under another sun

A cup of tea in bed brought by Lorraine, and a leisurely breakfast and a the first of two chats with Mum. She was okay, but I am looking forward to seeing her on Tuesday.  Then I had a conversation with Robin, and she sensibly suggested that we take a couple of weeks break on the podcast rather than try to rush things through. Felt like a load had been taken off my shoulders, as I didn't want to let her down. She was worried that because I had been sounding doomy that I wanted to stop doing the podcast altogether.  When we cleared all this up, a cheery chat. The little black book, pamphlet competition winners were announced today by Hedgehog Press. Two winners,  Snow by Palo and I, and another called None of this makes any sense by Keith and Carol McKay. I like that title lots. Mainly I had time to be with Lorraine, doing things about the house, and going shopping and normal things which are so precious like having a roast chicken dinner with a glass of wine and Antique...

Up and Mum and I had breakfast and coffee, thus fortified, we contacted an administrative part of the US embassy with the notification of Mason's US social security ID and so on to turn off his pension. Mum, we think, will still get something from the US as his widow. Then we pottered about doing some sorting out in the kitchen. Wynford from next door popped in for a chat. At lunchtime, mum drove me to the Jolly Badger from where I walked to Mill Hill Broadway station. I watched mum zoom around the roundabout there with some elan.  Long journey home, feeling a bit braindead. No trains to Lewes, so had to go via Brighton. However the trip enlivened by discovering I had won a small pamphlet competition run by Hedgehog Press. It is a collaboration with Palo Almond -- four of her snowy images, and four poems from me in tanka style that were provoked by her work. I called it, perhaps in the spirit of calling a spade a spade, Snow . It's excellent as these little tanka poems don'...