A family Sunday
Nightmares, dreaming that I was grinding my teeth and woke up to discover I was in fact grinding my teeth. Another where I was trying to complete some important form and found I was unable even to write my name. Some snickering and weird stuff in the Twitten woke me up at 3 am too. An early start as I was going to travel up to Edgware today for a family Sunday lunch. I listened to my audiobook of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell - what an achievement that book is - in a carriage full of perky German students, and hungover Pride revellers.
Mas picked me up at Stanmore station and after collecting Mum and Toby we all drove off to Wheathampstead, which is the other side of St Albans - a place that mum lived in during a former life in the time of the Romans.
Here we went to the splendid Golden Elephant restaurant, which is in a very low-beamed old English building. In fact the beams are so low that one of them has black cushioning attached to it to prevent its clientele braining themselves as they shoulder off to the all-you-can-eat style buffet of rather nice Thai food. Some inter-table scowling due to over-competitive hoovering up of food. Or perhaps that was just me. I was also taken by an elephant teapot which appeared when we asked for green tea. Mum trying to stealth photograph Toby.
The rain relented and we all went for a walk after the meal, in a little park which has a river running through it. Mas peering in excitedly at largish fish, and Mum stalking insects to photograph. We then encountered some Shetland ponies and an Explaining Woman, who helpfully explained about things we had not asked her about, while waving her two hiker's sticks. Then a drive home, where all except Toby took a short doze.
Toby later putting on some funny old records, including one by a early seventies band called the Neutrons, Black Hole Star - which neither of us had heard for decades. (Track title sample: Dance of the psychedelic lounge lizards.) We quite enjoyed the toe-curling stoner sleeve notes and illustrations. All tremendously 70s. And we also listening to an extremely obscure album called Africa Speaks America Answers by Guy Warren, which Mum played a lot when we were kids. This sounds absolutely brilliant still. For some reason we had a factory pressing in two discs of it with no cover or listings. It is only thanks to the Internet that I discover what the album looked like or what its track names were.
Mas then cooked some yummy ribs. Then a ghastly photo session with Mas taking photos of Toby Mum and me, looking awkward and unnatural. Mas told me to stop pulling a silly face when I wasn't pulling any kind of a face at all. All in all though a really good day. Not often Mum the Tobster and I are all in the same place at the same time - and as Mase drove me to the station that it really pleased him to see Mum happy because of this.
Then the long journey home, listening to more of J Strange etc. and trying to filter out a protracted argument a man was having with his sister and his girlfriend for their entire journey. The stamina some people have for arguing is unbelievable.
Nightmares, dreaming that I was grinding my teeth and woke up to discover I was in fact grinding my teeth. Another where I was trying to complete some important form and found I was unable even to write my name. Some snickering and weird stuff in the Twitten woke me up at 3 am too. An early start as I was going to travel up to Edgware today for a family Sunday lunch. I listened to my audiobook of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell - what an achievement that book is - in a carriage full of perky German students, and hungover Pride revellers.
Mas picked me up at Stanmore station and after collecting Mum and Toby we all drove off to Wheathampstead, which is the other side of St Albans - a place that mum lived in during a former life in the time of the Romans.
Here we went to the splendid Golden Elephant restaurant, which is in a very low-beamed old English building. In fact the beams are so low that one of them has black cushioning attached to it to prevent its clientele braining themselves as they shoulder off to the all-you-can-eat style buffet of rather nice Thai food. Some inter-table scowling due to over-competitive hoovering up of food. Or perhaps that was just me. I was also taken by an elephant teapot which appeared when we asked for green tea. Mum trying to stealth photograph Toby.
The rain relented and we all went for a walk after the meal, in a little park which has a river running through it. Mas peering in excitedly at largish fish, and Mum stalking insects to photograph. We then encountered some Shetland ponies and an Explaining Woman, who helpfully explained about things we had not asked her about, while waving her two hiker's sticks. Then a drive home, where all except Toby took a short doze.
Toby later putting on some funny old records, including one by a early seventies band called the Neutrons, Black Hole Star - which neither of us had heard for decades. (Track title sample: Dance of the psychedelic lounge lizards.) We quite enjoyed the toe-curling stoner sleeve notes and illustrations. All tremendously 70s. And we also listening to an extremely obscure album called Africa Speaks America Answers by Guy Warren, which Mum played a lot when we were kids. This sounds absolutely brilliant still. For some reason we had a factory pressing in two discs of it with no cover or listings. It is only thanks to the Internet that I discover what the album looked like or what its track names were.
Mas then cooked some yummy ribs. Then a ghastly photo session with Mas taking photos of Toby Mum and me, looking awkward and unnatural. Mas told me to stop pulling a silly face when I wasn't pulling any kind of a face at all. All in all though a really good day. Not often Mum the Tobster and I are all in the same place at the same time - and as Mase drove me to the station that it really pleased him to see Mum happy because of this.
Then the long journey home, listening to more of J Strange etc. and trying to filter out a protracted argument a man was having with his sister and his girlfriend for their entire journey. The stamina some people have for arguing is unbelievable.
Below the Platonic ideal of a teapot spotted in the Thai restaurant.
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