under another sun

Beth and Enzo popping in this morning for a coffee and a chuckle. I went to the door, and again the little chap wriggled happily and held his arms out to me. It's impossible not to have your heart melted by this sort of thing. Beth and Enzo both in good spirits, so a lovely breakfast. A bit later, Lorraine and I set off for beautiful little village of Firle, just the other side of Lewes, to meet Dawn and Paul in The Ram for Sunday roast. They all had veggie stuff and no alcohol drink, I felt a bit like Oliver Reed having pork, and a pint of cold lager. Lovely to see Dawn of course, and I enjoyed chatting with Paul. They told us about a talk about Gaza they'd attended the night before, which had moved them lots. Also about Dawn's grandson Raffy now eight weeks old. Both he and Ellie and Russ doing well.   Having strapped on the nosebags, we went for a short walk. Paul and I were talking about all kinds of stuff, from generational trauma, to Paul telling me about the startlin...

Lorraine doing Story Time in the library first thing. Later I joined her at Seaford Station, still hobbling and loping due to the back, which is not clearing up as fast as usual. We trundled off to Lewes to meet Dawn and Paul at Cafe Vegu. When we arrived there was a large queue outside, so we sauntered back towards the station and into Haru Izakaya for some Japanese style food. The service was non-Japanese, being abrupt and a tad rude, but the food was not bad.  A 'bento box' more like a balti of  rice and katsu chicken, endame beans and a spot of kimchi etc. Tasty enough for sure. I had it with green tea, which I enjoyed. Lovely to see Dawn again. She is going to become a grandmother this year, which is exciting. And a chat to Paul who is always interesting. He advised me to use the tens machine for my back, which I did later and it helped. In the evening off to the Boot, and had a few beers. Also good for my back, as it relaxes all the muscles in spasm. Good to see Steve, w...

Up early and off to Friston Forest for a walk with Brian and Marley the dog. A lovely day for it, and I always enjoy chatting to Brian, he is a great listener as well as talker, and that is a rare thing. I really like getting to the bit towards the top of the hill where he prays and meditates. I just love the fact there is someone doing that there, and more that I know him.  Brian drove me home, and then I did a bit of writing, but also spoke to Ben and Mum. Ben was looking at the fireplace and says we might not need the fire I ordered, and his mate was a gas engineer. He is going to investigate. Ben has returned from a week away, and Mum is pleased he's back. We'll see what he suggests. In the afternoon, Lorraine and I off to Lewes to meet Dawn and Paul at the Depot. We had a quick drink with them, then went to see a film called Dead of Winter, starring Emma Thompson. Set on and around an icy lake, with lots of shooting. Emma saving the day. Most of the main protagonists, inc...

The doorbell at five to nine. Our neighbour David, who owns a building company, had sent over two men with a ladder to take out the miniature succulent jungle living off roof run off and guano in our gutters -- as a kind of thank you for putting up with the building shenanigans in the last two years. After breakfast Lorraine went into the garden. Joy was unwell this morning, and Jim told Lorraine he found her on the floor. She experiences from vergito some times -- all well though.  I started picking up the pieces of my long poem, but the moment I slipped into a flow state, the gods or disruption in the shape of Maureen arrived. Maureen's sister in law had had a stroke, and both her brothers would not be attending tomorrow's funeral of Lorraine's aunty Betty. Lorraine called her back.  We then drove off to see Dawn and Paul, also had sombre news, about people close to them. I had a strange reaction to this. I am feeling full to the brim of difficult news. Lovely to see Dawn...

Finally put  the first episode of season five of the podcast to bed. It features my interview with Danez Smith. A bit of a beast this episode for various reasons. Robin didn't finish her bits till Lorraine and I were already trundling off to Bramber in the car to see Dawn and Paul for lunch as she decided to re-record a couple of things she had said as there had been a glitch. So I was late uploading it.  Lorraine and I spent a cheery couple of hours with them. Quizzed Paul on a couple of things to do with psychology. He is excellent on things he is passionate about. Wonderful to see Dawn who was looking very well and happy, which is wonderful to see. She is planning to do a film editing course. There was a an apple and berry pie too, for the win.  Home and then a frenzy of uploading, and posting the episode onto social media, we also did a spot of gardening where I plunged my hand into some compost and nastily sliced my little fingertip on a broken flower pot, which bled...

Had an exceptionally good morning of writing, got up again at sevenish and went straight to my desk with a cup of tea. Wrote the first draft of a poem, I was very pleased with. Off in the car with Lorraine, after she had done with story time in the library, and we drove first to a house in Seaford, where the rum and gin distiller guy, and came away with a large bottle of rum for James's birthday, which is this weekend. Then to Portslade, to a gorgeous art shop there to buy a present for Adele whose birthday it is today.  Off to Dawn and Paul with Lorraine for lunch. There is a lovely country lane near them called Maudlin Lane, which I love the sound of. Sat outside in their lovely sloping garden in Bramber. Dawn and Paul seem really happy together -- and this is very heartwarming. Had a lovely and very healthy lunch, and then sat at the bottom of the garden, near their summerhouse where Paul does his meditation. We went off, Dawn giving us lots of cucumber plants she'd been giv...

Off in the rain to meet Dawn and Paul in Brighton. We met in The Dorset where we had a bite to eat and a small glass of wine, then we wandered down to the dome to see the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra (who style themselves 'The Beating Heart of Brighton'). My visit compromised by an appalling experience in the gents. I marched in and peed in the thigh-high metal trough. I looked about me and could see people outside through the doorway so I hunched in. Only after a while did I realise that I was actually peeing in the sink. Nobody had said anything. But I was mortified, and the cringe was hard when I told Lorraine, Dawn and Paul afterwards.  So the music. Today they played Arvo Pärt's piece Spiegel im Spiegel , then a longer piece that I'd not heard called Lamentate .  I didn't find the first piece played to my taste. The piano sounded mechanical and soulless and the violin tentative and trying too hard to be interesting. Lamentate was episodic and certainly some ...

Running about getting things ready for people coming over at 4pm.  Dawn and Paul came, which was great as we hadn't seem them since their marriage. We all popped open a bottle or two of bubbly to toast them. They'd been on holiday to Berlin, and Copenhagen and Amsterdam and so on. It was great to be able to celebrate with them -- they gave me a succulent plant for my study, which I liked lots. Beth and James here too. The house move which had seemed dead in the water, now might have some life in it. It's the hope that kills you. They gave me a 'to a great stepdad' card, and a pair of excellent slippers. Julie came too, and brought me some socks, chocolates and a bottle of wine.  Anton, who had arrived first, brought me my own game of bones, manufactured in the USSR, plus a book on barbecuing, and a book he has been raving about called Papyrus -- and also a Guernsey ten shilling note from the year of my birth, and a Greek note from during the Nazi occupation. Anton u...

The heat is back, a hot sunny Sunday drying the clothes on the line in no time.  We had to miss seeing Dawn and Paul as Lorraine still unwell, although improving.  Read some more of Essays in Idleness by Kenko, and then had, appropriately enough, to doze. Harvested tomatoes, cucumbers, a courgette, and chilli and padrone peppers. Loving being able to bring in bowl full of home grown. Our leeks, celeriac, onions and so on all looking great too. Lorraine rallied to cook excellent Dahl and saag aloo. Mum in good spirits. They had been to the Waggon and Horses. I shall travel up again soon.   Catching up with Match of the Day this evening. Chelsea are shocking at the moment, having spent over a billion pounds on players, an expensive new manager and they lost at home to Nottingham Forest.   Below tomatoes in our greenhouse  

Spoke to Mum this morning before Lorraine and I began our epic Easter garden mission. Taking Sarah's advice I took out lots of oxygenating elodea from the fishpond, as it was so abundant it crowded out the fish. Then building the first of the big beds. Lorraine held things steady and I drilling in the guide holes, then putting in the bit that fit the end of long thick coach bolts and twisting those in with the drill. Some of them went in sweetly, others had to be twisted in manually while grunting and cursing. An unusual sense of accomplishment at having finishing the first raised bed at the end of the day.  In the afternoon Dawn and Paul called by, and we sat in the sun (on our new garden furniture) living the dream, sipping tea and eating fruit cake that Dawn had made. Also later we sat in the summer house -- a first with guests. Paul is recovering from a health scare but is now cautiously optimistic that everything will be fine. Dawn and Paul are getting married later this year....

So a busy Sunday. Off to Seaford Station on the icy pavements, but the trains were delayed or cancelled due to ice on the third rail and there was no foreseeable train for at least half an hour. This country going to the dogs etc. So we got a refund on our tickets, and decided to drive instead. As soon as we left the station and were almost home there was the galling sight of a train arriving.  Nevertheless a pleasant drive to the University of Sussex where we met Paul and Dawn to see a fantastic French string quartet, The Quatuor Arod, The concert had been relocated from the usual concert hall to the Meeting House, a modern church building with effective stained glass in simple blocks of colour embedded in the encircling concrete of the round building. A lovely setting, although perishingly cold and everyone sat with their coats on, except for the four young guys in the quartet.  First they played Mendelssohn's Op.44 No.1 with sparking competence, but the piece itself left me...