Empty Basket?

Well, today presented me with fresh opportunities to fill my basket with goodies and love, and so I found, after a not-so-early tumble out of bed and a leisurely breakfast, that I had better hop back into bed and have a good think about how I would approach the hours that stretched ahead. For those of you not intimately acquainted with recent goings on here at The Cedars, I have spent that last four days confined to quarters, dosed to the eyeballs on painkillers and lolling about in bed with Prince Valium. All this time spent being waited on hand and foot and amusing myself with audio books and playing Scrabble on facebook has allowed me time to develop a new perspective on just how good my life is (apart from the pain and suffering). But seriously, I love, I am loved, and in reality, have little want.
Though I am still not feeling quite tip-top, my discomfort is now tolerable and so found myself able, in a gentle way, to execute a reasonably productive day. I managed to wrangle the fresh blue polka-dot sheets onto my bed, which then necessitated a bit of a lie down on said fresh sheets, and boy they did smell nice and fresh. I then got distracted for a while surfing the net and looking at cool stuff on youtube. My goodness the day goes quickly when your reality zone gets sucked into your virtual zone, but luckily I had the good sense to log into taste.com.au just in time to realise that it must be lunchtime. You can do amazing things with an eggplant and some mushrooms and tomato. Especially when you chuck in an egg and some parmesan cheese and a good crack of black pepper. Oh, and rocket leaves, don't forget them, they are my current lustfulness. Once gastronomically charged, I felt that I could possibly do more than cast a wary eye over the several baskets of ironing-cum-folding that have been cowering in the corner of my loungeroom since the weekend. They haven't dared show their wickery faces since the weekend, but I could see them peeking at me coyly from around the side of the manky blue sofa. So I took pity on the poor overfed darlings, lit my special cinnamon-soy-wax tea light, and revved up the iron so that those cheeky shirts could have their way with me. I thought a bit of telly might make the task more bearable, particularly as you can't exactly lie back and think of England while you're doing the ironing. My God, I felt like an adult! Indeed I did. Watching Australian Parliament question time on Aunty (ABC1 or ABC News 24, take your pick). Mighty naughty little politicians we have here ladies and gentlemen. Misbehaving, rude, ignorant, beligerant, intolerant, naughty little politicians! The Speaker at one stage was called to puff out his chest to it's fullest extent, and raising his mighty personage to its fullest height, he threatened the whole bloody lot of them! He intoned that the next person to interrupt the Prime Minister whilst she was answering a question-on-notice, would be sent outside for one hour! One hour. In the naughty corner. Outside the room. Oh lol, lol, lol (don't you love how it's ok to say 'lol' now?). Dare I say, it was more entertaining that watching, um, well, 'Yes, Prime Minister' ... Anyway those laundry baskets are empty and my ironing is up to date; and it is very well-informed ironing into the bargain, having been pressed flat and steamed by parliamentary debate. Who ever said that staying at home practicing domestic goddesstry wasn't rewarding. So after that lot, and  in between sit-downs and lie-downs I have started peeling little baby pickling onions in preparation for bottling tomorrow night, my boys have supped well on slowly oven-roasted vegetables with garlic and baked lamb. They have been lavished with my home-bottled sugar plums and honey and vanilla bean custard. I have wrapped up the latest offering of my hand-knitted socks, and tomorrow (or the next day, or whenever I get around to it) I will entrust them to Mr.PostMan to deliver to someone beloved. So despite the ever-present nagging pain, I have filled today's basket to the brim, with sweet-smelling linen, freshly ironed shirts, folded up nickers and neatly rolled socks, wholesome and goodsome food in abundance, a little bit of love and a game or two of scrabble between friends, and a cuddle with my puppy. But that book that was in my basket yesterday, I threw that out (life is too short for bad literature).