under another sun

Walked to Hove this morning to visit the Montefiore hospital. Thankfully not from any medical necessity,  but for my Waiting Room project.  I met Tom Collins, a helpful guy who showed me the reception area and then took me to the quiet room. Both places have installations by Brian Eno. One in the reception area called 77 million paintings for Montefiore, which is an endlessly changing electronic image, with tranquil Eno ambient music. I've never seen such a pleasant waiting room, not just the Eno stuff, but flowers, and pleasant staff and free teas and coffees. The wonders of private medicine. The Quiet Room, as its name suggested, a dark room, with the eno ambient music and a big panel with changing soft light. Simple but tremendously effective. I looked in the visitor's books in both places and they were full of compliments about how helpful these environments patients found these.  My estimation of Eno, already high, continues to grow. On a hospital note, Carl releas...

A steady day of work, finishing off an essay I am writing about waiting rooms as part of the top secret waiting room project. Lorraine went off to have her hair cut and saw Beth. Texting Carl today, who is still in hospital and somewhat glum. In the afternoon when I was getting square eyes, and feeling tired, I went for a long walk up to Stanmer Park woods. Enjoyed seeing the earth which had cracked between all the trees in the wood during the heatwave, now back to normal and everything green again. Home at six after walking for a couple of hours, to Lorraine. An idyllic day in some ways, writing and walking and having Lorraine at home. Enjoying these last days of having Lorraine at home. Watched the second episode of the new BBC series Bodyguard, which is tense and watchable. Lorraine reading me The Secret Garden in bed. It is one of those childhood books I love. The descriptions of earth, and spring bulbs and so on are bringing back sense memories. Reading it again after so ma...

Worked on my Waiting Rooms project, and set up an appointment with the marketing department at a local private hospital where there is an installation in the waiting room by Brian Eno. Texts from Keith, who I will meet up with soon. Have to get into London and start schmoozing again soon. Bit the bullet and signed up to continue my stained glass studies again. Also got in touch with the doctor's about swollen glands, I have to wait two weeks for an appointment. Meanwhile the swollen glands seem to be subsiding a bit.   A note from Antony Mair, who will use a quote from me on the jacket of his new book. Below here is a photo of me by the miniature train we rode on for Pat's birthday, the photo taken by Beth. Gives you an idea of how wee the train was. I also went for a walk in the afternoon, attempting to get fitter. Not cold, but ominous looking weather... View towards the sea, and a view towards Brighton's football stadium. Loving having Lorraine at home, an...

Up early today, and off to Hove to pick up Beth and then we drove to Ashford for a day out with Pat and Maureen. Today was the day before Pat's 85th birthday, as Wednesday is supposed to be rainy. We drove to Hythe, where  Lorraine had booked us The Royal Saloon, a carriage on a little miniature railway, called the Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway .  There were two plaques on The Royal Saloon saying the Queen herself had ridden in it on two occasions, so it was a fitting carriage for Pat. It took us to Dungeness, where Pat had worked in the nuclear power stations. We all loved it. Lorraine particularly has a strong love for steam trains, and spent the journey looking shining eyed, and waving at everyone as we passed, most of whom waved back. Soon Pat and Maureen were waving too, and Beth had soon perfected a royal wave that made people laugh all the way from Hythe to Dungeness. This was a corner of Kent strange to me. Pat told me was the largest area of shingle i...

A bank holiday today. Lorraine hard at work on things, and I treated the day as a working one this morning at least, starting work on a new work project of my own, which has the top secret code name 'waiting rooms' and is about waiting rooms.  Got a text from Carl saying he was in hospital, and that he'd been overworking and was in hospital worried about his heart. I spoke to him later, and he seems to be okay but there was some abnormality showing up on the scan that they will have to look at. Typical Carl, he bemoaned the lack of humour of the staff. Once he'd been unhooked from the leads of the various monitors, he said 'I'm just like a real boy!' but the Pinocchio reference was lost.  It's about waiting rooms. Heard from my lovely French clients who were happy with the cattle disease concepts from last week. As Lorraine was hard at work, I took myself on a longish walk this afternoon too, which felt good. I picked an apple from a tree and a...

Bank Holiday Sunday. The heavens opened, as is traditional, and rain fell steadily from the leaden sky. Lorraine and I spent much of the day, once we had got out of bed, reorganising the dungeon. Lorraine takes the lead on this as I am unable to stand up without stooping down there, so I sat on a stool and was consulted occasionally, or carried things out of the dungeon. A new innovation was marking the boxes and drawers down there with an idea of the contents inside them.  Lorraine writing Fixings on several things, a general term apparently, for stuff that fixes things which can apply from anything from rubber bungee wires to sticky tape. Otherwise, a day of freedom. I spoke to Mum, and Lorraine and I binge watched GLOW on Netflix. A strangely heartwarming series. Lorraine cooked fish curry, we drank some weirdly powerful ginger beer, and relaxed. Lorraine starts work tomorrow again, from home, saying that despite it being a bank holiday it has all been holidays. And so t...

Lorraine and I in the garden doing something of a tidy up, and discussing how the garden should be and sketching on pads and so on. Once we'd done a bit of digging and planting and potting, and a certain amount of taking a photo of a caterpillar, we had coffee in the garden fairly well pleased with our plans. Off in the afternoon, via Real Patisserie to Janet's, while Lorraine and Beth went to Lorraine's gym.  Good to see Janet and Ken and we shared some of the little Real Patisserie fancies, I had a chocolate macaroon which was rather nice, little strawberry tarts, and talk. Janet is being positive about managing her situation, and is showing her usual strength of character, although she is waking up at night. She said a mutual friend had offered her a joint last week. Janet said she never smoked joints, although in her younger days did enjoy them in cookies. Just good to talk with her, as usual. I'm going to call around next week. I caught the bus back hom...

Up early and working on the French animal diseases, which I eventually finished at around midday. A chat with Val in Paris. Ideas were not coming to me as easily as leaves to a tree this week. Glands in my right armpit are swollen, and I've been feeling a bit drained. The NHS website says I shouldn't be hypochondriac about this so I am obeying. The luxury of a snooze this afternoon. I think there should be buffer weeks between the holiday and actually doing work, although this does not seem to be the popular view.  Happy that it is Friday, and that it is also a bank holiday weekend.

Much better progress with ideas today, thankfully, as I needed to pull something out of the hat and at last I had some decent thought. In the evening, Lorraine and I bussed over to Hove, where we went to The Better Half , which is rapidly becoming a new favourite pub, and had a few drinks with Rosie and Innis, and of course little Pippi, the baby cockapoo, which is like some sort of teddy bearish thing with longish legs. It is much adored. Nice to chat with them both. Talking to Innis about photography and a potential business wheeze I had on holiday. First drink since returning from Greece, where Lorraine where we lapped up   a good deal. Now that it is cooler again, the idea of lager simply doesn't spontaneously pop into your head like it did during the heatwave.  Home by bus. Odd to be out on a weekday with Lorraine. I love school holidays.

Up early and working on the French brief. Took Lorraine tea in bed, and she did meditation and listening to another chapter of her Buddhism book and looking at stuff on her iPad while I worked. The brief proving quite tough, and filling my head with cattle and goats and airborne diseases is not really what it seems to want. But so happy to be able to work at home, and not having to factor in hours of travelling. Late breakfast.  I like having Lorraine at home during the day, even though she eased herself back into doing some schoolwork. Preparing to go to the gym, I managed to tweak something just above my knee. The cross trainer aggravated it, but I was okay on the rowing machine, and did some light weights. Something  was better than nothing for I am a ventripotent man at present. Lorraine off to do pilates in her smart new casual gear this evening. Still marvelling at how the golden parched grass of three weeks ago is green again in Preston Park. Lorraine cooking a ...

A quiet day, trying to get to grips with the French work. By usual stream of brilliant ideas seems to have dried up, and progress is sluggish. Bah. Great to be at home though. Had coffee in the garden with Lorraine. Overcast and warm. Making plans for the garden. Looking at our tree still heavy with plums and discussing making jam. Noticed quite a large frog in our bucket pond. Nice to know that the cats hadn't thinned them all out completely. Lorraine out this afternoon, shopping and to see a pal and coo at her new baby. I spoke to Mum, and texted Toby late in the afternoon. Happy when Lorraine came home, which was my signal to gratefully stop work, and spend quality time with my lovely wife. We watched a Mark Kermode documentary about how Horror films work, which was fun. Lorraine made it through to the end, not being great at horror. Below a frog in a bucket pond.

Up and working on a new French brief. Lucky that the commute was just downstairs. Worked on cattle diseases, and had a lovely chat and a strong but thorny brief with Val in Paris. Lorraine pottering about the house, and doing a clutch of jobs that she never has time for usually. Had a chat with Mason this morning, whose birthday it was today. Then we went to our respective gyms at lunchtime. I weighed myself when I returned, and having not drunk for the last few days, eaten moderately, and exercised I seem already to have shed several excess holiday pounds. But we are officially on a health jag at the moment. Having lapped up ouzos and beers on holiday every day, rather good to simply not drink for a bit. Spent the day mulling over the brief and doing some concept work. Although I'm still fumbling for the go button on my brain. Just loving lurking amiably at home with Lorraine. I finished work at five, and we had a quiet night catching up with a few quality programmes, and ea...

Woke up in our own beds quite early as in Greece we were two hour ahead. Part of my brain and soul still floating above the fishes of the Ionian. Cats hanging round us lots, and Calliope unusually clingy on me even for her. It seems cats really do miss you. Felt happy to be home. Dealing with mounds of holiday washing, and taking the opportunity to have a clear out of clothes. We found our tiny plum tree covered in delicious ripe plums. We drove off to Sainsbury's, to buy vegetables and fixings for dinner tonight. The cashier told us we were looking brown. Win. I had a quick look at the brief for a job on cattle diseases I am starting tomorrow. Found Pat had left me a guide to the new football season. And on that note Chelsea beat Arsenal yesterday, and today, even more enjoyably Brighton beat Manchester United. Had chats with Mum and Janet. Mum was fine. While Janet sounded much improved, having taken a positive decision to enjoy life. She is going to start a blog which I wi...

Lorraine and I flew back from Cephalonia, Kefallonia, Kefalonia or Kefallina depending on where you read it. In our last morning we quickly packed, and then slipped into the glassy sea, which was just a few steps from our door, and snorkelled around the harbour bay of Assos (or Asos). For two weeks we had swum and snorkelled every day, in what was something like a vast aquarium. There were a couple of dozen varieties of fish: highly coloured ornate wrasse and rainbow wrasse,  blennies, gold striped dreamfish  that can give you hallucinations if you eat them, dark little fork tailed damselfish, shoals of mullet and sand smelts, parrotfish, two banded bream, saddled bream, little yellow finned annular bream, tigerish painted combers, garfish (which I always like to see as it takes me back to fishing in Guernsey where they are called longnose) and dark little fork-tailed damselfish. These latter when very young, and viewed by certain lights glowed violet. There were hand sized ...

Scorcher time renewed. Lorraine and I slowly getting organised for holidays, and shutting down business of all kinds for a couple of weeks. I feel a great need to escape at the moment. After looking at my shrinking coffers online, what better thing to do than go shopping. So Lorraine and I went into town where I bought a pair of sneakers to replace my holed ones, a pair of light loafers, some paper to paint on, as I am going to break out my watercolours on holiday as we should have a balcony to sit on and a view. Lorraine looked at various dresses and so on. Nice to be strolling about, although it was very hot. Eventually at around four o'clock we popped into The Bath Arms to get some food, and gulp down some lager shandy, as it was scorching. Home, Lorraine quite sleepy. Tom here tonight, and chatting to him, while obsessively playing the simple but obsession-inducing game Wood Puzzle Lorraine showed me a couple of weeks ago, on my phone.

The heatwave returning. Sam and Jade sleeping peacefully when I left for London today to meet Toby and Mum, where we met in the Dillon's cafe at Waterstones, near UCL, and the bookshop I sometimes pop to when working in Tavistock Square. Nice to get together with Mum and Toby, as these days we usually only get to all be together once a year, when Toby comes over. Having met up in the cafe, we made our way around the corner to The Petrie Museum of Ancient Egyptian Archeology , which I had never even heard about, despite working in that area on and off for years. Amazing stuff. Both Mum and Toby had been there before, but perhaps it was having two coffees before hand, I was mind-boggled by the antiquity of some of the objects, such as the  black topped pots , which were getting on for  seven thousand years old. We spent a surprisingly long time lost among the artefacts of Ancient Egypt, pointing out bits of interesting things to one another. Some of the jewellery, and fragmen...