under another sun

Lorraine up early and off to the school for a morning event, then in the afternoon she travelled up to London to go to a reunion of the people she started nursing with back in the early eighties. I however, did a few bits of writing, and emailing folks including Robin, who had sent me a copy of her booklet A Guide TO Getting Published in UK Poetry Magazines, which is a generally good wheeze. then sauntered down to Brighton Station where I met Tracey, who I had not seen for some ten years, she having been living lately in California, and dodging wildfires. Talked about a good deal with her, such as her time in Hawaii, and working for an IT startup in California, and experiences working for a non-profit organisation there too, and colourful descriptions of the characters she met there. She is now back in the UK for the time being. We spent the entire afternoon and evening just talking. Tracey on the hunt for CBD oil, which was found in Infinity Foods, then we walked down to the sea, ...

An atrocious night's sleep courtesy of the trapped nerve in my back. As foot and knee are fine now, it's good to know I still retain a vigorous source of pain. A lovely day however. Though poor Lorraine up and working this morning. And Toby and I walked and talked down through Preston Park and into Brighton. A beautiful sunny day, after looking at bedside cabinets in Heals that Lorraine saw online, we stopped at the Mock Turtle for a cream tea like the Crane Brothers. Dangerously large dollops of cream and jam, and scones like small fruity loaves. We seem to do this every time Toby comes over. From there we strolled about on the pier, which and Toby whipped out his big zoom camera to capture the shadows the low sun gave the waves. Fond farewells with the Tobster, and he began the long slope home, and I hopped aboard the trusty 5B and was home in a trice.  Then I sat about at home moaning about my back for a while, then a cowboy arrived out of the blue and spoke to Beth abou...

Spent a lovely day with Toby and Romy, drifting about in Brighton in the persistent July rain, kept thinking of  "Sitting in an English Garden waiting for the sun/ If the sun don't come, you get a tan/From standing in the English rain." as the Beatles sang. We popped into The Marwood Cafe for coffee. Had a good talk in there, among all the eclectic art and weird stuff. A little later into The Mock Turtle for a snack, where I had one of their bespoke Welsh Rarebits. Weather really quite astonishing, more like November than July, and the clad for summer Romy and Toby recoiling somewhat, hair whipping about their faces, as we got to the seaside in the howling rain-filled gale. However great to hang out and shoot the breeze while nosing happily in shops. We popped into the Blue Dog gallery, and saw some of Mum's work and have a chat with the woman working there, talking about business generally, which is quiet. Nobody wants to put their hands in their pockets.  De...

Mock Turtles A slower start to the morning. Lorraine and I soon waxing our new scaffolding bookcases like furies. More rehearsals for Pack of 3 going on today too. Toby and I went out for a long walk around Brighton. It was thronging with tattooed pasty-faced Londoners spilling down onto the seafront. We popped, more properly, into the Mock Turtle for a traditional cream tea: stiff mountains of cream and jam, and four immense scones, and a pot of leaf tea. After a short spell jostling about on the seafront, we escaped into the Museum by the pavillon. Then to the Basketmakers in the hope of meeting Matt and his parents (we just missed them) and to gulp a much needed lime and soda, Toby a shandy. Wandered slowly home, really nice just to wander about with Toby slowly catching up. In the evening Lorraine Toby and I went to the Shahi, for a delicious meal. For example we ordered onion bhajis and they were splendid. For the first time we ordered from the house speciality menu, a...

Thwarted Cranes I'm quite sure August was once a summer month. Steady rain all day. More French work. So much for keeping the week free. Up early and started this before the Tobster got up. Also I finally completed the 'In praise of music' lyrics for the choir competition. Toby and I went off to the French patisserie, and had a bit of breakfast before I had to break off to do a bit more French work, moaning about how I cannot escape. Toby showed us his fantastic photos of his and Romy's trip to Bolivia and Peru. Amazing traveller's tales and photographs of otherworldly landscapes of high altitude deserts, vast white salt plains with islands covered with huge thousand year old cacti, or of floating lake islands made of reeds, from where he bought me a mobile to hang from the ceiling. When Lorraine came around bearing cheesecake, we three walked around the corner to the Sussex Yeoman for lunch, and then sauntered down to the beach in the rain taking a few photos. We r...

Toby and the Turtle Lots of work on Skeletons first thing this morning. Only a few days away now from completing the first draft. Spoke to Mum, and talked about how I have more Achilles heels than a spider, and the rubbishness of art dealers, among other subjects. Just setting off for a swim when I heard a shout from behind me and there was Toby emerging speedily from the end of my twitten having arrived earlier than expected. So instead of a swim we went for a walk along the seafront and pier. It was incredibly windy and stormy this afternoon. In fact it was the strongest wind I can remember down here. The sea was white, and there was one of those winds you can lean into. We walked along noticing the Union flag in tatters over a seafood shop. Drops of spray and rain stung our faces. There were still people enjoying the pier, and certain rides, which was rather amazing. We hung off it watching very big waves rolling in. After this exhilaration, we repaired to the Mock Turtle for cream...

Bah Hanging about for hours waiting to be given work at the agency, chasing payments (not pavements), being paid the wrong amount, more computer glitches, one which seems to have doomed my iPod, all snowballed into a general peeve today. It is funny how a series of random events can combine to make you feel got at. Feel like I am holding my breath until I can start life again next week. On the plus side Chelsea got through to the semi finals of the European Cup. And Sophie called while she was cooking some Welsh Rarebit, which had made her think of me, and eating it in Brighton's fine tea shop The Mock Turtle. It's nice to be associated with something, even if it is only a cheese-based toast snack. Sophie sounds hard at work, but made time for a Buddhist retreat over two weekends recently. She was wearing a dress that one of the attendees had spontaneously given her, after Sophie had complimented her on it. Give you the dress off their backs those Buddhists. Nice chats with Mum...

In the Lanes with Lakshmi The very nice Lakshmi came to visit me in Brighton today. She is a good friend of Aimee in Dubai whose excellent blog you can see in my friends menu. Aimee had a suspicion that we would get on. And we do. Spent a cheerful day mooching about through the the wonders of Brighton, its beaches, pier and lanes. Then strapped on the nosebag in a nice colonial-style restaurant. Lakshmi at one point diving into a bookshop to score some dusty PG Wodehouse books which are as treasures to her. Later we went to the splendid Mock Turtle for a nice cup of tea and cake. Where I had a tooth-endangering crunchy flapjack. We also found the international sweetshop, where she was able to buy something called Mountain Dew which she coveted from her time in the US, this shop alone she said was reason enough to come back to Brighton. Before her train left we popped into the Battle of Trafalgar and sat on a table next to some smoking transvestites to give her a final flavour of Bright...

A tipping point An enjoyable Sunday, helping me to regain my equilibrium, and then to make some decisions. Talking on many and various subjects with the delightful Sarah on skype first thing, with her dog Cabal panting in the background. Then I set off for a walk. My friend Hannah texted me to say she was in town and I met her briefly and pleasantly for a cream tea and a chat in the Mock Turtle. I love that little place, it is like stepping back in time. Then I went for a walk along the seafront. The sea very rough and bursting over the groynes in a Lawrencian manner. Walking along I decided that I was going to change my career. I want to spend more time to spend on things I find meaningful. Otherwise not too much else to report. Unlike the tempestuous waves, battering the shore, my changes are submarine for the time being. Below waves near the pier.

Happyness and the Mock Turtle Trace down from London for the afternoon. A nice day chatting over wide-ranging subjects over a noodly lunch at Wagamamas. Trace wanted to see The Pursuit of Happyness . Will Smith's character was fighting against poverty, losing his home and partner and so on while working as an unpaid intern for a stockbroker's company while being an only parent for his son. It was a gruelling and grainily shot journey. "Happyness" is deliberately misspelled. A quick hobble by the sea to watch Trace smoke a cigarette and blow the cobwebs away. Noticed the sliver of the new moon, with Venus gleaming above it in the clear sky. It made me feel very cheerful as I'd seen the last two new moons through train windows and, through no fault of my own, am superstitious about such things. It is going to be a cool month. Repaired then to The Mock Turtle. I love it in there and Trace and I had a pot of tea, and I ate a scone, and she had a buck rarebit, and we d...