Yesterday was as lovely as any solo day can be. It was quiet with no workers afoot and the noisiest of my neighbors appeared to have decamped until nightfall.
I did a few chores, then enjoyed some time long distance with a friend I've known since childhood and with whom I grew up. My brief foray into social media today included photos of friends with family members who work with the public or in schools all clustered up together indoors sans masks or any attempt at social distancing. Another friend went over to her son, who had recently taken a flight to the mid west. Neither shows an abundance of caution which gives me pause.
My subscription service offered a range of food-themed mysteries to binge-watch for the holiday and I enjoyed several episodes before fixing a light seafood meal, vegetables and salad. I lit a candle and served everything on a Limoge luncheon plate, perfect for smaller portions. A small pot of Davidson's Vanilla Cream Dessert Tea and some chocolate wrapped things up nicely and the washing up was a breeze. Leftovers will be eaten this weekend.
A documentary about the origins and history of tea and how it became a British staple first for the aristocracy and then everyone else, proved more interesting than I imagined. Because I drink more tea than coffee, I enjoyed learning its history and have often thought that in a different body and life, I might have become a tea master. Another episode featured a group of modern-day artists and artisans in a Victorian house in Wales. They lived and worked there for a period of weeks re-decorating the house with their particular skills but using the methods of the Victorian-era with some interesting results. The history behind their creations was as interesting to me as the products for the home, whether curtain cloth, fire dogs or bowls from which to eat. Murdoch Mysteries and Essie Davis as the wonderful Phrynie Fisher, made for an enjoyable night.
The Fisher series is based on books by Kerry Greenwood which I've yet to try. There is now a sixties spin-off of the same Australian series in which the main character is Miss Fisher's sleuthing niece, Peregrine. I love the clothes, hair, furnishings and cars, and the twists and turns the independent detective works out. Both the original and new plot lines offer a lens on contemporary feminism through the past.
