under another sun

The day started with a spot of good writing from me while Lorraine off doing Rhyme Time.  A sociable day. I met Yvonne for a quick coffee and a chat, before going home to meet Jess and Andrew. We four walked into town and went to Amie's Kitchen for some noodles, and a drink of Vietnamese Lime soda of some sort. Nice to see them again heard among other things about a nightmarish journey to Turkey with grandchildren, six hour delays arriving late at night and driving to somewhere you didn't have the address for and so on.   Later on, Lorraine made off to see Beth and Enzo, Beth under the weather. A bug passing between us all at the moment. A rejection from Long Poem Magazine, for the first part of Gordon Road. I've never been able to place work there. Having resubscribed to the magazine, I found the last issue a bit stuffy and dull, so I'm probably not in tune with their aesthetic. Rejections are always dreary and drain me of joie de vivre and confidence. Some rain tonigh...

Lorraine and I up and tidying the house in a frenzy of hoovering and dusting and so on. Not long after noon, Catherine, Tanya, Guy and Tim arrived. And we had, as is traditional, bubbly and crisps first. Great to see everyone and catch up. Tim greatly recovered now from his illness, and is looking very well. A cheery throng. We sauntered off to Amie's kitchen for some anglo Vietnamese food. Even though there was only six of us, we had to order it a day or so in advance. I had a noodle soup and splashed my shirt with it. Sitting opposite Tim who with a naughty gleam in his eye was talking about throwing off duty and responsibiltie and just doing what you want in life. Why didn't I, for example, just go on a writing retreat for two months?  Went for ice cream at Holy Cow! and we sat outside. Guy making friends with two older ladies and a dog. Then we all went for a stroll along by the seaside. I had a lovely long chat with Catherine while walking along, a fascinating conversatio...

Another fine frosty morning. I mooched off to buy some bread first thing, then a bit of light tidying before before Penny and Steve called around, looked at the house sans boxes, and had coffee. As we left for town, we spoke to David next door. His front garden is now a cheery tableaux of assorted reindeers, a snowman a polar bear and Christmas trees and lots of other lights.  After a short walk by the sea, we went into Amy's kitchen. Penny specified she didn't want it spicy, and I said I liked spices. Penny's was red hot with chilli and mine was as mild mannered. Nevertheless really tasty. Penny refusing to make a fuss about the her meal.  After fond farewells, Lorraine and I made our way to the Crypt where we met up with Steve and Robin and Nick for the open mic poetry reading, with a guest poet called Louise Taylor who Robin knew who is a performance poet who delivered poems about food, especially cake, and the uselessness of men. The Seahaven open mic poets were often i...

Very hot today.  Lorraine and I lay in bed with the doors of our balcony wide open. But up fairly early for a kipper breakfast with a bronzed and healthy looking Sam, who told us a bit about his travels seeing Jade in Scotland and Ali in Minorca.  Lorraine set to writing her last batch of school reports eschewing her normal turquoise ink for a regal purple. After writing each school year, she recharged by playing star dew valley for a bit. I made off across the basking park to the gym at lunchtime for a sweaty workout. At least there is air conditioning there. Otherwise little to report. I found the 'lost' Planet Poetry recordings on the Buzzsprout site. We had been defeated by the change in interface, and otherwise loafed about in the shadows. Off to Seaford at tea time to collect some stained glass from Adele. Lorraine had commissioned her to do a piece for the school as the traditional leaving present of departing heads. She did a great job on the piece. As it was dinner ti...