under another sun

A day of packing and tying up loose ends. Spoke to Mum, miraculously jet lag free, and did various bits of admin, and sorting of reading materials.  Stole away with Lorraine to the Shahi this evening for some grub after packing. Off to Paxos tomorrow morning, due south of Corfu. Will not update this blog for a bit as I intend to take a break from computer screens. Back in two weeks.

Lorraine and I walked round the corner to get the fixings for a large breakfast with Beth and John. Feeling cheery and holidayish, as long as you don't listen to the news. After a hefty but tasty breakfast, Beth spent some time with Lorraine looking at holiday gear. Then we dropped them round the corner at Hove Station, where John will be living in a few weeks. Then to see Janet and Ken, and Hus and his daughter Reem, who is on a holiday in the UK but working in a cafe. Janet looking well. We drank tea flavoured with rose petals and had wide ranging discussions. Ken had had a heart monitor put into his chest this week, but seems to have taken this fairly philosophically. In the evening Dawn and Matt came around for supper. Lorraine copied Jane's chicken and chickpea stew cooked in wine and herbs from last week, and then peaches, strawberries and ice-cream. Delicious. Matt has an infected finger, and is on heavy strength antibiotics. Played Chiara's music to Matt who lik...

Spoke briefly to a shattered Mum this morning, who had finally arrived home after a massive delay at O'Hare. I spent the day working on ways to brand a new piece of medical equipment. Felt a bit like I'd been sent to my room, as I am now in holiday mode. In the evening out into hammering rain. Caught a bus full of singing people from Kent. The off to Olé Olé a Spanish restaurant in the old lanes where we met Betty and John, and hoovered up some excellent tapas, and enjoyed some stampy Spanish music and dancing, and generally had a laugh. We'd not seen Beth for what seemed like ages, and it was great to see her. Eventually as we couldn't hear each other talking very much, due to the Iberian prancing which seemed to be very popular with the ladies there. We made off to the Bath Arms for a cheeky drink before cabbing home, and chatting more. A cheery night listening to some tunes, John playing us some music by The Cinematic Orchestra which was rather good too. Belo...

A fairly earlish flight back home. Up early to gorge on our Barbarie breakfasts before packing, settling the bill (a very modest bar bill this time) and grabbing a taxi. Lovely morning. Nothing too much to report. Nice flight, descending into Gatwick through tall cotton wool clouds. However many times I leave Guernsey, leaving always makes me feel sad. Standing on the train back to Brighton, then we walked home in the sunshine, arriving at lunchtime.  Sonya was here, and Pat and Maureen came back shortly after we'd got home. I had to go up to sort out some work-based emails, which made Sonya laugh at me for stepping through the door in my holiday straw hat and sitting down instantly to work. This done, and a briefing call taken this afternoon, we drove Pat and Maureen off to the station, then slipped back home. I dropped to sleep for a few moments, before Toby FaceTimed me as Mum's journey home was screwed up as the plane was cancelled.  He'd seen her go off through sec...

Gave in this morning and had a full Guernsey Breakfast. Delicious it was too. Lorraine and I caught a bus into town and spent some happy time lurking in the lower gardens of Candie Gardens, which I'd never properly visited, and were quite lovely, and full of vibrant colours and plants. Lorraine and I are working ourselves into a frenzy planning what plants we will have in our new garden if the house sale goes though.  Then walked down to the shops where we did a spot of shopping. Lorraine, appropriately enough, brought a leaf green shirt. Then we walked into the Town Church where the Guernsey Sinfonietta were rehearsing for tonight's concert. They sounded very accomplished. We'd arranged to meet Chiara afterwards, and she called me outside as I was standing next to her. Lorraine, Chiara and I then had a quick drink in a cafe nearby. It was nice to meet her properly, after having emailed and so on for many months. She introduced me to Sebastian Grand, who was conducting...

A poor night's sleep for both of us. Lorraine having a stomach bug today, and I felt a little weird in the stomach too. Lorraine slept this morning, and I went to visit my grandparent's grave. I popped into Brouards and was sold a few sprigs of local freesia to put on their grave. I enjoy visiting their grave, and it is not at all morbid.  A convention of magpies broke up as I stepped into the graveyard, which has several people I knew when I was young. My Grandfather David's parents, David and Zelia (who was known as Toots) and his sister Peggy share one grave, its stone is an open book which now looks quiet ancient, quite a strange thing to see mouldering stone when I remember them so vividly. Then back to the hotel where we had a very relaxed afternoon dozing by the pool. I listened to Laughing Stock again and splashed about for some time, and chatting with some of the other residents. Later Lorraine and I bussed off into into St Peter Port where a sun-bronzed, black ...

Off to Guernsey. Always a happy day. Galloping off to the station this morning, blue skies and sun. Leaving Pat and Maureen cat sitting. Arrived early at the airport. We caught Auringy's spanking new jet, apparently the big brother of Joey the yellow Trilander who seems to have become a personality as you can see from this. I was feeling a bit twitchy this morning, but the flight was fine and our jet took a mere 35 minutes, zooming out of a cloudy Gatwick to sunny Guernsey. So fast in fact that there was no time to serve us a cup of tea, because we were sat towards the middle of the flight. The jet flies at a higher altitude and so got look down at Jersey in a way I'd never seen before. A taxi from the airport to La Barbarie where of course we were greeted warmly, and after dumping our stuff we sat by the pool, and ordered cheese and onion sandwiches and a pot of tea. Some tiny winged black insect I've never seen sat on my wrist and bit it twice, which was not only disp...

A definite hangover this morning. L and I slugging about. However we managed to drag ourselves off to the supermarket and then collect Pat and Maureen from the station. Had a nice supper with them of salads and chicken, forgetting to invite Anton who we had mentioned it to the other day. We skyped Derek and Claudia in Finland, as it is Claudia's twentieth birthday. Claudia I think planning her return to England. Listening to desert island discs this morning, and heard a track chosen by Guy Garvey the lead singer of Elbow, called New Grass by Talk Talk. Ended up downloading the album it came from (called ' Laughing Stock ') and found the album to be sublime, and I am amazed it never crossed my path before. Listening to it all day off and on.

Lorraine and I up and off to London, for we were gathering at The City Barge on Strand on the Green. Funny how places keep cropping up in life. The Barge was a local  of mine, in a former life and as we made our way to the river I showed Lorraine places I'd lived in Chiswick. We were there to celebrate First Matie's departure for Hull where she is going to live for the foreseeable time for reasons of the heart. A gathering of friends in an upstairs room of the Barge, which is a good deal posher than when I lived nearby. A beautiful room looking down on the river, where we spent the afternoon and evening eating and making merry. Attendees were Kate (naturally) and many of her mates, who mostly are my mates too. Matty boy (who seemed to have done most of the organisation as usual) and Isy and the rather cute baby Elsie, The French Bloke and Max, Mel and Craig, Nicola, Sarah and Sylvie, Dan, Ian, Gareth, Stephen, and the lovely Matt Hindley arrived later. Some speeches were ma...

Cause for celebration today as Lorraine finished work. A day of zipping about doing various chores but little actual work. Lorraine and I went to HSBC today to sign our mortgage papers. There was lots of advice too and calculations of the amount of money they recommend we should save for a rainy day. When I commented that this was unbelievable, this led to a certain frosting of the atmosphere. Anyway we skipped out of there, and did some shopping for holiday clothes, including some shoes that allow you to walk across stones and straight into the water without yelping, a few shirts and some new shades. I really love shopping with Lorraine. We went out again this evening to meet Amanda, who has been on a lengthy holiday in the UK and Europe. Amanda and I went to Copland High School together, although we barely spoke at school, in the intervening years we have become friends but as Amanda lives in lives in New Zealand this has all been via the internet. Amanda is a games inventor and ha...

Back to working on poems this morning, and making the transition to holiday mode. Lorraine drove me to the printers where I picked up some prints of a reading for a wedding I had done for Craig and Mel. I then took these to the framer, then off to the gym where I did a sweaty workout, my third of the week. Quite pleased to note that the bulk of what I had put on in Leeds is now off again. Ate a large ham and salad baguette to celebrate this afternoon. FaceTime with Mum and Toby in Chicago, just before they were to set off for Canada. Toby said that Meatball the cat enjoyed the views from their Chicago house. I walked over to see Janet and Ken late in the afternoon, for a cup of tea and a pleasant chat. Later Lorraine and I met Rosie in The Crescent and then wandered into The Cow, where we had a snack and met Rosie's new friend Dave and his pal called Venny. Dave seemed a nice man and he works as a landscape gardener.Anton joined us later having gone through train hell on the ...

Working on a job to do with arthritis from eight this morning. Fairly straightforward and I was all done by 4:30. Lorraine working on the desk next to me for longer. Having been cooped up all day, apart from sauntering around the corner to Arkwrights to buy some middle class comestibles, we invited ourselves to Steyning to see Dawn this evening. She had prepared a rapid and delicious salad with salmon and we scrambled over the wall at the end of her garden and ate it, as the sun lowered behind the Downs. Dawn's next door neighbour told her that Dawn's house is haunted with a ghost of a girl. That night, Dawn spent the night on her bed on the floorboards, looking at the dimpled, ceiling-high window at the top of the stairs where the ghost was supposed to be, and deciding it was called Annie. Next night she opted on the comforts of her parent's home nearby. Local news full of the pier at Eastbourne going up in flames. Below Dawn and Lorraine taking in the view.

Luxuriating in being able to sleep in, because Lorriane is working from home. Up and an indulgent day of working on poems and revisiting Skelton Yawngrave.  In the afternoon off to the gym where I had a highly sweaty workout, and felt more energetic than I have felt for some months. On the way home picked up a day's freelancing, from home for the Shaftsbury Ave folks. After work was done we zoomed off to collect a present for Beth, and then drove off to Hove to stroll by the sea. The tide out very low and the sand at the bottom of the endless pebbles reveals itself. Mrs Kenny and I having a cheerful walk. Lorraine paddling happily for a bit. People cooking barbecues on the beach. Lorraine and I on the edge of our summer. Returned home to a light supper and a couple of episodes of The Wire to which we are now properly addicted. Below long shadows of an late afternoon stroll by the sea.

Amazing thunderstorm from about 6:30 in the morning and lasting for a couple of hours with one strike being very close indeed, perhaps hitting the viaduct almost overhead. There was hail too, particularly over in Hove, where it was photographed in drifts like snow. Much flooding around the area, and Worthing Station became unusable due to flooding. The cats both apprehensive and hanging about with us. Calliope hiding under the bed at one point. Lorraine working at home today, so a comparative lie in would have been possible if it were not for the heavenly affray. I busied myself with poetry as I seem to be in a purple patch, also sending a submission off, paying my tax bill, creeping off to the gym (where I did half an hour and left feeling a bit swimmy headed) and, shamefully, got around to sending a poem I had done for Craig and Mel's wedding off to the printers to give it to them as a framed gift two years later. Expecting to be phoned to do some freelance today, but this did...

Up today and off to Steyning, after Lorraine had prepared a delicious picnic. Weighed myself this morning, and in the last few days I seem to have put on all the weight I lost in the previous month. Time to start again, but this time with added exercise. However on the plus side, the new pills have not - touch wood - precipitated another attack as they might have done, despite the provocative drinking of beer last night. A happy day spent in Dawn's back garden clearing away the wild growth, cutting down dead rose bushes, discovering a pond, and a brick border to a flowerbed and so on. A holocaust of mini beasts spiders of many kinds, including distinctive white abdomened ones, slugs, snails and woodlice displaced in our clearing. Pleasant neighbours, and one singing in the garden next door as she watered her plants.  Helen called in for a chat and a cup of tea too. Great fun however, and interesting to see the bare bones of a good garden emerge from the undergrowth. Jumped over...

An unhurried morning. I got up early and wrote before Lorraine was awake. All the driving had caught up with her.  Later I had chats with Mas and then Janet this morning. Deciding to go to the supermarket took some effort this afternoon. Lorraine and I slipped off, after a cheeky gold sofa doze, for a nice evening with Anton and Brian coming down to the Hare and Hounds where we met them for a cheeky drink. Because it was so noisy in the Hare and Hounds, we went across to Circus Circus and sat outside in the balmy summer heat and I diced with a gouty devil and had a couple of beer. Good to see a cheery well looking Brian, who we'd not seen since our wedding.  He had recently been to Japan so we compared notes. He found there were two Japanese people, the daytime ones and the nighttime ones. Anton looking relaxed and sun-tanned from sitting on Brighton Beach, and reading (at last) the marvellous  A Passage to India . Anton and I comparing photos of ourselves when we w...

Our own bed. Wonderful.  I'd missed my tempur pillow. That may be the most middle aged thing I have ever written on this blog. Started the new gout pills, but warily as they may trigger an attack as they start to dump the uric acid out of the system. Keeping my fingers crossed. Off to Lewes late this morning to Robin's house. Lewes looking particularly fine in the sun. Talked for a couple of fruitful hours planning the pamphlet launches, and the future structure of Telltale press. We have launches in Lewes, Brighton and The Poetry Cafe in London at the end of September and October. It's so refreshing to be working with Robin as she is purposeful, businesslike and wants to get things achieved. I'm delighted about the whole thing. Home in the afternoon, chatting about some freelance work that I might be doing next week. And generally staying cool, as it was sweltering and thundery this afternoon. When Lorraine back from work and we talked to an estate agent. The shama...

Another sullenly staffed breakfast in the Met, but we packed and cabbed off to Sam and Jade's flat again in Headingly. Then Lorraine drove us off to Ikea and we bought a few bits and pieces for their home. I rather enjoyed this as I'd not been to Ikea for years, and found it to be full of nice stuff at good prices. Then another shop where Jade was asking Sam to have opinions about the virtue of a various vases which I enjoyed, before we dropped Sam and Jade home. Lorraine and I very pleased with their flat, and the fact they are together. I maximised my last moments of sitting on the widow seat, looking at the sunlit treetops. Fond farewells. Then the long drive down the M1 from Leeds, M25 around London and the M23 down to Brighton. Three motorways which, with a break, took us over five and a half hours. Poor Lorraine having to drive us all the way of course. The day was beautiful however, and we chatted lots and listened to podcasts and CDs. We stopped somewhere in the mid...

Sam and Beth both graduating today. We were up in Leeds to be with Sam as everyone, including Beth thought this was fairer, as Beth's performances have been well supported by family over the last few years - and the noble pursuit of philosophy is not usually a spectator sport. Lorraine and up and breakfasting this morning in the hotel. Then a short zoom about Leeds because, inexplicably, I decided I needed a white shirt and a tie for Sam’s graduation. A sweltering day, and Lorraine raging at her hair as she was trying to straighten it. However we caught a taxi to the university, where we met a suave looking Sam and Jade, and Gary and Sophie – Sam’s dad and his fiancée. We wandered into a tent and all had a couple of glasses of fizz before shuffling into a large hall in the University where all the philosophy and related subjects graduands metamorphosed into cloaked and flapping graduates. I found myself clapping everyone with gusto, and trying not to think about Harry Potter. Swe...

So up in Edgware and off to The Moon Under Water Weatherspoons for a cheeky breakfast with Mum and Mas. Morning drinkers chucking like magpies in sunshine of the the open windows. We contented ourselves with teas. Breakfasts fine, although Lorraine’s eggs Benedict poached eggs were hard as stones. Fond farewells, Mum off to Canada this week. Lorraine drove us up the M1 to Leeds listening to a Mayo and Kermode podcast and various musics. Stopped off for a cup of tea and a breather at a service station near the National Forest near Nottingham. Arrived late in the afternoon at Sam and Jade’s new fourth floor flat in Headingly in Leeds. An exceptionally nice little flat, on top of a big old building in a tree lined crescent. They have a gorgeous window seat level with the top part of the tree canopy, looking down on the street and a spire on the horizon. Just the sort of place to sit and cogitate on the challenges of analytical philosophy.  A taxi then to our hotel, driven by a ...