Rich pickings

Up early this morning and working on a bit of work for mes amis in Paris. The storm had died down, and one of the tomato pots in the garden had blown over. Luckily I was able to right it, and everything was still intact.

The French work, about palatable animal antibiotics that improve compliance, finished to Val satisfaction,  I had a bite to eat, toyed with the new poem in the back garden, then made off into the scratchy brambles of the golf course around Hollingbury hill to get another tupperware full of blackberries, not quite as much as last time, but around 800grams worth. Took a lot of picking, both easy and hard, as there were plentiful nettles between the brambles I got stung lots as well as scratched. Still it was worth it.

Home again, and chatted with Carl and had a good laugh, although Ellie had an accident in her car but is okay. Lorraine home early, from having worked at school, and we pieced together little bits of film she shot welcoming people back to school. Spoke to Anton, somewhat gloomy about returning to work today. No rest for the wicked.

Lorraine had booked an open air gig at Dyke Road park, where there is a little open air amphitheater. The audience was spaced out around this, and there were three comedians, Phil Wang, Nina Conti and hosted by Ed Gamble who Beth likes. We parked near the park, and Beth drew up in her little ruby red car. The show was very short, and was done by 7:30pm.  Not sure I had heard open air comedy before. It was fine, and quite fun, although Nina Conti, who Lorraine loves, was struggling with the mic cutting out, and putting her masks on people, she did very well. Phil Wang, who I have only seen on TV and Radio, seemed rusty and slow paced -- and on more than one occasion you could see the punchline ten seconds before he delivered it.  Ed Gamble was a cheery host, although he burst on stage, began talking, and his mic was not on. Luckily it was a wee amphitheater so everyone could hear him. He worked this well into his act.

Fond farewells with Beth, and then home again, to eat pasta and noodles, and watch the last in a series of documentaries Eternal Egypt, about Ancient Egypt by Joann Fletcher, which was fun, if a a hard job cramming a few millennia of history into four episodes. One TV critic called her a goth Mary Poppins, which was great, as she strides about with red hair, completely dressed in black, carrying a black umbrella in the sun.

To bed early.

Below, blackberrying.


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