under another sun

Fond farewells with Pat and Maureen, who went back to Ashford. Lorraine took them first to Battle where they had some lunch and Maureen bought some special woola special wool and make sure it was the right sort of four ply cotton.  I meanwhile did bits of my own work. Mid afternoon, I found myself straying onto Ancestry.com on a free trial. It was there I learned that my biological father John had died in February 2017 at the comparatively tender age of 76. Not sure what to make of this -- obviously as I had no kind of relationship with him, it wasn't a particularly emotional experience, but nevertheless something, especially as I have been writing about the unreliable nature of early memory lately and so have been thinking lots about my first few years, in which he appears mainly as an absence. My main thoughts were selfish ones: I wish he'd lived longer as evidence of magnificent genes. And also ruing the idea that call from the mystery solicitor mentioning a large legacy wil...

A call from Maureen saying that her sister Rose had died. Lorraine was out but called her back shortly. I met Rose only once, in Basingstoke four years ago. She introduced herself to me by saying 'hello sexy' and said she wanted to take me home. I liked her. Maureen naturally very sad. Lorraine off to school early to deal with boiler people and IT people -- and then have her hair cut in the afternoon. I simply re-edited The Merger , and sent this off to The Short Fiction Journal . Fingers crossed. I have also been learning how to use the PaintBox digital design package, and have sent off for a beginner's graphics pad so that I can draw directly onto the screen. Contacted about a job for next week by the same people who blew me out for a two week stint when I was in Sicily, will find out tomorrow if I have it. In the afternoon I walked to John and Beth's flat, to meet Lorraine who had sparkling new hair and was looking lovely. We went out to the sea, taking Bailey Be...

Up in our rented room in Catania, and we had to be out by 10:30. Trundled the cases down to the place we stopped at for a cheeky beer last night by a crossroads. Very hot of course. We had breakfast, me choosing a panini full of french fries and hotdogs. Tasty, of course, but morally reprehensible. A table nearby of English people being rude to the staff. We trundled through the lovely Piazza Duomo to a hateful bus station where we were hounded by unlicensed taxi drivers. We headed back to the Piazza where we found a taxi rank. A high-speed exhibition of Italian driving dodging about the road and hooting people you were tailgating, we reached the airport. Our plane was delayed by hours again, and we spent the rest of the tedious day waiting for the plane which none of us felt was in any way guaranteed. A pretty lousy way to spend eight hours. EasyJet are rabble. But once we were flying, it was easy to prioritise the nice memories of our time there. The flight eventually took off at...

Barely heard Toby and Romy creeping off this morning at an eye-watering 4AM. I had a nightmare about a brother that disappeared, and woke up in a strangely Toby and Romy-less place. The rest of us got up early, finished packing, and all had a last dip in the incomparable pool. Tina arrived at around 9:45 as we were zooming around. I was ironing one of Lorraine's tops, and she took it from me and finished it. We all really liked Tina. Then final things squeezed into the car, and we set off for a last mooch about in Noto, where we had granita breakfasts, and looked at a few places. Another swelteringly hot day. As we were making our way back to the car to drive up to the airport, Lorraine got a message from EasyJet saying our flight had been cancelled until tomorrow. This all a bit horrible, and under some stress we managed to book a room in a hotel in Catania urgently for tonight using our phones. Trying to get everything else sorted was hard, and Beth and John were great at mak...

Another home day for Lorraine, Beth and John and I. Toby and Romy had a short trip out in the afternoon. Typically I got another offer for work next week from my pal Pat, having said yes to some other work. This previous job however was not confirmed, like it was supposed to be. So I am not sure what next week looks like yet, but it seems there will be some money in it. Otherwise a happy day. I continued with The Leopard , which is a magnificent book. Also spent lots of time in the pool with Lorraine, Beth and John throwing a small ball around, playing a game that was quickly dubbed the Plop it! on account of the noise the ball makes as it falls in the water. The object of the game is to throw the ball high in the air, so that it makes a satisfying plop in the water, and if you can make it splash someone's face at the same time this is a win. If you can splash two people at the same time, this is a double plop. When they got back, Toby made Fernet-Branca and cokes and we sippe...

Another beautiful day. No surging up to get on with things this morning, although Beth and John were up early basking by the pool. Huge amounts of food to be eaten at lunchtime, not eaten from the day before. Beautiful food. Simply spent the day hanging around chatting. So nice to talk to Romy at length again, having not seen her for ages before this holiday. In the afternoon Toby, Romy and John popped into Noto. I had a deep sleep in the afternoon, followed by a swim and a bob in the pool with Lorraine and Betty. Lorraine finished the second Montalbano book, and I started the Leopard by Lampedusa. I was offered some work for a couple of weeks starting next Monday in London, which I gladly accepted too. Seems that what I need to do to boost my writing career and freelance is go away on more holidays. We were here for Tina too, and were theatrically treated to ravioli of utter brilliance, a meaty stew of pork and sausages cooked with fennel in a rich tomato sauce, served with sala...

Off today to Siracusa, all piled into cars. Toby and Romy left sensibly early. Lorraine, navigated by me and google, got lost a few times in the harbour town. Eventually we found the car park, and threaded through the mazy lanes to the Doric Temple of Apollo, where we met Toby and Romy, and Agata our guide for the morning. She was an amazing Sicilian polyglot who spoke a list of languages, and was now acquiring Japanese for fun. She talked fondly of London, and the magic of going for a job interview in the snow. Later, she lived in Norway for a couple of years, drawn there by love. She outlined the amazing historical richness of the town, a story with Ancient Greek origins epitomised by the ruin we stood beside, through Romans, and taking in arabs and Normans and the Spanish and others. She led us into a food market, the stalls piled with fruits and vegetables, spices and herbs, and fish stalls too. I noticed some had longnose, or garfish on slabs, as well as enormous swordfish. She ...

The flappy monster returned just before dawn again. This morning I recorded it scraping and tapping on the roof. Although it sounds like a poltergeist, it is marginally more likely to be an owl I think. A lazy day spent dreaming in the Sicilian sun, reading books and swimming a few serious lengths in the pool.  Quite pleased by the appearance on Poetry Village of my wee poem about Gwen, my grandmother, called The House of Hidden Hope . Feeling quite chipper about my own writing, and this morning I woke up with a short story in my head. Toby and Romy went out for the afternoon, and Lorraine and I set off this afternoon to drive up the Catana to collect Beth and John from the airport. This journey conducted with calm efficiency. We found a straightforward route on google maps, and we were soon on the motorway zooming north. Lorraine feeling much more confident now. We found the car park easily, and John and Betty, emerged from arrivals delayed but happy. Lorraine and I knew it w...

Bloody hot. In fact the hottest day in the UK ever, 38.7 recorded in Cambridge, that is 101.6 F  in old money.   Lorraine working from home for a bit, before taking time off to proof What You Look For for me, and she made a couple of useful suggestions, before I sent the thing off to Bloodbath magazine. I was then officially done. We bussed over to Beth and John this evening and were fed roast chicken and veggies and couscous and played Euchure. Lorraine also took a bottle of champagne she had been saving, as now her Ofsted inspection success is official, and her school is officially 'good'. Bussed home and home, happy to not have to get up tomorrow. Boris the evil clown no forging a cabinet of the maddest and most far right politicians on offer, looking to drive Brexit through even on a self-immolating no deal basis. Meanwhile THE CLIMATE. Christ. I made this nonsense a few months ago, below, but it seems more appropriate than ever. The other guy is Nero.

Up fairly early for a Sunday. I scamped up two designs for the banner for Lorraine's school, sitting at my desk in the craft room. Then L and I zoomed out to a garden centre, where we bought a few flowering plants, including a  chocolate cosmos which smells strikingly of chocolate. Then into the Lorraine's gym, which is a lot posher than mine. Trouble is that it is out in the sticks and hard for me to get to without a car. We spoke to them about joint membership, which they do not have. Amusingly, they call their joining fee an 'integration programme', and you get some slight discount if you complete their 'integration journey' (i.e. allow them to pitch various courses etc. while they show you the ropes).  The place itself, Wickwoods, is lovely. The people in the changing rooms were all around my age or even older. Usually I feel like some kind of coelacanth in the changing room of my own gym. We did a good gym session, then had a swim and we bobbed and bubb...

A bit of a blessed lie in this morning. But we got up, went shopping for food, and bought some plants for the garden. Then John arrived, and we drove off to Roedean school. What a wonderful place it is, and how privileged the folks who can get there are. In the theatre Goldman's were having their summer event, which all the children at the stage school get to perform at. Many of the coached by Betty, and James who fleeted by and hugged me. Sarah from Lorraine's school dropped off her daughters Faith and Daisy, Daisy still at L's school, to see the show too. I enjoyed it. There is something quite moving about seeing kids from a very young age up to teenage giving it their all. Beth had directed a few of the scenes, in what was a compilation of scenes grouped around the idea of history. Her last one featuring the girls in a spoken piece called Phenomenal Women , which was rather excellent. Betty phenomenal yet again. John and I were taken by Sarah and Dan (Faith and Daisy...

Up late, after breakfast in bed. Lurking in the garden discussing our next steps. Lorraine went to a Bolney W.I. meeting this lunch time. I did little and when Lorraine came home again, we went off to The Brighton Tavern, and met Matt there with Reuben and John Hood and others. Matt and Reuben are moving to Yorkshire. Lovely to chat to Matt who I have not seen much of for some time. Usual chatty throng at the Tavern, with Lorraine finding herself attached to a nice and rather drunk man called Alec who kept telling her how wonderful she was. John left soon after we arrived. Also met Tim, a very talented poet and pianist, who arrived with a baritone horn for Matt. Much hugging of Matt and we were very sad to see him go, although it was great to see him so excited about moving into a new house, which he has bought. Felt like the end of an era for me, although Matt and I have not worked together for several years now, working with him on This concert will fall in love with you and other ...

Up fairly early to make Lorraine tea and breakfast, then I mooched off to Brighton Station where I met Klaudia. Unlike last year, we were able to simply hop on a train and get to London.  However the tubes from Victoria weren't working, and I didn't face going round Sark to get to Herm on the claustrophobic trains, so we simply hopped in a taxi from there to the theatre. This found, and our tickets collected, we popped into Byron burgers where we stuffed our faces with natcho starters, and then burgers. I had a C. Rex, some species of monstrously tasty and chicken burger, whereas Klaudia has started enjoying beef burgers, and fought her way through one of those. Sat next to a man with a booming voice, so it was hard to hear each other speak sometimes. Into the Novello Theatre to see Mamma Mia . We had seats right up in the top of the theatre, looking down on the glittery stuff below. We both enjoyed the show, having our traditional ice cream at half time, despite wanting to...

Woke up feeling somewhat hungover. Unusually, I had the idea for a complete short story, which, after feeding the cats, I simply wrote in bed for a couple of hours. It is called Little Horrors . Got up feeling seedy and hungover, Lorraine and I were soon collected by Beth and John, Beth having hired a car, and we drove off to Stanmer Park, and had a nice long walk through the woods. Which proved the perfect way to recover. John and Beth charging about picking up the biggest fallen branches to menace each other and Lorraine and I with. Lots of dogs, which Beth and John are all goggle eyed over, having to give back Pippi now Rosie and Innis have returned. John showed me a film of Pippi greeting Rosie and Innis, and the little hound was ecstatic. Very sweet. After we stopped off at a cafe for a cup of coffee and sat outside. We were attended to by tame robins who hopped onto the table to eat crumbs. Beth then drove us expertly home again. Lorraine and I home and snoozed happily in t...

Lorraine's birthday. Got up early and wrapped a couple of presents for her, and took her cards and pressies up with a cup of tea, followed by breakfast. I got her the CD version of Recomposed , by Max Richter and we lay in bed listening to it with the Juliette windows open on what was the warmest ever Easter Monday. Up and a cup of coffee and we sat outside playing scrabble then Beth and John arrived, and Beth drove us off to The Royal Oak at Wineham . She was a bit nervous about driving everyone, but actually drove extremely well. We arrived safely at the Royal Oak. Beth had phoned for a table, but we found this one was in a gallery of leering taxidermy. We relocated and found a nook, where only Lorraine could see a stuffed weasel in a case if she peered. Once our eating was done, ploughman's for Beth and I, sausage and mash for John, and Chicken Caesar for Lorraine, we sat outside in the sun playing euchre. Lorraine and I able to enjoy Harveys straight from the barrel, ...

So girding our loins today for the arrival of 75 20kg bags of pebbles and cobbles. These arrived on palettes outside our house late in the morning, ferried across the road by a nice man with a powered pump truck. Lorraine and I carried a few bags through hugging them to ourselves like babies, I was feeling a bit weak and feeble having carried dozens of sacks of topsoil over the last couple of days. Luckily I evolved a technique of slaloming down through the house with a wheelbarrow and a sack in it, enabling me to steadily shiftbags without killing myself. More of a bonus was the arrival of Beth and John. John carrying bags through like a trooper,  he said this was just like being the drum at a gig. Both of them being extremely helpful. Huge volumes of stones emptied over what used to be our lawn. All quite dusty and white. John had to go to do a drum lesson and then a practice session. Betty stayed with us for dinner. I was very much relieved that we had got the bazillion cobb...

Just sorting out my last bits before we head off to Edinburgh tomorrow. Packed this evening, then Lorraine whose last day it was today and was very happy about it, zoomed off to the Station in Hove in a cab, and saw Betty and John and his band playing, which was fun. Then home on the bus. Below the band. Matt, new singer Amy, John and one of the two bassists they are playing with whose name I don't know.

A leisurely morning, or at least it would have been if not for Calliope waking me up by whiskering my feet. Up and made breakfast in bed. Did a few bits of work on the bovine poos work, and then we loaded up the car and zoomed off stopping off at Martlet's charity shop in Hove to drop some bits off, then off to Shoreham to Lidls for a bit of variety, and then to Sainsbury's. Dropped some stuff off at Beth and John's place, and picked up a chair they no longer need. Then home for an interlude before bussing it back to Hove where Beth preparing home made coleslaw, and couscous and bits of chicken and halloumi. with the help of Lorraine. John and I sat about listening to more far out bits of King Crimson. Beth bouncing back after a disappointing week, with not getting a part she was really after. I felt for her. Rejection is so much part of an artist of any stripe's life. A fun evening, and Rosie and Innis, just about to go off to Brazil next week, brought Pippi the do...

First of the Month. Pat confirmed I have a week of freelance work to look forward to next week.  Just as well as the Chiswick agency's pencil for next week failed. Otherwise I slunk indoors, working on the horror story, although not so fluently as earlier in the week, waiting for another section of the story to open up before me magically. Lorraine working from home first thing this morning, which was nice. In the evening, after L got home from work, and I had a short walk, listening to the beginning of The Exorcist , by William Peter Blatty. Starts ominously, which is what you want with horror. In the evening, L and I jumped in a cab and went to the Station pub in Hove. John and Matt were setting up for their gig. Confusingly, their band, Body Talk, have a new bassist, also called John, who sports a near identical beard to our John's. They have a new singer, called Amy, who was pretty good too. This leaves  Matt to focus more on guitar and some backup vocals. They played ...

Thinking about how Ken lots, and how irrepressible he had been for most of the time I had known him. I would love to be able to believe in a heaven where he is sharing a nice bottle of Blanquette de Limoux with Janet right now. Apart from this, I wound up the week by posting signed stuff to a solicitor, putting an open to persuasion update on LinkedIn, and readying and sending off a short story to Popshot. This more in hope than expectation, but demonstrating Iron Discipline nevertheless. A chat with Sonia who made me laugh as usual, then off to the gym for a session there. Most enjoyably, I sat in Starbucks afterwards with a notepad, and plotted the first part of this new story I seem to be writing in the horror tradition. It is about twins. Then home in the pouring rain and straight into a hot shower once home. A quick chat with Anton, sending sympathy about Ken, and then Lorraine home and she immediately began cooking a pepper beef curry This was one of Beth's favourite chil...