sight

Sir John Soane's Museum

The best thing about living in London is that there’s always something new (or old in this case) to discover. I have wanted to visit Sir John Soane’s Museum for a long time but have always been deterred by the prospect of queuing. But standing in a queue is the perfect place to catch up with your best friend, especially if you’ve not seen each other for a long time. The reward is you do not feel time passing and suddenly you’re at the front of the queue, entering the house of a neo-classical architect whose collection contains thousands of objects from antiquities to sculptures to models of buildings and curios. It is a place with plenty to discover—you just need to keep your eyes peeled and take notice. If you’ve not been, I highly recommend this. If you have, I’m sure you’ll want to visit again.

Sound

Music is full of sway on our emotions. See You Again by Tyler, The Creator featuring Kali Uchis is a track that HusbandMan loves. I have had mixed feelings about it because it’s a song that was bringing out the more morose side of his personality. Recently, we’ve had news that have allowed us some latitude. Now music and songs like these can be enjoyed as it is. It’s catchy and one that you’ll want to sing along to. And I’ve been listening to it on repeat.

The other thing I have been listening to is an audiobook. I’ve listened to no more than two or three audiobooks in my lifetime as deep down, I am a traditionalist and prefer to hold a book in my hands. The exception is a memoir when it is read by the author. It’s been difficult restraining myself from fully binging on Lena Dunham’s Famesick.

Lena Dunham’s voice is not exactly soothing. It is at times even a bit grating. It is however never the case with her reading Famesick. She is brutally honest and the stories are at times horrifying and funny. You forget how young she was when she was thrusted into the limelight with the success of Girls. It’s making me want to rewatch the cult series.

Smell - or lack of!

Parkinson’s Resilience, a low scent variety developed to raise awareness on anosmia, the loss of scent.

This month’s entry is a floribunda named Resilience developed to have very little scent to raise awareness on Parkinson’s Disease, a debilitating disease that my mum suffered from. One of the earliest symptoms of PD is the loss of smell. This rose was recently launched by Harkness Roses in partnership with Parkinson’s UK. I know that my mum would have loved these beautiful blooms for their pretty shades of pink, carmine, and red.

Taste

Nothing tastes quite as good as kindness. One of my oldest and dearest friend, San now lives in London. We have been friends since we were 13 but we’ve not lived in the same country for decades until two years ago when she moved from Sydney to London. She now lives on the other side of London to us. Despite this, she trekked an hour across London to see me when HusbandMan was in hospital. This kind-hearted friend of mine came with a big bag bursting with delicious food—chicken curry, egg sambal, aubergine and rice. It fed us for well for weeks and I am eternally grateful to this friend of mine who is small in size but big in her heart.

Touch

Wall sit, wall angel

I’ve learnt a new exercise and I love it! It helps with posture and shoulder strength and is particularly good for all of us desk bound workers. Doing wall angels in a wall sit looks simple but it isn’t. It’s no easy feat to keep contact with the wall but it’s one of those exercises that immediately feels right and good for you. Who knew feeling the support of the wall can feel so good?