under another sun

Salmon and scrambled eggs for breakfast, then we packed, and drove off in a convoy to a house called Hellens  in the Herefordshire village of Much Marcle. We lurked in the grounds where there was a hedge maze, and which overlooked a large grass field, where archers, of both sexes, were shooting arrows from longbows. They zinged off for what seemed about three hundred yards. Makes you think about longbow warfare. A rain of arrows from afar would have been no joke. The building itself built on ancient foundations -- and very old. Next time we will go inside it. Had tea and a piece of carrot cake there, before Sue and John returned home to Bromyard, and we took the long drive home to sunny Seaford. Lovely to see them as usual, and I certainly feel rested after a couple of days away.  A fairly straightforward journey home. However just after Lewes we passed by the side of a twisty road a burning motorbike and a several people standing around a motorcyclist lain on his back. A slig...

Lorraine and I woke up in Bromyard. Getting dressed looking out the window over the fields and wooded hills, and what looked like a big red kite poised above it all in the completely blue sky. Down for coffee and croissants with Sue and John.  Whiskey the dog being frisky and spooked by something, and barking at vapour trails from planes.  A very relaxing day. Went for a short walk into town, past the now closed down Dr Who museum, Bromyard now Dalek free, and saw an art exhibition a room of one's own at the Chapel Gallery. I was very impressed by the quality of work there -- and we had a long chat with the curator. Then we meandered back home via a couple of shops. Home, and took the opportunity for forty winks. Lorraine and Sue happily chatting all afternoon.   In the evening John drove us to a restaurant called The Baiting House which served gourmet pub grub. Very tasty food -- we all had meltingly good pork belly main -- with cheery service. I would have liked sligh...

Breakfast in Bromyard, John excelling himself again, and mainly Lorraine and I sdoing a great deal of chatting with John and Sue, and lurking in the garden, and for me throwing a ball to Whiskey the dog, whose idea of returning it was to drop it in the little pond, and lap lots of water in the heat. John was telling me about his solar panels and electric car, and how their idea had been to future proof as much as possible. With the spike in power costs caused by Russia, his panels were going to pay for themselves even more quickly. Being able to charge your car from sunlight is a very good thing. Lorraine and I went off and did a little shopping in Bromyard, and we sent a birthday card to Peter Hoibak. There is a mysterious Dr Who museum at the end of the main street, and we made two attempts to be let in. One time a dog barked threateningly through the glass panes at us, the other time there was nothing. Felt like some kind of Ray Bradbury place, the mysterious shop that does not open...

Off to Hereford today, after a good deal of packing and faffing. I also sent off What's Inside to David Longhorn at Supernatural Tales. Fingers crossed (Lorraine read it in bed this morning, and liked it). A long drive for Lorriane, but she managed it okay, and we had a break at a service station once we'd gone through the M25 bit. While driving along, I got an email from Hamish Whyte, the editor at Mariscat, with a rough text of the Mariscat sampler I will be in with Marilyn Ricci and Helen Evans. A really jolly evening with Sue and John in Bromyard. I sat in the garden with John over a smoking barbecue chatting about all manner of things, including Chat GPT the ai tool. They had bought lots of meat, so we had pork steaks, and sausages and bits of aubergines and lots of salad, and we repaired indoors and ate and drank and generally caught up. They had been on lots of travels as usual, including Mauritius, that I went to many years ago. A lovely day.  Whiskey the dog on a lead...

So up and a cheeky poached egg breakfast with Sue and John. Fond farewells, with Whiskey the dog springing about squeaking its toy, which John said made the sound of a bitten rat, we left Bromyard. Lorraine drove for half an hour to see Lorraine's lovely cousin Maxine, where we were warmly welcomed, and spent a couple of hours sipping coffee, nibbling on fruitcake while her dog, Zippy contentedly gnawed a large bone under the coffee table. Heard about Tay and Emilia -- now studying away from home and doing well. Simon was working in Liverpool today, but Maxine was on a day off from work, so I think she was pleased to have some visitors.   Fond squeezes goodbye with Maxine, then we drove mostly along the A5 road through some absolutely beautiful Autumn countryside on either side of the Welsh border. The Shropshire hills, which I had never seen. They were stunningly beautiful. The tiring bit, for Lorraine, was that as we were driving, partly through Wales, then towards Merseyside, I...

Woke up in At Sue and John's in Bromyard. Whiskey the dog bouncing excitably about the place. Luckily she did not attempt to steal my watch again, as she did the last time we were together. After a lovely breakfast John drove us to see Hereford Cathedral.  Some rather glorious glass in the place -- one fairly contemporary piece, blue, but with splinters of red, celebrating the SAS, based nearby. Who Dares Wins, their motto, nearby. I didn't have enough time to view them in great detail, but had a sense of loveliness. Red and blue always pop in glass, but I love windows when the use green, which is rarer.  We visited the Chained library, the combination of ancient tomes and chains, was visually fascinating, and was filed away in my head to be used in a horror story. The Mappa Mundi , which I learned all about from an old friend Fraser who tried a children's story about it, was fascinating. Before you got to see it, there were replicas, one translated into English, and so on....

Set off to Sue and John's around midday, after a good deal of faffing around and packing a month's worth of clothes etc for our few day trip. The drive there requiring lots of focus, loads of rain and surface water.  On the M25 at one point a small car sprayed our windscreen so much we could not see out of it at all for a couple of seconds. The further west we went, however, the weather improved. Lorraine, as ever, a trusty driver and got us to Bromyard in Herefordshire safely.  Happy to see Sue and John. They had just got back from a vacation that day, but even so Sue had rustled up a veggie Lasagna for us all to eat. John saying he was pleased that Chelsea had beaten Spurs the other day -- and that the poem I had written for Sue about her dad had gone down well. A very cheery evening catching up on all the news John slipping me a couple of bottles of the excellent Butty Bach  to enjoy. Told Sue that we refer to her as Benchmark Sue, as she is so organised and clean and ...

 Up and I made a large English breakfast of mushrooms, sausages, bacon, toast and Lorraine's finest scrambled eggs with coffee. Explained to Sue why we call her benchmark Sue. Then the four of us off to mooch about by the sea again. We had the idea of going into the Seaford Museum in the Martello tower, but we found this is closed on Thursdays. We had a coffee, and then Lorraine and Sue did some shopping -- Sue looking sparkling jewels. She has is all about the bling, with three eternity rings. I am worried she is a bad influence on Lorraine. Meanwhile John and I went back to sit on a bench and talk about politics and populism and so on. It was a sunny day, and we both really enjoyed the interlude.  We met the ladies in Amy's kitchen... Vietnamese, even though they have just returned from there. Enjoyable. The restaurant empty except for us until right at the end. Mooched back home, and they zoomed off at four. A really cheery interlude with them. A quiet night, of water sippi...

A busy morning. I finally was able to record the interview with Clare, after technical gremlins nixed our session yesterday. Also I sent off the work to mes amis in Paris.  This interspersed with frenzied tidying and housework this morning in preparation for the arrival of Sue and John. Sue, or Benchmark Sue, as we sometimes thin of her, someone we aspire to in terms of keeping a tidy efficient house. We're not there yet.  Sue and John drove down in their electric car from Bromyard. John told me later that they had solar panels so it seems the car trip was powered by his own sunlight. Naturally he has an app that monitors how much power they are generating and so on. Sue on good form. Both seem so much more relaxed having now both stopped working. We walked down to the sea, for some fresh air, and then dipped into The Old Boot Inn for a cheeky drink. Then home where we simply sat in the kitchen catching up with all the news, a recent trip to south east Asia, Cambodia, Vietnam...

Bromyard a bit cooler this morning, after yesterday's record high. Up and after breakfast of mushrooms and bacon with Sue and John, Sue Lorraine and I walked out to a nearby farm to buy some eggs, multicoloured beauties they were, to bring home with us. Lovely that Sue and John can just saunter out into the country a hundred yards from where they live.   After staying with Sue and John we returned feeling decidedly more relaxed than when we arrived. They really are perfect hosts and do everything they can to make us feel relaxed. Despite a few pinchpoints of traffic, and enthusiastic downpours, the journey fairly easy. Arrived home at around five. Sam and Jade had spoilt the cats. Sam collected a curry from around the corner. Jade's last evening before she goes back to Scotland. We watched a movie called Cruella being the backstory of the villain from 1001 Dalmatians, which was cheery enough, and featured Emma Stone and Emma Thomson being entertainingly evil to one other. A che...

So 2022 then. Lorraine and I found ourselves in Bromyard with Sue and John on the first day of the year. It was also the hottest New Year's Day on record in the UK, around 15C where we were.  Up fairly slowly for a smoked salmon breakfast and then a trip out to Berrington Hall near Leominster. Grounds originally designed by Capability Brown, and a lovely house sat in excellent grounds, with trees planted not in copses but individually and slightly distant from one another. The house inside was okay, but there was one room which I found utterly magical. The dining room, which had been dressed for Christmas with tree branches hung with dried circles of oranges. See below. For me it was worth the whole visit, and put me in mind of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell .     A drive back through a couple of picturesque black and white villages, down lanes strangely busy with bicyclists and horse riders. Hereford is gorgeous even in winter. Home in the afternoon, and after a judi...

Heard from Carl this morning that Jayne was in hospital with Covid. I spoke to him during the day, and it seems she had another infection. It wasn't anything to do with lungs, so that's good I guess. He has covid too, but fairly mildly having been vaccinated.  Leaving the cats in the capable hands of Sam and Jade, Lorraine and I made off to see Sue and John. Into the car first thing, and drove off. A free and easy drive, which we both enjoyed, stopping for tea and sandwiches at a service station. Saw dozens of red kites from the M6, I'd never seen so many of them. Lovely impressive raptors.  The feeling of escaping from Brighton was excellent, as I have been feeling a bit hemmed in and fed up lately. Arrived at Sue and John's while it was still light. A nice cuppa and some Christmas cake. Whiskey the dog, sporting her Irish tricolour collar, springing about enthusiastically as Sue told us Whiskey now has an Irish passport. Lorraine and Sue went off to get eggs from a fa...

Up and packing for our last morning with Sue and John. Little Monty cheerful and full of beans this morning. Felt sorry to be saying goodbye to them. Staying with them had made us both feel much more relaxed than we had been. Loaded up the car, and made our fond farewells.  Then we drove off, pausing at the Wye Valley Brewery John had told us about, and given us sample drinks from where we judiciously paused and bought twelve beers to take away. We chose Butty Bach, HPA, Wholesome Stout, and Glorious IPA. and the Hopfather. Stashed a box of these in the boot. Then pausing only to buy a gift, made our way to see Maxine and Simon for lunch in their garden, joined by their sixteen year old twins Amelia and Taylor. Simon had kindly prepared an amazing lunch, including pulled lamb to make into wee little kebabs, quiche, lovely greek salads and so on, plus Eton mess, and lemon tart and cake. It was an amazing feed. Lovely to see them again, almost a year to the day that we dropped in on ...

Off today in Sue and John's car to the Bromyard Speed Festival. I soon learned it was nothing to do with amphetamines but in fact a place called Shelsey Walsh in Worcestershire, with a race track heading uphill in beautiful countryside -- with woods and hills and fields and a distant and interesting spire poking into the sky in the distance. We mooched about the paddock admiring vintage cars. Normally my interest in cars needs an electron microscope to locate, but I really liked the early cars and was taken by the shape of a BMW, which looked a bit Star Warsish to me. We were met there by John's daughter Odette, her husband Will and their son Monty. We'd never met Odette before, and she quick and witty and made me laugh several times. I liked Will, who works a lot on building sites in and around Brighton, with responsibility for health and safety. Monty, their boy who is five and full of energy and generally springing about happily to see John.  We made our way up hill and ...

Ambushed by Whiskey again this morning. She stole into the room while Lorraine was downstairs, and seized my watch in its mouth.  I gave chase around the room in my boxer shorts for a bit, before Whiskey thought it would be more fun make off.  I bleated for Sue, who sorted everything out. My watch, when retrieved from under Sue and John's bed, had only received a nasty licking and was unharmed.  After a lovely breakfast, an amble into Bromyard this morning with Sue, marching up Frog Lane (see what I did there) to the Broad Street where there was a variety of nice little shops, even a theatre and... A Dr Who museum.   This afternoon off to Brockhampton, a small National Trust property surrounded by gorgeous hilly land. Sue volunteers there once a week, and we lurked about in a batty building, with half a moat around it. Perfect for fending off unidirectional invasions. The rooms each were time capsules from different periods in the house's history. There was also a ga...

Setting off with a song on our lips westward ho to Bromyard, where Sue and John have moved. Long car journey, with delays on every motorway we used. The M25 particularly evil. However it was fun to be on the road, with my wifey. We listened to an audiobook chapter of a book recommended to us called From What Is to What If by a bloke called Rob Hopkins, talking about greening initiatives and doing business differently by unleashing the power of positive imagination.   As the journey lengthened, and we got off the major motorways, the landscape became gorgeous with high hills and lots of trees. About five and a half hours on the road, we were delighted To arrive at Sue and John's new home, Oaklands, to a warm welcome and just in time for dinner, that Sue had pulled out of the AGA. They showed us around the new house, which is stunning. The house was once the location of a local school, but has been rebuilt with oak beams, using traditional methods with flagstone floors and oak beams...