under another sun

A nice morning, not having to spring out of bed. After breakfast a chat with Mum (who was visiting the Welsh neighbours later today with Mas) Lorraine and I  went for cobweb blower along the the beach. Gorgeous colours, the sea greenish and clouds hurrying across the sky. Beth and James came around this afternoon, and hung out. Nice to see them, and had a very relaxed time, though they are both knackered from work and having to deal with the house move stuff. James cycled over via Eastbourne, the last bit against the wind. Everyone excited by the prospect of them moving to Seaford.  A fair amount of the food grown in our garden. Lovely leeks and excellent parsnips plus Lorraine made a fab celeriac puree.  After Betty and James left, Adele and Patrick popped in, with a card and present for me -- a framed picture with the words WHAT COMES NEXT WILL BE MARVELLOUS -- which I love. (And rather timely after getting a poetry rejection just beforehand). Patrick gave Lorraine an i...

Off to Brighton this morning, rain dodging to the station and up Museli mountain to Cathrine and Tanya's house to celebrate Catherine's birthday with them and Guy and Tim. Great to see Tim looking well after a difficult health year. Such wonderful conversations with these folks.  Talking to Tanya about EM Delafield, who she would like to write about, and her current indexing job is for a book on Schopenhauer, talking to Guy about interior and textile design and family, having deep conversations with Catherine and Tim about life in general. All good. A few glasses of bubbly there, and we  walked into town to go to Petit Pois. Love this restaurant, and always good food. Lorraine and I both had vegan food, toothsome  mushroomy and leeky main courses which we shared. Then, as is tradition, off to Brass Monkey, the ice cream place, where we sat outside under the awnings having ice cream and coffee and watching the rain. On East Street Lorraine saw a 12X (the fast bus to Seafor...

To London with Lorraine to one of my favourite watering holes, The Salisbury on St Martin's Lane, where we met Adele and Patrick, had a bite to eat and a couple of drinks, and popped around the corner to Windham's Theatre to see King Lear, with Kenneth Branagh as the King. Also of interest to us was Dylan, who had been in some of my plays and was an old pal of Betty's and Lorraine, was The King of France, and doubled up on a few other roles.  We four had a splendid time. The play was cut to two hours, and was a bit rushed so that  why people were busy killing each other at the end was all a bit thrown away. Still it was a wonderful spectacle, to see in the west end the stage and sound design were top notch. It helped too, that the four of us had spent an evening reading it aloud together recently. Like the Crane brothers in Frasier, there is nothing better than seeing something excellent, then picking at it afterwards. The stage presence Dylan seemed to have been born with ...

The satellite dish clumping about on the roof like a wounded pterodactyl overnight. When we woke up this morning, we realised our roof was ominously quiet. I mooched out into the garden, to check things like the glasshouse, and saw the dish had blown clean off. Lorraine used the street WhatsApp and contacted Joy and Jim on one side, and David on the other to see if had landed anywhere. I checked long unmetalled service road behind the houses, but there was nothing. It had all gone a bit Clarke Gable, and was gone with the wind. Meanwhile I learned later that Richard and Jane's home had been flooded from the apartment upstairs, and he sent pictures of a deep pool outside the front door. Luckily the insurers are paying for them to live elsewhere, in a luxury holiday apartment.  Talking of lost things, rather pleased this morning hopping on the scales to see I had lost another 2kg. Since I have started this Zoe thing, thanks to Lorraine, slowly and steadily I have shed about 8kg (17lb...

Lying in bed typing this at ten to midnight listening to Storm Ciarán with very high winds. Looked out at our palm trees seething in the wind. It is already hitting Guernsey with winds of 95mph, and the intensity is coming this way. We are due 85 mph winds in the early hours. There is a satellite dish on the roof which is crashing about and has come loose, but there is nothing to be done about it now. I wonder what damage it is doing, and if it will remain attached. Quite something to be so close to the coast with nothing much between us and the elements. Absolutely wild outside -- possibly the worst storm since the '87 hurricane, and it's going to get worse before it gets better. In other news, I woke up at seven and was writing by seven thirty. Polished the poem of yesterday into something rather good I think, did the blurb for the new episode and received an email from Steve Foote of Blue Ormer in Guernsey, after I sent him a note yesterday about organising my Guernsey poems...

Rainy and stormy Tuesday. And an unghoulish halloween, although our neighbour Stephanie's grandchildren from across the way arrived (by prior agreement) trick or treating. I leave Lorraine to do this sort of thing. Lorraine out to her gym, and also having a Covid jab. I had a much better day, focused on writing this morning, and managed to get a few poems sent off, as well as doing a bit of editing on the latest podcast episode.  Thoughts also in Guernsey for a time and I'm hoping to re-collect all my Guernsey poems, with the several others that have been published about the island since the emergence of A Guernsey Double .  Nipped out after lunch for a stroll along by the sea, in an interlude when it wasn't raining. Watching one of the big earth movers, clanking up and down, levelling the shingle to protect the beach.  Home and a carpenter called Andy was here, to discuss a few jobs. Including sorting out my study, which would be amazing.  In the news, the Covid inq...

Up early and trying to get started on some writing, hoping to send poems off for various deadlines.  I failed completely despite my best efforts, with lots of interruptions this morning.  A walk in the afternoon, however, made me feel less frustrated. The sea is therapy.   Calliope, who had a nasty turn yesterday, constantly with me, sleeping on my desk. I am worried about her. My back, however, is still slowly improving. Lorraine went off to see Pat and Maureen taking Pat for a blood test, and going to the garden centre for lunch. She returned late, but safely. The weather is making things unpredictable. Only able to read and watch the unrelenting horror in Gaza and Israel now and then. So much disgusting blood lust. Such an impossibly complicated geopolitical situation. 

Raining most of the day. A good chat with Mum this morning. Lorraine and I were due to go out tonight, but our friends cancelled through illness first thing. We were happy pottering about together, me painting the bathroom cupboard in the garage while Lorraine tidied the space up, and we removed another from the study wall. I cooked this evening.  Very worried about Calliope, who was walking back into the kitchen from outside, then stopped and howled horribly just outside the back door. She has done this once before. I brought her in, and she was panting and distressed. I thought she might die. However, she slept most of the evening, and seemed improved. Last time she did this, she was fine shortly after. But it upset me.

In the evening Lorraine drove us to Brian and Yvonne's house. A cheery meal and a few drinks, with Marley the dog bringing me something to throw for her. Brian, who had not been drinking for weeks for charity, had a few drinks. He also gave us a skull bottle full of cider he had made in his shed. I believe it is quite pokey. Lorraine said we would give it back, full of sloe gin.

Today, ten years ago, Lorraine and I got married. Cards, and Lorraine had got me a little heart, and some heart shaped lebkuchen. We slipped off this afternoon to wander about in Alfriston which is a lovely village not far from us nestled in the downs. Also we walked down to the church and the White Bridge over the river where two swans were swanning about.  Mooched about looking at a good art shops, and lurking in the Much Ado bookshop when the rain started, as it had done when we went there with Toby recently.   Home again, and a much needed rest of my slowly and steadily improving back, before heading around the corner to an Italian restaurant called Ginos. Turns out this was a really nice place, which had been recommended to us. We put aside our Zoe approved foods, and had salad, prawns in hot sauce, and two delicious pizzas, very much home made style. Yum. Anyway, definitely the happiest ten years of my life thanks to Lorraine. Below Alfriston village green and its churc...

Back steadily improving and I am able to get dressed in the morning without Lorraine having to put my socks on and so on. Trying on shirts again instead of teeshirts, and very noticeable now that my shirts are all loose. This zoe change of diet thing is really helping me get trimmer, even when I am creeping around the house like Igor. Lorraine out this morning, and went to see Beth and James. I did a recording session with Robin, and had a little prep to do beforehand. It's great to have such a good poetry ally. In the afternoon, I zoomed to Brighton, reading Charlotte's brilliant new pamphlet Cargo, on the train, and bought a card to give to  Lorraine tomorrow. Nice to be out in the world again, if a tad gingerly. Then met up with my school friends Peter and Mark in The Nelson on Trafalgar Street. Drank lots, popped into a tapas place for some tapas, and then repaired to the Great Eastern. I first met those two in September 1971, which is rather a long time ago. Mark and Peter...

Now able to stand vertically for up to twenty minutes at a go. And walk about a bit with very few outbreaks of Tourettes. My shark mentality means if progress, even tiny progress, is being made I am happy. Standstill quickly leaves me suffocating and despondent. Although I learn only certain sharks needing to move to breathe. I did see photos of sharks dozing in cave once. But whale sharks, great whites and makos, for example, would die if they stopped.   Watching Lorraine hefting things about in the houses was difficult, and she kept telling me off for trying to help. The bedroom is looking straighter now, and I was able to help in small ways. Makes me very happy to see Lorraine cheerfully thinking about stuff in the house.  Mum off with Mason to the Waggon and Horses. Mason had got huffy with someone there, and for a while felt like boycotting the place. Luckily this seems to have passed, and they off to meet Robert. Meanwhile Anton has returned from a brief sojourn in Spain...

Dejected by lack of improvement to the back.  But people were kind to me all day. First, Lorraine rescued me from this, by setting up an osteopath appointment, and going off to Ashford to take Pat to an appointment. She also called Brian and arranged for him to collect me. Not before calling our old pal Brian Bell by mistake first, which was fun. Brian in Seaford kindly picked me up, Igor-ing in my slippers into his car.   The osteopath was incredibly gentle and very chatty behind his facemark. After twenty minutes or so of deceptively light massage transformed the rigid muscle into something more pliable. We were chatting all the time. His father was an archeologist, and his mother a dentist, and he and his brother grew with bones to play with. He also said that the majority of spines are horizontal, which I had never thought about in quite that way before.  He took my payment, while chatting intensely, and it was only when I got home, the receptionist called to say the ...

Slept better, but woke up at 6am having a migraine spangles and agonising back spasms. I've had better starts to a day. Still mustn't grumble, eh? A bit of an improvement, but still not fit for much. Microwaving a bean bag and using a TENS machine on my back. Pressing on a bit of writing in between feeling uncomfortable. Lorraine busy about the house, tidying and cooking and preserving aubergines and making cucumber pickle.  Lorraine talked to Matt up in Yorkshire, and we are going to see him. Be lovely for us to catch up with Matt after several years. Amanda finished today. She was so low maintenance and did a lovely job. Everything needs tidying up and sorting, but I can't move anything, and Lorraine is off to Ashford tomorrow. Slept in our own bed tonight. Much easier to get in and out of luckily. We read some more of Wind in the Willows .  Felt a bit like Job first thing this morning. 

I could only lie in one position all night, and slept fitfully. It took me half an hour of yelping and screaming with Lorraine helping me before I could get out of bed and stand up. Easily the worst back pain I've ever had. Luckily Maureen's three wheeled walker, proved a boon once I was out of bed. But the day a bit grim and weirdly exhausting and not able to do much of anything, not even writing. Amanda, who has almost finished painting our bedroom and en suite, very kindly brought a TENS machine in for me, which sends small electrical prickles into your back to block the pain. Interesting feeling, and I think it did work or at least distracted me. I however was able to sleep for a while this afternoon on the sofa, and able to scramble up afterwards on my own.   Lorraine fabulous, and basically did everything while I sat about whimpering. Why my gorgeous wife doesn't simply press a pillow over my face in the middle of the night, I'll never know.  

So a chirpy start to the day, having made a few decisions overnight about various writerly businesses. Lorraine off this morning in her gym clothes to a doctor's appointment, and then off to her personal trainer and to spend some time with Sarah in Bolney.  I meanwhile, got to work relishing the idea of a writing day, and felt in the mood to make great strides. I broke off some rather lofty contemplations, to clean the cat litter tray as the cats were moaning. We have this in the main bathroom at the moment, and after I manfully changed the befouled litter, and washed the tray in the bath and mopped the floor, I was just adding the last few lumps of litter in and my bastard back went into a vile spasm right across my lower back. As I stood clutching the bannister, Amanda came out from decorating. I was able to move for a while, and I always think continuing to move a good thing. I spoke to Mum later in the day. Otherwise I kept a low profile as my back was becoming increasingly uns...

Suddenly seasonally cold, and nippy at my desk this morning. Keep having dreams about applying for jobs, or turning up to a new agency and knowing nobody etc. My psyche is beginning to get to grips with the idea I am not going to be doing much freelance work from now on. I never thought of myself as someone who took their identity from their job. And luckily I can keep on writing.  A chat with Anton, who was in bed with a cold. Nice to wake up and start writing again, before slipping downstairs having breakfast. In the afternoon moving things, taking apart my futon and storing it, mowing the lawn till the lawn mower gave up the ghost. We bought a cheap one and it has already broken once. You get what you pay for. Lorraine and I took a saunter through Seaford, and then Brian and Yvonne dropped in with a present for me: a flask water or hot drinks when walking. Lovely.  Reading a bit too. Dipping into the  Anthology of Contemporary American Poetry Volume 2 Second Edition ...

A certain fragility this morning. In need of coffee and a square breakfast and a little quietness. Innis and Rosie drove over. Rosie's birthday the day after mine, but a difficult week with her mother being in hospital, among other things. Some horrible traffic bottleneck meant it took them almost two hours to get here too. However we went up to the South Barn, and walked back down towards the Seven Sisters, stopped on a bench and ate a cheese roll, then walked round where we collected lots of sloes in that little wooded valley leading back to the Barn. But not before Rosie and Pippi both got covered in burrs, which had to be picked out of their clothes and pelts respectively. We also picked lots of sloes, for some reason I picked a few elderberries thinking they were tiny sloes. Much discussion of the best way of making sloe gin.  Home to some chocolate brownies, which Innis and Rosie had brought, before they went home. Then dragging more furniture around in our bedroom, so Amanda...

Running about getting things ready for people coming over at 4pm.  Dawn and Paul came, which was great as we hadn't seem them since their marriage. We all popped open a bottle or two of bubbly to toast them. They'd been on holiday to Berlin, and Copenhagen and Amsterdam and so on. It was great to be able to celebrate with them -- they gave me a succulent plant for my study, which I liked lots. Beth and James here too. The house move which had seemed dead in the water, now might have some life in it. It's the hope that kills you. They gave me a 'to a great stepdad' card, and a pair of excellent slippers. Julie came too, and brought me some socks, chocolates and a bottle of wine.  Anton, who had arrived first, brought me my own game of bones, manufactured in the USSR, plus a book on barbecuing, and a book he has been raving about called Papyrus -- and also a Guernsey ten shilling note from the year of my birth, and a Greek note from during the Nazi occupation. Anton u...

Up early to tweet about the new podcast episode. Ian McMillan eventually retweeted, but it only garnered a handful of likes and had little prominence in his twitter stream that is unbelievably prolific. A happy day, with Lorraine getting the lounge straightened out. We put installed some new wall lights and wired them in without electrocution, hung curtains and temporarily fixed a wobbly leg on the gold sofa and so on. A glorious vegetable soup at lunch and the last birthday Eccles cake with a cup of tea. Got everything back from my accountant, and generally feeling cheery and lucky. Disturbed by details of the inhumanity of the attack on Israel by Hamas. One clip I watched showed young people dancing at a music festival and on the horizon behind them an approaching line of motorised hang gliders, which turned out to contain armed to the teeth Hamas soldiers. Also appalled by the terrible, and inevitably indiscriminate, retribution that has been unleashed on the Palestinians. Reflectin...