Spring has sprung.
Seedlings fill the kitchen window sill, the cold frames and even the guest bedroom. I spend most of my days in the potager, my happy place, preparing the beds and planting out the first vegetables of the year. I check on my baby plants in the cold frame and breathe a sigh of relief when they have survived another night safely. I have to move seedlings on from the house as they get bigger but it is always a hard decision to take them from their warm nursery and get them ready to face the outside world.
A Farewell
The death of the Duke of Edinburgh if not unexpected was sad. Every death at any age is hard for a family and this mourning had to be done in the public eye and with the media obsessing about their internal strifes and relationships. No one was surprised that the Queen was stoical in public as she has had to suffer public scrutiny for most of her life. There must have been consolation that he died at home.
As you know I am not an idoliser of the Royal family and I found some of the national response mawkish and the blanket TV coverage a bit more reminiscent of a dictatorship than a democracy. So many families have lost loved ones during the pandemic and not been able to be by their side or have a funeral service and my thoughts were with them too. I wondered if the Queen was secretly relieved that the limitations due to Covid meant that the family had a quieter ceremony without the need for her to acknowledge dignitaries from home and abroad.
The family released a reading of The Patriarchs - an Elegy by Simon Armitage to mark the funeral. It is very loving and I am sure many other families who have lost loved ones can identify and share in the sentiment. Do listen to it. Whatever your views on the monarchy I am sure that you, like me, will be very moved.
That taxing time of year
Yes time to declare your revenue for 2020. France now has a pay as you go system but any amendments will be made based on your annual return. I see social media awash with advice and information on which form to fill in. I pretty much have it off pat after so many years doing it but it's always wise to watch out for a sneaky change to the forms. In my department, we have until the end of June to declare online, but it has always been a job for May for me. I have all my information ready and will wait for a rainy May day to send it in.
Preparing my figures and reading the questions about the process on the internet made me wonder if there are as many people taking time to be honest about their declarations as there are people taking time to dodge their obligations. I bet many low paid workers would be happy to be earning enough to pay tax. Just as the concept of debt has gained respectability by being called credit why not talk about how privileged you are to pay taxes rather than a burden to be avoided.
Getting back to normal
Before the end of April, we will both have had both out Pfizer injections. As the vaccine programme picks up speed and the end of lockdown and curfew approach we look forward to being able to go out after 7pm and eat at our favourite restaurants, outdoors of course. We have been able to meet up in the daytime with friends living within a 10k radius so we are not completely isolated but it will be good to see who we want when we want and where we want. Fingers crossed mid-May will see an easing of restrictions.
Stay well and a bientôt.
April, April,
Laugh thy girlish laughter;
Then, the moment after,
Weep thy girlish tears!
April, that mine ears
Like a lover greetest,
If I tell thee, sweetest,
All my hopes and fears,
April, April,
Laugh thy golden laughter,
But, the moment after,
Weep thy golden tears!
