nineveh_uk: Cover illustration for "Strong Poison" in pulp fiction style with vampish Harriet. (Strong Poison)
[personal profile] nineveh_uk
Plan for the day: get up, pick hawthorns, boil for jelly (to be finished tomorrow). That shouldn't take too long. Except that I spent ages picking, because I thought that I needed lots. Then I spent ages picking them off the twigs etc, which took ages because I had lots. Then I boiled them in two enormous pans. Then I discovered that they massively o'erflowed the jelly bag. Then I manufactured a second jelly bag from random close-weave cotton/old sheet and hung it from a cupboard door. Now it's nearly seven o'clock. Roast duck for dinner will be happening tomorrow.

On the plus side, though I still have to do Jelly Pt. II tomorrow, at least a larger quantity shouldn't take longer at that point (except of course it will). It had better taste nice.

I passed the time while picking berries from twigs in listening to Cabin Pressure and, courtesy of [personal profile] antisoppist, Death Bredon, a Radio 4 Saturday play about Dorothy L. Sayers early years as a copywriter and relationships with John Cournos and Bill White. It's quite fun, extremely fanficcy, very Radio 4 playish, and unabashedly portrays John Cournos as a complete git. Since by all accounts he was a complete git, this seems fair enough. I felt Sayers came across as a bit wet, though. There's no denying that she seems to have had terrible taste when it came to men, but she was also a person who - even when completely wrong - knew what she wanted and stuck to it, and there was no significant sense of this forthright side of her character. After all, surely an important part of the Cournos story is that Sayers doesn't sleep with him, because she disagrees over the terms and sticks to her guns. That's the same person who was a nightmare for the BBC producers because she insisted things happen her way or not at all, or who in 2013 would be at the centre of notorious internet flamewars.

Also, I always get annoyed by mysteriously queasy = unwittingly pregnant.

(no subject)

Date: 2013-10-13 04:12 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] nineveh-uk.livejournal.com
Some searching of the List reveals that it is mentioned in the Reynolds biography (chapter 8) summarised as "Sayers sought advice from a local physician, then took a two week holiday to think through her position. The doctor told Eric Whelpton after Sayers' death that they discussed the possibility of Sayers obtaining an abortion. Obviously she opted not to have one, and after her two week vacation was over, she had also decided to keep her pregnancy a secret from both her employers and co-workers and from her parents."

So if she had discussed it with the doctor, that makes the conversation with colleagues even less likely!

(no subject)

Date: 2013-10-13 05:09 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] antisoppist.livejournal.com
Oh good. I don't own the Reynolds, though I have read it. I've only got Brabazon, which says she didn't confide in anyone in case her parents found out and also because of pride.

That is a very strange conversation for her doctor to be having with Eric Whelpton.

(no subject)

Date: 2013-10-15 01:49 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] nineveh-uk.livejournal.com
It is a bit weird. Maybe it makes more sense in the context of the bio.

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