under another sun

Another great couple of hours working on poetry first thing. Poetry of some sort is flowing out of me at the moment. It may all be rubbish of course, but you never know. Lorraine working at home this morning till eleven thirty. After about ten I worked on my accounts, and by the end of the day I had got everything ready to send off to the accountant. Otherwise the podcast domain name still not mapping. New bank account still not showing up, although I have now received a bank card. The quality of the time is that if something simple can move at snails pace it will.   Betty called me sat in her car waiting to pick  up Tilly from school but had been ambushed by a heavy nosebleed, which was a bit alarming. All well in the end. Clem next door called me at lunchtime and came around and began fixing up the decking. This as great but it necessitated me having to shovel things in the garden, and move and carry stuff, and make tea and so on rather than carrying on with work.  Jade...

Vivid dream just before we got out of bed this morning. I was trying to stop a child from falling, held onto his Guernsey jumper, but he slipped out of it and tumbled onto a harbour floor at low tide and was horribly injured. I blame Anton for banging on about Guernsey jumpers the other day. Feel like Frasier Crane this morning. What did the little boy represent? Me? My inner child? Something precious I was unable to hold onto, and if so what? Or did it mean absolutely nothing? A chat with the Tobster this morning, now safely at Mum's place, and having tramped about in Hampstead with Mum yesterday afternoon. I am meeting Mum and Toby up in London on Friday, which I am really looking forward to. I sketched out a new idea for a short story, but far more seductive was the idea of slipping off the surly manacles of work and walking about in the sun, a spot of 'if in doubt tidy' tidying, reading and watching Apollo documentaries. Too much of this sort of thing, however,...

Spoke to Carl this morning, asking his advice on the Ken and Janet situation. And spoke to Mum as I was walking over to Hove to meet Beth in Caffe Nero. A quick coffee there before buying Janet an Ice Chocolate Mocha and taking it round. Lots of people about today, Hus there as well as Ken's son Nick. Plus various nurses and carers visiting, and someone to take Ken out for a trundle in the sunshine on his chair. It was exhausting for Janet and Ken. Beth and I, in between talking to people, running various errands and so on, got a few things stuck the walls, such as key phone numbers, medications and a timetable to note who is coming when. I also spoke to the social worker. Very pleased to talk to the very chatty Nick, who is town crier of Axminster,  and discover he said he had no intention of having Ken far from him after Janet dies. A deluge of emails later from Ken's family trying to find ways to help. Hus now has to focus on getting work. It all feels somewhat overwhelmin...

A blissful morning, without labouring or drilling etc. overhead. Got to grips with some good work, and feel at the end of the week, that I have evolved a progress plan, have identified several weaknesses in what I've been doing, and know what my next steps are. I feel as if I have turned a corner somehow. Because not having to be at the house, I set off for a walk. But I got no further than about three yards, when I started to chat to Clem, and soon found myself up on the roof looking at tiles, and firewalls, and discussing what to do about the fact that the cheeky bastard who had fixed our TV a couple of years ago, had done so by simply legging across the roofs and sticking it onto Clem's chimney. Also looked at lead flashing etc which has split on our roof and may cause damp in our bedroom. Seems I am destined for domestic doings. Clem however, is expert in all these kind of things, which is good. After this done, I resumed my walk, and walked for a couple of hours or mor...

Another scorcher, and peace reigned in Kenny towers for the first time in what seemed like ages. Drank coffee and wrote poems on the new and beautiful decking, blessing Clem's cotton socks as I did so.  In the afternoon I walked into the big woods above Stanmer Park, right at the edge of town. I followed the path out onto the downs for a bit too. Quite a strong breeze up there too.  Felt peaceful and at one with myself in the woods. I was listening to a new audiobook by Philip Roth, having not read any of his work before. But I soon took my headphones out in the wood, and listened to the wind in the trees. The woodland floor cracked due to the heatwave and drought. Looking down on Brighton from what seemed afar was good too. I just seem to be in an interlude in my life where I am reappraising everything, and having a mental spring clean, it's easy to spot the things that aren't working in my own practise, but the challenge now is the do things differently. Home having w...

The decking finished today. Clem did a fabulous job. Lots of power tools this morning, so thinking hard. It has been a pleasure having Clem around though, he is a really good bloke so not only do we have new decking, I also know my neighbour, who is very practical and creative much better. Wins all round. I finished reading  The Road To Wigan Pier . Orwell is an excellent and tough minded writer in so many ways. In the afternoon I moved all the stuff that had been strewn about the garden, which is struggling after the effects of the protracted drought.

Clem still hard at it. The job has taken longer than he thought, but we are going to give him a bit more. It is a thing of beauty though, although it does mean that the best part of my concentration, the morning is undermined. Tom arrived this morning, Lorraine's nephew and one of Ken's sons. He has a job working at Gatwick and will be staying here once in a while. He arrived and pretty much went straight to bed, and after a chat at about five he made off to work again. A nice friendly guy. Interesting how Pat, his grandfather used to be in the RAF and work on aircraft, and Tom does, and Derek in Finland's son Jason is also working with aircraft in the UK too. In the afternoon, I walked off to Hove for operatic reasons. To see Helen, and listen to the material she'd written. It has been a tough year for her the section she'd been writing was a struggle. The new music sounds very interesting though, and I said the struggle had paid off. She gave me a bottle of ...

Back to the drawing board feeling today. A poetry rejection, and another not placed in a competition didn't help, nor did the inevitable conversations, banging and power tooling coming from the back garden, which unfortunately make concentrating hard. Clem almost done now, and he's done a great job. It is looking pretty spiffy. He's a really nice guy too. Went for another walk while listening to The Road to Wigan Pier . Walking through the rags and tatters of woods round and about really makes me feel good. And further cheered by Lorraine coming home early from school. Watered the gasping plants, ate a delicious curry Lorraine cooked. Below sunlight on a path through a wood.

A full day for Lorraine today at school. Also Beth was being interviewed for a teaching assistant role there. She phoned me after to tell me how it went. By all accounts she did excellently, but after long debate in the school, (not involving Lorraine) and another candidate just edged it.  In the evening Lorraine and I  went to Hove to meet Beth and John, after collecting some pizzas and we had a couple of beers, pizza and salad down on the beach. A beautiful long and clear evening, although surprisingly cool down by the water. Beth very resilient about her disappointment today as usual. Otherwise, I had got up early and started work for a bit, before Clem came around at just after eight. I walked to Hove to meet Chris Williams, one of my new friends made doing Stained Glass. Interesting man, who has now just finally retired. Keeps himself very fit, and does vast walks and cycling rides. He is interested in geography, geology and history, and has been a teacher, and now he h...

Up early and carrying the wood and old decking from the back garden through the house and piling it on the pavement with Clem. He'd arranged for it all to be collected, which it was. Lorraine back at work, going in late, and still looking a bit wan. Later the joists were delivered for the walkway by the side of the house, and we unloaded those. Was reminding me of my twenties, when virtually all the jobs I did involved carrying things. My best work is always done in the morning undisrupted, so little chance of this right now. However I did some work on poems, and also a quick blogpost about Antony's launch, and his new book . I went for a walk in the afternoon, as between 2:00 and 3:30 as this is the zone of no ideas. A gorgeous day. Lorraine survived being back at work, while not being anything like fully well. One of the parents said she was 'hangy', a Scots term for not fully recovered. Fishcakes for dinner. All well.

Working on poems this morning, as well as talking briefly to Clem about the state of the decking. The wood that is currently strewn around the garden we've arranged to have collected on Thursday. The special joists to finish the job on the side passage, have been delays and promises broken, which means the job could remain unfinished for some time. Next thing to look forward to is an invasion of plumbers and tilers coming to fix our bathroom upstairs in a couple of weeks, at more cost and disruption. Thankfully, Lorraine showing signs of being somewhat better now. She crept down with me to the fish and chip shop (I'd had a sudden craving) and back, her first time venturing outside since last Thursday, and was on the phone talking to her team. First walk for a few days. While Lorraine has been properly ill, I have also been off colour with a persistent sore throat etc. the unusually high levels of  pollen may account for this. I walked up to the Hillfort, and in the woods ...

Indoors all day today, apart from being in the garden talking to Clem about things. I was determined to get some work done, and managed to suddenly blurt out two rather good poems, which pleased me lots. I have had the idea of writing a sequence of poems to complement Sin Cycle , which I am going to call Nine Consolations , and I now have three of them.  On that note, the pamphlet competition results are going to be announced next Monday in which Sin Cycle has been entered. They will naturally tip off the winners beforehand, and as I've heard nothing I guess it has gone the way of all my other competition entries. However once Clem was done (after making great progress) I made pork meatballs in a rich sauce. Rather good reviews for this from Lorraine, who is feeling tired after the week.

A day to get on with things. Clem building new bespoke decking outside. I am in deep admiration of his practical ability, and the way he carries the entire project in 3D in his head. Occasionally I help him carry something, or have a chat about preferences. Having him here is not entirely brilliant for my own work as I increasingly need to feel insulated from everyone to think best. A chat with what may be a new client for me this morning, Pat Norrie put us in touch. Then simply staring at my list and trying to think clearly about next steps until I made off to the gym in the afternoon, for another mild-mannered cross training session. After Lorraine got home, we went for a walk in the park together, pausing over the pond in Preston Park which is squiggling with newts, tadpoles, and baby frogs swarming about on patches of algae on the surface. This made us both happy, and Lorraine could barely tear herself away. Have started reading Genesis again in the King James version. It is ...

Strangely hungover this morning. Lorraine however, awake early, and brought me a cup of tea in my footballer's mug. Very slow to get up. I made fried tomatoes on toast and brought back to bed. Then eventually up, and doing what Lorraine called paperwork, which was chiefly scowling at computer screens. Drove into town to collect money for our Cordoba adventure which will start on Saturday. Be nice to go to Spain. I've been to Portugal, and to Barcelona once for a gruelling stag weekend. But I'm looking forward to it. Home again, and armed with Euros. Then Lorraine and I sauntered through a few open houses. A gorgeous sunny but not too hot day. Fewer houses open than usual. Saw one painting that was fairly good of the side of Tate Modern, and some amazing embroidery by Agnes Chevalier the embroiderer I'd bought some work from once for a present for Lorraine. Lorraine bought some gifts for people at school, and then we zoomed home. Beth came by for dinner and a chat. ...

Up early and working hard on the French stuff straight away all morning. My pals there said they loved what I had done, which always makes you feel good and valued. A fast early sandwich and watched Lorraine (the morning TV show starring Lorraine Kelly) and today's episode featured royal lookalikes. Spotted Jane of course. There was an item at the end of the program where some designer had suggested what clothes the royals should be wearing. Jane was modelling clothes on TV, which is something new to add to her list of accomplishments. Had done and dusted by two o'clock. A chat with Sonia about something she'd read in the home country about worms that burrow in people's eyes having visited Africa, and then I walked over to Hove to see Janet and Ken. Scored some hazelnut brownies en route. Nice to chat with them.  Janet always so full of ideas. Ken looking well too. Back home and a quick discussion with Clem who is going to re-deck our back garden, with excellent sta...

Working from home, and fairly busy. Some French work about diseases that jump from animals to humans for my pals in Paris, interspersed with some hairy-chested crowbarring of the decking, and carrying of bags of garden rubbish into the front garden. Peering underneath the decking with Clem my next door neighbour. Cats immediately exploring and popping their heads out of the missing planks like meerkats. After this outbreak of manly stuff, chatting to Sonia about the glories of communism, and how everyone worked and nobody was idle. She liked working with animals most, and cows have strong personalities. Lorraine home, and we mooched off to pick up a curry and slurp a single beer in the Park View and chat. Was really in the mood for that curry.

Lorraine waking up with a strangely painful hip. She spent the day resting it when not doing some school work or going out to tea with a couple of chums. I weeded the garden, a bit of hoe work and a fair amount of ankle-level wrenching. A pleasant day for it though, and Clem next door passed over a bit of stumpish material to add to our stumpery. Weeds are robust sods. Otherwise, I took the opportunity to  quite a bit of Jazz, daddyo, and to read stuff. I also started a short story, which suddenly took off and started writing itself. John around this afternoon, and Beth cooked us all Sunday lunch, including an exemplary crumble of rhubarb and apple. All rather tasty. Janet very worried about Ken today, who may have to have possibly two operations. I said I would go to the hospital with her to visit him tomorrow.  Poor Janet has had a wretched and stressful week. And so to bed.

A spot of gardening today, and felt the weak sun on my face and tried to imagine being out there in the warmth. Lorraine and I look at our decking, removed an old metal child's swing frame bolted to the side of the house in the garden passage, and, with the help of Clem our next door neighbour, reattached a bit of lattice to the fence, cut back overhanging ivy, and fed our compost bin with things. Also discovered a hellebore flowering dingily in the back, almost completely obscured by the laurel bush the evil next door cat sits under.  Our first flower. Then off in the afternoon for a walk and a talk around the park, and the purchase of hot cross buns. Then home to cook roast chicken and eat it with Beth and John, who popped in briefly between band sessions. And so to bed, Lorraine having to be up hideously early. Still slowly reading Kokoro to each other.