under another sun

Calliope insistent that I get up to feed her. Bit more of a working day today. The temperature had plummeted today and it was cloudy and rainy. Lorraine had to drive into school for a bit this morning, and had a stressful time chasing vital school stuff that hadn't been delivered. I had a much more gentle ease back into work, doing a few odds and sods. I had a lunchtime haircut, and then mooched up to Anton's place to hang out for a bit. He is recovering excellently from his MI. Luckily he did almost no discernible damage, and is actually in very good shape. After a coffee we sauntered out into the rain, and found a pub, The Good Companions, to sit in and have an allowable small glass of wine and play a game of chess, Anton's newest craze. Turns out we are both very bad at chess but it was good fun to be fingering the bishops in a pub, which was empty enough for us not to attract attention. En passant, Anton explained en passant to me, which he had just discovered on Wik...

A few more freelance bits, and I worked on poems in hot knife through butter mode. Feeling better 'in myself' as they say than I have for some time. Vile rain this morning, which made me feel even happier as I was working from home.  Eventually into the windy wetness to saunter over to Janet and Ken, and to drop off a document and pause for some Janet's pistachio balls and a cup of tea. Learned that part of Ken's fitness regime is being made to walk to the shop if he wants fags, which I found rather funny. Otherwise both in pretty good spirits. From there to The Good Companions where I met Anton for a swift drink, and to use his magic card that he was given there once which entitles him to cheaper drinks. Amazing. Hearing about his plans for when Mari comes over, which he is clearly looking forward to lots. Then I walked down to The Shahi to meet Lorraine, and Malcolm and Lynn for a curry. Enjoyed the evening, and they were asking about the great Chad adventure in ...

A really good day's work. Up early feeling better than I have done for the last week or so and wrote two more DRTV scripts, plus a post for my business blog before 11 am, and a good afternoon's work too, followed by an epic backing up and cross referencing all the files across my laptop and desktop session. It has made my brain feel clean and lean. Sat outside in the sunshine for a while too, and watered plants and examined them on a two-hourly basis. The biggest threat to the garden comes in the tortoiseshell form of Calliope who sees the freshly dug and planted flowerbeds as there for her convenience. Off in the evening to meet Anton for a swifty. We met in the Shakey's Head and moved up to the Good Companions to take advantage of the fact that Anton had been given a card allowing him discount on certain boozes and food. But as Anton was up with the larks and skipping across the pond tomorrow, and had received instructions from afar not to miss the plane nor was I to de...

Up early, sending a few more words to Helen for the music piece. She is happy with what I've sent her so far. Found out the freelance booking for next week seems to be cancelled, which somewhat galling. Today, however I delved into the mysteries of irritable bowels and wrote about them, while Beth practiced singing her tunes for the audition in her bedroom, and Lorraine drove about the county and then taught governors in the evening. Caught up with Sophie briefly, who had broken an ankle at the end of last year but otherwise seemed okay, despite having gone with Electra to the funeral of a friend earlier in the day. I sloped off to meet Anton in the Shaky Head, but as it was busy with pup quizzers, one of whom was rather elbowy at the bar we sat at, and had to be reminded of his manners. We repaired to the Good Companions where the pub grub we ordered was dropped en route to our table, and we were given the price of one meal back, which we shrewdly reinvested in beer. Nice to...