under another sun

Decorations all packed away in the cardboard box marked Christmas for another year. After Lorraine and I took off its decorations, I dragged the tree down to the Christmas tree graveyard in Preston Park, following the trail of needles. Noticeably fewer this year than a couple of years ago. Our tree barely shed at all, and it seems few others had done so too. Must be the species on sale around these parts this year. Caught up with a bit of correspondence, and wrote to Sarah Barnsley who had sent me a note of congratulation about Sin Cycle , and a long overdue note to Joan in Deviation Road. Otherwise a final day of mooching about. Seemed to spend an inordinate amount of time on laundry, tidying the decorations away and washing up. All cooked a roast chicken with many vegetables this evening, and ate it watching episodes of the brainiac quiz show  Only Connect which Beth is very good at. Drank some wine, as it was Sunday night, and next week is a school week. Began clipping Call...

Up and helping Lorraine on with her clothes and into socks and so on this morning. Pat and Maureen off home today, but before that we were all driven by Beth into town. She did very well despite being stressed by having what she calls 'precious cargo' in the back.  Into various shops with Lorraine, Pat and Maureen. I bought present for Mum, after phoning her and her first saying that she wanted a box of time. Lorraine managing to buy a pair of jeans despite being one armed. We had coffee in Debenhams, which Maureen said was a nice sit down. Then home, in a cab and Pat and Maureen were collected by Lorraine's nephew Pete, who came in for a bit of a chat. Fond farewells with Pat and Maureen.  Pat has acquired a new coat from somewhere, but nobody knows where it came from. Beth off to see pals overnight, leaving Lorraine and I to a little quiet time, nesting alone on the gold sofa, and watch a film adaptation of The Turn of The Screw  and a couple of episodes of Wisting,...

Sent off my Shakespeare poem this morning for Project 154, and it was acknowledged a few hours later. Quite pleased with it. It will be printed opposite sonnet XIX in the anthology. My poem is focused on the person Shakespeare wants to preserve in the verse. It finishes with 'Yet, do thy worst, old Time: despite thy wrong,/My love shall in my verse ever live young.' My poem is in the voice of the lover haunting the sonnet, saying he didn't want to be live forever locked in the poem and is called 'Locked in the Lines', and will be printed between the lines of the Sonnet XIX. Future Kenny scholars will observe that this is a typical Kenny move, the sort of thing that was behind This Concert Will Fall In Love With You . Having sent this off as Cactus the next door cat was taking his morning toilet in our bushes, I then had the best morning's writing of poems that I have had in a very long time. Rather chuffed by all this. Then off to the gym, where I had a slig...

Men around today to remove an old half dead sofa, at the crack of dawn. Weirdly, there was no sign of Calliope this morning, She always wakes us up in the morning. I showered, picturing thirteen ways Calliope could have met a grizzly end. She emerged eventually from silent hiding amid the pile of boxes in the living room, but only when Lorraine and I were both in the room calling for her. She was terrified, and scared to go in the kitchen. We suspect the evil ginger and white cat of breaking in and committing some bestial act. I'm able to walk a far better now. A good thing too as I had to slope off to the quack to have my blood purine levels tested. A cheery nurse there extracting the gore. I always like talking to her. Then a haircut as my hair was in Wild Man of Borneo mode (except of course for the dispiriting Area of Concern). None, of course, as bad as these . Also had a large cup of coffee which made me feel very lively. Good to be out and about, then home on the bus. Bet...

Horrible news tonight from Toby. Joan and Dick's son Ethan has died. Toby, clearly shocked and pacing about at home in Toronto, told me that Romy was flying back home from Chicago and they are going up to Deviation Road tomorrow. I feel deeply sad that so many people I love, Toby, Romy, Joan and Dick will be so distraught and are so far away. My heart goes out to them. This makes the rest of the day's news seem inconsequential. A note from Rhona with an excellent endorsement from her to put on The Nightwork cover, for which I was very grateful.  An offer of work from my old chums at Tavistock Square this morning had to be turned down, but towards the afternoon I was told unexpectedly that I wouldn't be needed till next week so was released back into the wild, with only a few hours of work to do tomorrow. But on balance this has worked out very well, as after as sustained period of slogging on freelance,  on my poetry collection, the big business book, I am feeling a bit...

Intrepid Started the day with a bacon and egg sandwich, then was collected by Lorraine and Beth for big shop in Sainsbury's as there were boozes, snacks and Christmas grub to be bought. Later we found ourselves up on the garden centre near the racecourse, this is high above town, and you could see the fields and downs still covered in snow. From there you can see how much Brighton is sheltered by the Downs, especially today when bitter north wind was blowing. A small party run by Lorraine and Dawn was great fun. Lorraine's folks Pat and Maureen arrived today for Christmas. I like tormenting Maureen, who still refuses to believe I had spell at Wormwood Scrubbs before coming to Brighton. Matt and Wayne came with John. Matt absurdly describing me as an attention seeker, and then proceeding to talk the hind legs all available donkeys. Nice to see Wayne who I'd not seen in a while. Jan and Helen and Gareth, and a nice man who used to live opposite Lorraine whose name I'm afr...

Farewell to Joan and Dick Very sad to leave Deviation Road. I got up early again to sit chatting with Joan and Dick. Joan makes everything seem like a home from home, and it is surprisingly difficult to leave. Joan gave Lorraine and I some of their neighbour's maple syrup and two pairs of beautiful and toasty socks that Joan had hand knitted. I can picture myself on my gold sofa, with my cat, and my feet resplendent in these socks. I shall think of Deviation Road. Before we left, a trip to see the abandoned kittens with Romy and Joan, which had visibly improved in just a few days. Also we walked into the barn, which is storing some hay, and is currently the happy home of a cat called Lucky Jim. Huge and fascinating space. Joan talking about the stacking of bales that she and Romy did when Romy was a teenager. Romy said the air was full of dust and it was really hot work. Then some sad goodbyes, and Toby drove us back to Toronto. Arriving home to a happy Meatball cat, and we all had...

A hand like a foot The bellowing of a bull at dawn from several fields away. And leaving Lorraine dozing happily in bed, a quick cup of coffee and then I was taken for an early morning walk by the dogs Maggie and Nico. They led me into the forest, bounding around and looking impatiently over their shoulders while I stopped to snap photos. Maggie springing tiggerishly in the long grass and the edges of fields planted with fodder crops alfalfa and timothy. A very still and quiet morning. Later Lorraine and I snuck out to try to snap shots of hummingbirds, and could hear Dick talking indoors. All day, when I was indoors, I was conscious of the house being surrounded by a great quietness. Lorraine really inspired by Joan's craft work. Showing me with great approval Joan's funky hats that she sells for a good price in a local hairdresser. When Ethan came around, the afternoon was given over to gaming. For they are fanatics on Deviation Road. We played a game called Stone Age and I w...

Listening to the wind, looking at the stars Dawn and looking at the window frame at the foot of the bed change colour from pink through yellow to white as the sun rose. I got up early and spent some time talking to Dick and Joan over toast and coffee. Lorraine's house deals moving swiftly, and it seems she has found a buyer for her house, and the offer on her new house has also been accepted. Still very stressful doing all this remotely. Out in the clinic Joan and Dick are keeping a rescued cat and its kittens. These animals are all in bad shape, and Dick, a retired vet, is treating them. He took Lorraine and I there to help. Lorraine holding the kittens, and Dick dropping pills into their mouths and rubbing their throats gently with his big hands. I stood by a door, and made sure that no kitten got treated twice. A quick go in the hammock, looking up into the tree, with Baxter the cat on my chest, and Nico the dog sitting below. Then a walk through the fields and into the forest b...

Into the wild boonies Set off for Deviation Road this morning with Lorraine and Toby. Much discussing of a house offer Lorraine has received. Amazing how you can negotiate a house sale from across the world these days. Toby driving us out of the suburbs of Toronto, one called the Vales of Castlemore , a vast, soulless housing development with no discernible infrastructure to serve it other than roads. Lovely to escape into the gentle rolling hills and the vast landscapes of South Ontario. After stopping for some excellent Italian pastries, we stopped for lunch at Susan's cafe in the tiny town of Markdale . We have been here before and Joan is well known there.A bit like going back in time, and here I consumed two excellent pies. A chicken pie and a blueberry pie. Susan came to speak to us, and we admired her prizewinning hooking picture on the wall. Fell into conversations with two old timers there. Ingrid who was originally German and had been in Ontario for a little short of fift...

A Thanksgiving Started the day learning that my poem A sparrow at 30,000 feet will be in the first issue of a new magazine from Guernsey called Written In. The editors have also kept hold of other poems to use them in subsequent issues, so this is all good. It is important to me to have work appear in Guernsey. Also I recieved a note from Joan who has been talking to Dick about my megalithic find, (see previous entry) and thinks it is a stone age scraper used to scrape hair and fat off hides. He was familiar with this instrument because he just read a book dealing with the prehistoric natives of Ontario. I have sent my jpegs off to a local museum to see if they make anything of it, or simply tell me it is a piece of stone. Then up to Edgware for Mason's tradional late Thanksgiving supper. A cheerful gathering there, with Tanya and Robert, Ben and Poppy (over from Guernsey) and Diane who is looking remarkably good after her recent radiotherapy treatment. Nice to fork into some turk...