under another sun

Up and off to Borde Hill Gardens this morning, just north of Haywards Heath (aka by me at least as Hateful Heath). A beautiful gardens.  On Friday Lorraine spontaneously invited Freya to come with us as Steve was off shooting black powder pistols, as is his wont.  She was great company, and we learned about her life in California, and her time in Berlin and living in San Franciso and so on. One out of the car, it was a bit of a race against the weather. We bought some unusual plants from the plant show, and then had a walk around the gardens. It began thundering and there were some jags of lightning just to the west of the garden. I reminded Freya that this was the traditional end to a trip out in Blighty. However by the time we reached Seaford the sun had returned. Freya somehow with Lorraine’s assistance hooked our smart TV up with her film library — and we have lots of films now to watch.  While this was going on (all a bit password heavy for me) I popped to Morrison...

Slightly less frenzied, although Lorraine and I both slept badly and woke up worrying about Anton. Early texts with him, however,   asking to borrow the boxed set of World At War, that he gave me as a present a few years ago to watch. Nothing like a bit of Stalingrad to cheer a man up. After a large breakfast, off to Borde Hill Gardens with Toby. Gorgeous day it was too, we mooched about in the gardens looking at various flowers and plants, and bits of sculpture, all a bit of an English Idyll. We also had tea and scones, while discussing how Romy would love it. On the drive home we popped into Lorraine’s school too, now beset by builders. Tobs and I then popped in to see Anton, back at home, to drop off World at War , and see how he was.  Nothing like a bit Stalingrad to cheer a man up. Anton opened the door, but we didn’t outstay our welcome, although I paused to give Klaudia and Oskar a few squeezes and say howdy to Anne. Klaudia had been crying. Everything a bit we...

A long lurk in bed this morning, working on poems, reading and chatting. To Borde Hill Gardens this afternoon. There was an exhibition of called Unseen Forces by David Watkinson of sculptures dotted about the gardens. Some of these were particularly lovely, large metal seed shapes that responded to the wind. But the gardens were lovely. A big dragonfly haunted pond and plenty of gardens and trees to walk among. After this we went to the cafe for a tea and a tea cake and had a lengthy discussion about the wedding and the future. Home again and roasted a chicken and goggled at TV and eked out a final series episode of Frasier, before enjoying Match of the Day, and highlights of a lively weekend of football. Below two of David Watkinson's beautiful kinetic sculptures, and a snap of the dragonfly pond.

Spitfire in a blue sky Off into the countryside this afternoon, to Borde Hill. It is a heavenly English garden with some quirky dells and ponds. Annoyingly my camera battery ran out the second I fixed on a scene. However Lorraine, Beth and I wandered about happily in the mysteriously empty gardens. There were old fashioned roses that I could have smelled for hours, lavender, mock orange, and all kinds of fragrances, including a strange deep red, poppy-sized flower with an unmistakable aroma of chocolate. We sat the dappled shade under a stately tree, and listened to the wind moving through the trees all around. The sky was faultless blue and the day had a timeless quality, only enhanced when a wartime Spitfire flew low over the green valley. Later went to the fish shop, and I bought some bloodworms for my fish and also eight red eyed tetras which were divided between Beth's aquarium and mine. In the evening watched the world cup final. A fairly dour uninspiring affair where Spain ...