under another sun

Sam off today with Beth and James to see Glenice, Lorraine and I had a spontaneous kind of day. A spot of writing, as Lorraine ran her Star Dew Valley farm, then we wandered into town in the afternoon where I bought, after trying lots of shoes that didn't spark joy, a pair of winter shoes, from Schuh. A nice young guy helping us, I tried on a pair of Doc Martens, but it reminded me of kind of people who used to wear them in the 70s. I bought a clean, simple pair of brown shoes at a decent price. Picked up a pair of Sam's expensive boots from a cobbler at the bottom of the Laines, which were as good as new.    Lorraine and I made our way down to the Bottom's Rest and had a beer there, and were joined by Innis and Rosie, and we had some food. A cheery interlude of much chat. On the way home we were waiting for a bus (but ended up catching a taxi) Lorraine had been absentmindedly stroking my arm. A man appeared and asked how long we had been married, and said it was lovely to ...

The Frogmore Papers arrived today, with my horror story in it The Dream Home . Lots of time wasted struggling to get a speaker working, trying to connect it to the wifi and so on. Galling when it has worked perfectly until recently. A hot day. In afternoon Lorraine and I went into town and I collected my new glasses from Specsavers. One of the pairs looks a bit Harry Potterish. Then Lorraine bought me a much needed new pair of shoes as an early birthday present, and found a pair for herself that fitted the shoe rules. We passed a cafe that had little cannoli in it and we bought three, one of which was a lobster's tail. A message from Val in Paris needing some urgent help. Then we mooched down to the seaside and sat on a bench in Hove looking out to sea. It was high tide. The Labour Party Conference is being held in Brighton, and there was a gathering of Labour politicos listening to amplified speakers talking mainly about climate change, and how this was woven into the strugg...

This morning, I applied the desk manacles and began writing a website about parasites -- sandflies, mosquitoes, ticks and fleas for my lovely French clients. Found it a bit hard to concentrate, but forced myself. Lorraine mooching about at her own pace, then went to the gym this afternoon. A pleasant day. Did a short walk after four, when the writing was done. Writing about parasites made me feel itchy all day. When Lorraine came home, we jumped on a bus and made off to The Bottom's Rest, where we met Innis and Rosie for a beer and thali. Had not seen them for a couple of months, and they had been in Brazil for a time. A lovely evening, and sensible vegetarian food, and a few beers. We left the pub early and came home, happy to be sprawling about on the gold sofa.

Up and writing a bit more of the Horror stuff, as Lorraine went off to get a haircut. It is the first day of her holiday. I walked down to her hairdresser in Hove by the flower church. I was a bit early and sat there on a brown pillow that turned out to be a dog. There was another small dog too, which had apparently eaten a sausage and was emitting wretched smells. Lorraine and I then went to The Bottom's Rest where we had a late lunch of a vegetarian thali dish, and a cheeky pint of bitter. Lovely stuff. We feel inspired to become a more vegetarian. Then a spot of shopping before zooming home on the bus, for a relaxed evening in.

Saturday, and surprisingly perky considering last night's shenanigans. Woke up to find my short story, The Dark Fish , had been uploaded by Matthew the editor, who had been hard at work at 1am. Forced Lorraine to read it in bed, and went around saying the word Horror but only employing the first 'o' vowel sound. Lorraine and I chatting lots this morning, and putting things in their right mental boxes. Lorraine needs to say thing out loud to manage them. I perfectly understand this. My own speciality is venting in a self loathing, depressive and angry way, which depresses anyone in earshot, but leaves me feeling cleansed and happy. In the afternoon we scooted into town for some shopping, then Lorraine and I popped into The Bottom's Rest for a pint of Harveys. Beth met us there from work and we went back to the flat. A cheery evening with Beth and John. We ordered a curry takeaway from around the corner, and John and I went to collect it. We bumped into a cheery Inn...

Up early because of Plumbers, who did not turn up immediately. Had breakfast with Toby who was now heading off to Aberystwyth, a bit of an epic rail journey via London and Birmingham.  Sad to see him go, but we will hook up next week. No water this morning, as there was a burst water main just down the road. Took a few hours to sort out. Plumbers arrived, and finally finished installing the shower. An electrician is coming next Friday, just for one or two bits, but it is done. It looks good too. Only took 'em four weeks. In the afternoon, once we were free of workmen, and Sonia had arrived, we made off to Hassocks garden centre and bought Lorraine the sun lounger she had been craving. Then home. The sky looking somewhat suspect, and a bit of a wind gathering. We took he sun lounger out onto the decking, and soon it was thundering and raining hard, for the first time in over 50 days. In the evening off to a drink to celebrate Innis's birthday, at the Bottom's Rest.  ...

Up early. A good night's sleep, and a cooler more comfortable day, with no frog incidents. Lorraine off to work, being very busy. I got down to some writing, wrote a new draft of a poem, which I was quite pleased with. Next door were having their TV fixed which meant a man was climbing overhead of my study roof for a bit. Sigh. Washed the kitchen windows, and my study window, which had a big  sunbaked streak of guano on it, and tidied up. If in doubt: tidy up. Early afternoon the plumbers arrived, and hammered out the shower tray with a hairline crack and replaced it. Meanwhile I settled into a good afternoon's work, and felt fairly productive. In the evening I walked to Hove to meet Innis for a drink. Met him in The Paris House, which was empty and the beer overpriced. We sloped down to The Bottom's Rest and sat outside eating wasabi peanuts drinking beer, chatting about books and photography, and toyed with potential projects and rejected them for good reasons. The...

A few emails this morning then to Hove by bus. Feeling a mite less sore throaty and foggy headed, and relieved to receive confirmation on the bus that some of the doubloons owed me will tumble into the PK Ltd coffers tomorrow. In Hove I bought a box of cheap co-op crackers, and headed to The Bottom's Rest for the long-planned freelancer's beano.  An excitable Rosie giving me a big hug at the door. It was just 12:30 so the pub was empty, except for us. It filled up a small amount later.  We had planned the beano as a kind of works outing for freelancers, and it was a great success and I think we will do it again next year too. Sadly both Tanya and Innis were down with lurgies, so I was forced to soldier on with the beano surrounded with five amusing and interesting ladies (soon in paper hats and reading terrible jokes). They were Catherine, Rosie her lovely sister Emily plus their pal old friend The Original Rachel, and another friend called Julia. Catherine enjoyed meeting...

So up early and after Lorraine and I scarfed some porridge, I began writing copy about an unpleasant inherited medical condition for an app. No travel today, thank goodness. The weather ghastly outside, windy and rain. I thought I'd be done by lunchtime, but it took me till mid afternoon. Broke off for a short walk before it started pouring, and had a couple of coffees. After completing the first draft sent it off to Pat, and then began watching a documentary about Voyager missions. Fell asleep and woke up an hour later, with things to be done, but luckily Pat was going to get back to me tomorrow so my sudden narcolepsy did me no harm. Jenny, our next door neighbour popped in to say she was moving house next week. I like Jenny, though she is very shy. Lorraine came home early, and we caught the bus into Hove where we met Betty in the Paris House, after a hard day of elf-work in Churchill Square. Betty doing well as an elf, and has already had to step up as team leader. Apparent...