under another sun

A thanksgiving Today in Edgware, and the now-traditional thanksgiving meal cooked by Mason. As well as Lorraine and I, Mum and Mase had invited Ben and Poppy, and Robert and Tanya. We all sat by the fire shooting the breeze and eating pistachio nuts. Good to see Mum looking much improved and back to her usual self again. Her latest craze is Spotify, and wants to put Spotify on her Blackberry for some reason. Mason cornering Lorraine to talk about his wheelings and dealings. Robert, who edits an investor's publication called Trendwatch, is a passionate advocate of the view that the hysteria around global warming is bunk. Interesting to hear this side of the argument made coherently, as a professional watcher of trends he thinks the global warming bubble has burst. Tanya talking to Mum about wool and vivid colours. Ben radiating bon homie as usual. Poppy however was not herself and slipped off home, luckily just across the road. But the rest of us strapped on the nosebags and had a ...

Of gin and vitamins Up early this morning, Sam called around and we drove off to Lorraine's house to pick up Beth and Mark and then she drove us to Basingstoke. Sustained munching of Harribo sweets, and leg numbing of the young 'uns squeezed in the back. They were all off to a family party, while I was dropped off at Basingstoke station -which I associate with some of my grimmer days at IBM -and was shortly collected by Shaila. Shaila's home was already decorated with two Christmas trees. Soon, however, Shaila was letting me try lots of things she has foraged from the nearby fields. So, with an excellent home rolled sushi lunch, we had a nip of sloe gin. (Shaila has a degree in biochemistry so explained her decision to make this gin was medical, as it is good against colds.) Also a lovely elderberry cordial, honey with rosehips, and a pinch of nettle seeds. Later we ambled into local fields where she has been working with the local wildlife trust sowing meadow wildflowers. ...

Pitching Climbed into a suit, shiny black shoes and subdued but stylish shirt and got the very early train to London to do a spot of pitching with Pat and The FB. Arrived at their agency at 8:30 and had much needed coffee. Much of the morning spent watching the FB and Pat swear colourfully at technology, until it was time to bundle into a cab to Waterloo with Sarah a nice young suit. Trained to Basingstoke and cabbed it to a pharmaceutical giant. Anton called as we arrived at our destination wanting suddenly to talk about football again. The pitch, as far as you can assess these things, went fine. The thinking and work presented was at the more radical end of the spectrum, so the result will be interesting. The FB and Pat on good form, and I did fine. Sarah ticked all the suit boxes. Then back to Waterloo. By then I had a headache, so I bade a fond farewell to The FB and Pat, who had been drawn towards a bar like migrating eels to lakewater and made my way up to Edgware. A really nice ...