under another sun

 Lorraine and I off today to Steyning to hang out in the field behind Dawn's house on chairs with Dawn, Anton, Rosie and Innis. A cool but sunny day, and when I got back home Lorraine and I both had glowing red faces with sunburn. Just ace to be chatting with old friends again, celebrating Lorraine's birthday this week. Anton bought one of his impeccable Polish baked cheesecakes, and Rosie brought a delicious salad full of all manner of goodies, Dawn baked one of her famous flans shaped with rice instead of flour, and we drank a few drinks and generally caught up with one another. Anton said it was the furthest he had been outside Brighton for half a year.  It is the simple pleasures of seeing friends that is so important.  Innis and Anton discussing playing cards in enthusiastic detail.  Lovely village field, with people walking their dogs, and one neighbour who knew Dawn, coming to tell us about his newish dog in even more enthusiastic detail for at least ten minut...

Up at six, to write a few things down, and then back to bed, and slept a further few hours. An overcast and threatening day, that finally gave us half an hour of heavy rain, and two measly cracks of thunder, which Anton texted me about saying that I had hexed him. Me, thunder loving cove that I am, had been yearning for thunder all along, and obviously Anton, having to work on a house caged in metal scaffolding, strangely averse to violent electrical storms. Lorraine and I tidying the house and making good the craft room again, where I hope to embark on some glassmaking soon. Off late afternoon, picking up Anton en route, and off to Steyning. The weather miraculously improved, and we sat outside the back of Dawn's house on an idyllic summer's evening, and mooched off to the allotment, where Dawn had been growing beetroots, and onions and purple beans and all kinds of other things. Lovely place there. Then back to drink beer and eat some delicious lasagne and salads and the ...

Up and off, albeit carefully in the car, as Storm Ciara struck today, bringing rain and extremely high winds. We drove to Anton's to collect him then went off to Steyning, where we had a delicious brunch in Dawn's little cottage, including a very tasty Italian aubergine and parmesan dish. Anton meanwhile has been on an almost no-food diet, and has lost lots of weight. He brought Dawn a banana cake he had made this morning, but did not eat it. He also said he was having around Chinese takeaways to try to catch Coronavirus to get time off work. Dawn said that she had changed her mind about going to Devon for the time being, and was enjoying Steyning more having been to extinction rebellion meetings and the local book club and making friends. We left in the afternoon, and Lorraine drove us steadily in the buffeting near hurricane back to Brighton. We dropped Anton off and zoomed home. The wind was extremely strong, and the rain when it came was torrential.  Betty went out in t...

A bubble of Saharan heat that had lain over Europe causing the hottest recorded temperatures in France drifted across the channel today, losing some of its ferocity, but still pushing temperatures into the mid 30s. Lorraine and I sensibly decided it was not a day for excessive exertions, so we went shopping and then found shade in our garden. Good to see Lorraine relaxing on her lounger reading and listened to meditation tapes. In the evening we drove to Hove, to pick up some dieting paraphernalia from Betty, and then onto Steyning to see Dawn. A gorgeous summer evening there, we had salads and seabass and I drank gin and tonic made from Dawn's pomegranate and rosewater gin. Lovely. Realised I was feeling a bit braindead and lethargic, and think I may have been overdoing the diet having lost over 4 kilos this week. Then, as cooler breezes sprang up, we had a walk in the woods on the side of the hill behind her house. A lovely walk in the woods, magical despite lots of trees fel...

Woke up not feeling sure about the cobbles and pebbles this morning. It all looked a bit busy, but Lorraine and I decided to let it lie for a day. Partly to give our bodies a rest too, after days of carrying heavy things. Lorraine did a bit of school work, and I did some writing. In the evening off to Steyning to see Dawn. Lorraine cooked an upside down cake for pudding. Had a lovely evening with Dawn, sitting outside the back of her house in the field looking up at the Downs round a little fire, with a full moon in the sky.  I found it very relaxing as usual, drinking a bit of beer and tucking into a fisherman's pie. Looked at the picture that Dawn had found a while ago, and liked as it reminded her of Cornwall. Lorraine had been over there recently and spotted it -- it is a picture of  Guernsey cliffs with the the Dog and Lion from above Saints Bay. I snapped it, as it made me feel homesick. So strange that Dawn has this.

Up and after breakfast, worked on doing concepts for the French agency till one o'clock. All about Lyme disease in dogs, so I had to put myself in the shoes of someone who loves dogs. Feeling sluggish and with a general disinclination to do anything. Lorraine and I discussed going shopping, till Lorraine went shopping and I felt asleep for an hour on the sofa. In the evening Lorraine drove us off to Dawn's house in Steyning, we'd not seen her for ages. She has broken her elbow having stumbled on the scree on Ben Nevis, while walking there with her sisters and nieces. Then she had to be helicoptered off the mountain. Luckily there had been mountain rescue people ten minutes away, one of whom kept her warm in a tent and fed her her painkillers and jelly babies till the helicopter came. She has a nastily bruised arm and a plate in her elbow. Dawn now going back out with David, so lots to talk about over  Thai curry and plum crumble. I always enjoy being in Dawn's cozy ho...

Up and out today. A gorgeous sunny spring day. After collecting a phone charger Dawn had left at a pal's house, off to Steyning to collet Dawn and Lorraine drove us to Chichester. Went to the Cathedral there which has a few gorgeous windows, and a window by Marc Chagall , which I didn't like very much, but that may have been because it had little light passing through it when we were there. A cup of coffee and an eccles cake for me in the cafe, and enjoyed chatting with Dawn and Lorraine. Dawn cheerful at present and has been dating a nice man. Chatting later it seems by coincidence that he has exactly the same birthday as me. Then we went to The Pallant House Art Gallery  which has a lot of twentieth English Art in it, some of it quite interesting. Several pieces by Graham Sutherland, a Lucien Freud and this piece by Ceri Richards I enjoyed . There was a big exhibition of Leonard Rosoman's work called Painting Theatre , which was interesting but brought out my inner Pl...

Feeling free and happy this first of the month. Lorraine had to get up early and go off to school for a morning meeting, and the gorgeous thing brought me a cup of tea before she went. Thus refreshed, I  sauntered out of bed to the news that one of my poems  1,000 miles from sea  was in London Grip . It's one of the Chad ones, but not one that describes the conditions too much. Then I walked into town and met Alex Pearson at the Marwood, after failing to do so yesterday. Lorraine and I met Alex after the concert Eleni and Glen's last Brighton concert. Alex has lived in China for decades, and is a bracingly entrepreneurial person with an MBE, currently teaching business at the university, but busy hatching other plans. We talked for hours and ended up having a bite to eat at the cafe too. Definitely someone I'd like to keep in touch with. Home and Lorraine back. After a bit, we drove off to collect Innis and Rosie and zoom over to  Dawn's house in Steyning. Anton ...

Up, in a creaky way after gym work and spadework, and Lorraine assembled a bread and butter pudding and we drove off to Steyning. Stopped in the Sussex Produce Shop to buy Dawn some flowers, and eye the wealth of pies they have there, before spending the afternoon with Dawn, changeable weather outside, and us all cozy in her front room with flames dancing in her wood burning stove, with her view out the back across the village green to the Downs. She cooked us a lovely salmon in pastry dish from a Jamie recipe, and then I engulfed some bread and butter pudding (which as eny fule kno is one of the allowable puddings) made by my wife's own fair hand. Dawn said she would be happy to read my book when it was done, and perhaps give it to some of the better readers at school. I did take earlier versions into Downs school, thanks to Dawn, and the Children's feedback was incredibly useful. Fond farewells with Dawn, then home, where I did some of my list of overdue things, and Lorrain...

Toby still hoarse and feeling rough with a nasty cold bug. Taking judicious lie downs during the day. Still we managed breakfast, and lots of chats, and after Beth had got back from work and the dentist with half a frozen face we all took a late afternoon drive to Steyning for delicious rhubarb scones, cream and rhubarb jam. Toby enjoyed the cream tea, and we were talking about how much Romy, as a connoisseur of the English cream tea, would definitely like this. After this, Toby and I had a fast cold drink in the Preston Park Tavern, then home again after half an hour or so, to let Toby crash out again.  Lorraine cooked supper (the days' meals apart from the aberration of the cream tea under the new healthy eating regime) eaten with a resurfaced Tobs watching Robot Wars on TV.  The fridge has a sheet of paper Beth printed out with meal suggestions plus a few motivational phrases, such as: 'You are not hungry, you are bored. Drink some water & learn the difference'. ...

Absolutely delighted with how my poems about Chad are going. I have four or five good poems on the go now. One of two of them have been that rare gift of arriving almost fully formed. I guess thinking about it for ten months has been a good thing. In the afternoon off to see Dawn in Steyning, we wandered about the shops for a bit, then popped into a cafe where we had absolutely fabulous scones. Made with rhubarb, and served with cream and rhubarb jam, all washed down with Earl Grey tea.  Back to Dawn's house, and sat about chatting and playing with Spotify. Looking out at Dawn's little garden, and the low wall the backs onto the village fields, and the Downs rising above it. Today the downs were shrouded in misty rain, and the weather has been pretty diabolic for August. In fact it all seemed a bit autumnal. However L and I are off to the south of France shortly, so we were not too fussed by this. Chatted with Mum, who we are going to visit tomorrow, and later with ...

Lorraine up early and off to physiotherapist and then to the hairdresser. I felt rather sluggish and did sluggish and unproductive things till she returned, and then simply fell asleep for an hour. Then off to Steyning this afternoon to see Dawn, and enjoy the delights of her garden and meet a couple of her pals Matt and Charlotte. Sat in her little back garden, looking over the low wall out onto the common and then then up to the Downs. Beautiful. Matt and Charlotte were both runners, and had lots to say to one another. Matt also gives talks in Lewes about the pubs and drinkers of Edwardian times. The barbecue went out, so Dawn cooked the stuff indoors, but it kept enough of a glow to keep us warm as the temperature dropped. Eventually the view got to me and I climbed over the wall and walked off into the green enticed by the sheer loveliness of it.. A group of schoolchildren were crossing it singing "When the Saints Come Marching In" rather well.  Lorraine feeling gri...

Up early doing some bits and pieces for the pitch next week, as it's a bank holiday. Drove to Janet and Ken's house to drop off a lilac plant as a late birthday present and have the briefest of chats. Then off to Steyning picking up Rosie en route. We found Dawn there and popped back to her house, which Rosie had not seen. Then we returned to mooch about the show, looking at pens full of animals including alpacas, and food stands and plants and listening to musicians including a lugubrious polka band in the town car park. Dawn off to staff the local museum stand. We t ended up at garden of the White Horse listening to a band, Rosie and Lorraine drinking Pimms and myself a beer and feeling cheerful on the cusp of a holiday. We drove Rosie home, and returned back to eat some exemplary Steyning scones, before I  did some more work for the pitch. Leaving for Guernsey tomorrow, but it doesn't seem real yet. A few sights in Steyning.

A happy day. Lorraine and I off to Steyning to a shop where we bought some plants, and then to another garden centre to buy more plants and compost. I don't know what is happening to me, but I find myself staring at the variegated leaf of a zonal geranium and deeply appreciating it. A misty day, with very low cloud over the downs, making them look particularly mysterious, and Lorraine and I pulled up in the car, got out and walked up a country path between two fields, one of which had horses galloping about for fun in it. The downs disappearing into the cloud were quite magical. Home and we planted lots of plants into the garden, with Lorraine doing the digging to save my thigh. Really exciting to see the bed fill up with plants. I can't believe how much I like our garden. Now it's just a wait to see what survives the onslaught of slugs, snails, foxes, Calliope, Brian and the rest of the neighbourhood cats. Lorraine cooked a lovely roast this evening. John came home w...

A rather slow start to the day to Easter Monday. I seemed to have developed a mysterious hangover during the night, which necessitated staying in bed till 11. Lorraine and I eventually up fuelled by feverish desire to finish the little patio at the bottom of the garden. Drove to the garden centre again, buying more bags of North Sea cobbles, and Tweed pebbles and so on, and finished the job after quite a bit of cobble hefting. Both felt rather pleased with ourselves, backs intact too, and our garden beginning to take shape. Beth continuing her dinosaur business, and dropped off her CV at the local pub too. It was a gorgeous day, and the gardens around us all lively with people and Lorraine had a nice chat with our nexties Caroline, Clem and young Orla who is mad for playing football. A well-earned rest before we made off with Beth to Dawn's cottage in lovely Steyning. Loads of tiny flies clinging to the car for some reason. A lovely evening in Dawn's cottage, now beautiful ...

Working on a job to do with arthritis from eight this morning. Fairly straightforward and I was all done by 4:30. Lorraine working on the desk next to me for longer. Having been cooped up all day, apart from sauntering around the corner to Arkwrights to buy some middle class comestibles, we invited ourselves to Steyning to see Dawn this evening. She had prepared a rapid and delicious salad with salmon and we scrambled over the wall at the end of her garden and ate it, as the sun lowered behind the Downs. Dawn's next door neighbour told her that Dawn's house is haunted with a ghost of a girl. That night, Dawn spent the night on her bed on the floorboards, looking at the dimpled, ceiling-high window at the top of the stairs where the ghost was supposed to be, and deciding it was called Annie. Next night she opted on the comforts of her parent's home nearby. Local news full of the pier at Eastbourne going up in flames. Below Dawn and Lorraine taking in the view.

Off to Steyning this afternoon to visit Dawn in her new house called Honeysuckle Cottage. It needs lots of work doing on it, but it is a extremely nice little house, really well situated end of terrace house, half a minutes walk from the main village street, and backing onto the village cricket ground which then leads directly onto the Downs. Various members of Dawn's large family dropping in while we were there too. Had a good look around the house, and sauntered around the village, buying some Italian cheese, olives, and so on from an Italian food fair that happened to be there. Lorraine brought a necklace from the little jewellers in the cobblestone path, with Dawn encouraging her and much conversation with the owner on a wide range of subjects. Then picnicked in Dawn's new garden drinking Elderflower Pressé to the accompaniment of distant summer thunder. A short walk around the village green and cups of tea (yes tea) in the big pub on the corner. Such a relaxed and happ...

Up early for a Sunday, and Lorraine and I got ourselves ready for a stroll in the country. We picked up Anton and drove off to Dawn's place in Steyning, and then walked through the village to Helen's new flat, admired the flat, then all set off for a walk, steeply up through woods to the top of the Downs and followed the path which linked up with the South Downs Way, before threading through woods back into the village. The top of the downs is my least favourite walking, being too much sky and no cover but we were only up there for a while, and I managed this well. There were some lovely views through a fringe of trees down to the valleys below. An absolutely perfect day. Flawless blue sky, and very warm for March. We all mooched along chatting in twos and threes. Lorraine's boot fell apart and Anton cut a flappy bit off the sole with his penknife. Back down to the village and we had a really nice Sunday lunch and a couple of thirst quenching beers sitting outside in th...