under another sun

Missing Calliope this morning. But up fairly early for a Sunday and Lorraine and I zooming about getting ready for Guy, Tim, Catherine and Tanya who were arriving at around 12:30 for a Christmas lunch.  A festive affair, and a long afternoon of eating far too much, beef and chicken, roasties a plethora of veggies etc, plus Guy and Tim brought around some salmon mousse, and Catherine and Tanya had home made a delicious Christmas pudding, all washed down with a fair amount of Prosecco. A cheery afternoon with lots of chat.  Our friends left at tea time, and I lay on the gold sofa in a food coma, able to stir myself to watch the final episode of Wolf Hall. Henry VIII and Cromwell's enemies tratorishly turning on him. All rather sad, but brilliantly done. Also Match of the Day, with Chelsea now back to winning ways powering up to second in the league. 

Feeling remarkably fresh this morning, considering how tired and well watered we were at bedtime. John had cooked us breakfast and we sat downstairs with him. Sue out about the vital business of having her toenails done. In the afternoon, under rather threatening skies we drove off to Chastleton House , which it turned out had been used in the shoot for Wolf Hall, and played the part of Wolf Hall itself. Built of honey coloured local stone between 1607 and 1612 it was built a little later than the action of the show, but oozed with antiquity. We walked across a field full of sheep and bleating lambs and into a courtyard and then into the house itself. Rather amazing place, populated with National Trust volunteers ready to shower you with facts if your guard slipped. I found the place rather inspiring, from the rotted book of divine poems found in the rafters, to the embroideries of the planets and their astrological associations (done at a time when say Aquarius was still associated ...

Foggy morning in Brighton. Lorraine and I looking out only able to see the next row of rooftops below us, and the gulls perched on the roofs standing against a pearly grey background. Rained lots today too. Lorraine home this morning, and returned early after a meeting. Beth with a sore throat. I happily ensconced in my office, and had a very much better day than yesterday. Topped off by an out-of-the-blue offer of freelance work, plus I got lots of my own work done today too. Much better all round. This evening, munching on a Quorn stir fry having returned from Sainsbury's, Lorraine and I watched the final episode of Wolf Hall. What a fantastic television that was.

Up and finishing the addition of luscious lime to our kitchen walls. Then a frenzy of moving things about in my study, and decisively hanging lots of pictures up in the house. All this seemed to take up a good deal of the day, and broken by popping out for some pies at lunchtime. I spent the afternoon and evening working in my office. Lorraine had Jan, Helen and Dawn round for dinner, and I left the ladies to it after squeezing them all hello. It was the first of their regular get togethers since Helen's son died, and I think the evening did them all good, and there was lots of laughter too. Dawn popped up to talk about the day with gifted and talented kids we are doing next month, which will be fun, and will necessitate going down into the air raid shelters in the school. I also sorted out my Golden Weasel birthday present night with Klaudia in April. When the ladies left I watched this week's episode of Wolf Hall, which has been done really well.  Lorraine sniffing a bi...

Jostling the larks to get up this morning. Worked at the bowel business, and sent it off before 8:30. Then a bit of my stuff before getting feedback, and reworked the stuff till just before the deadline of 1.00pm, and made a schoolboy error. I had been working on the file attached to the email and not saved it. Lost all my work, missed the deadline (something I never do) and had to redo it. A good deal of highly reprehensible swearing followed as I frantically and unsuccessfully tried to reclaim the file just as Beth and John were leaving, Beth off to London for auditions, having nicely made me a sausage sandwich before they did so. Lorraine noticed a weird smell this morning in the living room, but searching around for prawny cat sick revealed nothing. It was only during the course of the day that my nose led me to the big houseplant pots to discover the cats had decided overnight to employ them as litter trays. This leading to grappling with cat poos, and hefting stinky plant po...

Finished Hilary Mantel's  Wolf Hall , and immediately downloaded its sequel as an audiobook, just released, called Bring up the Bodies . Finding that Hilary Mantel's excellently done Tudor mayhem and wrangling is a pleasant antidote to thinking about about advertising that I am doing for The New Idea. I wonder what the state of advertising was in 1530? A pleasant sunny day though, and warm up in the rafters of the Old Church Hall where I do my scribing. And felt the sun on my head as I mooched gingerly to the gym. I need new gym clothes, as I feel like a tramp. Not that I talk to anyone there particularly. Then tramping into the supermarket to buy the fixin's for nice salad. I made a pretty  tricolore  with fresh basil and mozzarella (so simple), new potatoes with chives and mayonnaise and various other leafy wonders. Lorraine home and exhausted, I fed her with aforementioned salads, then she had half an hour on the sofa and was back at work again till gone ten. I ...

Working in a focused fashion on The New Idea. Happy with its progress, and it is demanding lots of thought. Mercifully the people working on the viaduct were not immediately behind the Old Church Hall today. At 3 pm took myself for a walk in the park for an hour or so, peering into ponds and photographing some fish, though they were camera shy, almost koi. Discovered a walled garden in the back of the Preston House, which was lovely and quite timeless and a nice place to listen to Wolf Hall . Walked about thoughtfully for some time enjoying this interlude from my desk. Home and Lorraine home quite early, but with loads to do. She put me to work drawing a picture for her presentation this evening, and after we went out to the Shahi to bolt some grub. Lorraine in a tunnel of work, but we had some respite. Home feeling full. Below some koi in a pond. Inside the walled garden, Brighton bowling club hard at it, and the folly in the Preston Park.

Goaded by an all night headache which gradually wore off as the day progressed. Lorraine working again all day in preparation for her headship interview. I worked companionably on The New Idea on my desk next to Lorraine's, when I wasn't reading about Chelsea's victory last night. Dawn came around in the afternoon armed with organic carrot cake, and I left the ladies to education discussions. I took myself off to walk in the breezy sunshine around Preston Park, and ambled about for an hour or so, pausing to watch a few overs of a Ladies cricket match and feeling like Summer was coming, hearing the snick of willow on leather cricket ball. Have almost finished listening to  Wolf Hall which I have done when not writing or thinking about The New Idea, which seems to be progressing by blurts of writing, and hours of thinking. Cooked a nice meal for Lorraine tonight of my own invention. L is bearing up surprisingly well. Next wee...

Monkish and solitary, I worked hard on The New Idea and made steady progress. This broken only by saying hello to Sonia who came by for a cleaning bout and by talking to mum about a peskily convincing item of spam. A chat too, with Betty telling me about upcoming rehearsals for a piece she is in called Daisy pulls it off , she also thoughtfully texted me to watch the new episode of Big Bang Theory which I duly did, along with a new US series called Two Broke Girls , which is sassy. Breaking off from adjusting the hair shirt, I read Wolf Hall , which I think is a wonderfully sustained piece of work. Otherwise little going on. Lorraine out with some of her pals tonight.  Richard sent me a poem about Zombies, which was thoughtful. I think zombies get a bad name.

Vaguely out of sorts and feeling lethargic. After some writing, I put another coat of paint on the wall. Weirdly this paint when it is drying smells of sick, and inhaling its sicky fumes may have added to my wooziness. Mum told me that my Grandmother used to cut an onion which somehow absorbed the fumes. When I remembered this I put a bit of an onion in the room to see if it would have any effect. Went to the gym, I went through my routine but was underpowered and my ankle felt sore afterwards. Listening, as an audiobook, to Wolf Hall , which justifies all the plaudits it has attracted. Richard has listened to it too lately. A believable historical reconstruction: the scenery doesn't wobble. Lorraine thinking through her ninja two-day Head Teacher interview. We went to bed in the room which still smelled sicky. Lorraine soon began coughing and saying something was catching her throa...

Up working on The New Idea for most of the day, and thinking about it in the gym during my workout. Very broadly, the New Idea is about the business of creative concepting. It feels a bit like a copywriting job too, more of a chore that my other writing, but I hope it will be of practical use and therefore be sellable. Sell like piping hot cakes in fact. On my way back from the gym, I got a call from Lorraine excitably lurking in a corridor saying she had an interview for the job she had applied for. Getting an interview with her first application is an excellent achievement and when she came home we had a glass of bubbly to celebrate. I am proud of her. Mum called this afternoon too. Then a stroll around the park after supper for 40 minutes, really nice just to get out. Plants and roses all luxuriant with having had so much water. I find myself watching too much TV these days: mainly The Big Bang Theory, and footie,...