under another sun

Up to Edgware this morning. En route Anton called to say that he'd seen his valve specialist, and there is no doubt he needs the surgery, which now planning for. Later that day, he had to call an ambulance for Anne, who ended up in in A&E for coronary care. Extra stress is the last thing Anton needs. I felt bad that I can't do more to help. Lorraine busy with Pat and Maureen, and also going off to specialist glazing course this afternoon, but also having to arrange someone to be there to collect Pat this afternoon. Chris did it, kindly. Arriving at mum' a fairly quick turnaround. We jumped into an Uber to Mill Hill Broadway, and then trained it slowly, but mercifully smoothly, down to Seaford. Mum enjoyed seeing fields of animals, and lots of trees, and the chalk cliffs near Lewes which made her think of Folkestone. And we arrived home at about four. Cups of tea and saying hello to Lorraine. I'd nipped out at Brighton to buy a sandwich as we were hungry.  To the Boo...

Off to Edgware this morning. Feeling positive, and having lots of creative ideas on the train. Sitting across a from a dad and his 3 year old boy from Lewes to Beast Croydon. They were sitting next to two women either side of the window, and though they didn't know each other were all soon chatting. I got drawn into it a bit when the boy poked a large stem of an umbellifer, perhaps cow parsley, across the aisle. He waggled it under my nose, and I sniffed it and we had a conversation about what it smelled like. Then he did it again, and I pretended to be a bee. The third time he did it, he shouted a gleeful poo-poo ! Very funny. Because of Enzo it felt more normal talking to the little boy and his dad.  Up to Mum, and as I arrived Ben was in his garage, and he was able to come across and sign after Wynford had been. LPA documents signed by mum and me too, and I will post them off tomorrow. I then spent some time with Mum's paperwork, digging through assorted documents, before Mu...

A busy Sunday. With Lorraine's adult supervision, I completed and printed the Lasting Power of Attorney documents out for mum to sign, and got in touch with Wynford and Ben to ask them to sign too tomorrow when I go up. Wynford: Yes, Ben: I'll try and see what I can do, which I'm hoping means yes too. Also some admin about my tolerance for financial risk for my savings had to be sent off too. Lorraine and I are very much medium-low risk people when it comes to finance. Anyway doing this kind of admin early on made me feel happy once it was done. Delores breezed in later (a breath of fresh air as she had been walking in the Forest) to borrow the strimmer and to laugh loudly in the kitchen.   Some gardening. I poked about in the pond. I think all the fish are gone now. There was the great egret devastation, and I don't know if it popped back to eat the last two, of the unbelievable heat did them a mischief, but I couldn't see any in there, while I cut back some of the...

A properly rainy day today, even in Seaford, which is a miracle.  After breakfast, and a bit of piano playing, and tinkering with the new 'Interlude' section of the full manuscript.   Lorraine and I drove off to Ceramics South East, held at the The Clay Studio at Herons Ghyll, featuring leading potters from Sussex, Kent and Surrey. It was full of amazing work, and we enjoyed mooching about talking to the potters, all of whom were seriously accomplished. An incredible array of excellent work. The only thing which I don't like much are the animals, pottery dogs etc. even when done expressively, leave me cold. Lorraine, a beginning potter, mooched about absorbing information and ideas and talking enthusiastically to people. She came away with some tools, a glaze, and a signed copy of a book about glazing. The site was in the middle of the countryside, and it was supposed to have been an open air event, but it had been moved inside. Nice coffee there too.  Then to Paradise Pa...

Last morning in Doolin, and up and excellently breakfasted and hurriedly packed. Took a call from a man at The Royal Free about an appointment for Mum, I set it all up, and when I spoke to her later, she said it wasn't needed. Off to Clare's pretty county town of Ennis, where Lorraine and Sue went shopping for wedding headgear -- scoring a white fancy hat for Sue and a tiara for Lorraine.  John meanwhile took me to  glór , a lovely arts centre with a library, theatre and gallery. We had a hot drink in the lobby were traditional musicians had gathered to join in music making, along with an audience of adults with learning disabilities. The traditional music was wonderful, and everyone enjoying it. There is something about music in Ireland that is so democratic, the audience and the musicians all together, and the apparently unspoken agreement musicians have to turn up and play and in what order.  Then John and Sue dropped us off at Shannon airport. They'd been incredibly k...

Mum reported a better night, which I was pleased about. She slept during the day again, but is seeming much more herself. Maheena popped in. I like her very much, and she is very kind to Mum.  Another kind text from Wynford. The Tobster called from a snowy Deviation Road. Lovely texts from Rosie this morning too. I went for a walk to Stanmore, meaning stony mere or pool. Looked at the outside of the church, and the ruin of the older church next to it.  Had a cup of coffee in Stanmore's Caffè Nero. Tried to have some thoughts. Failed. Spoke to Lorraine severally because I am missing her. Watched Midsomer Murders with mum, and weirdly quite enjoyed it. Chelsea played today and disgraced themselves by drawing to Burnley. Otherwise cooked, dispensed drugs, chatted to Mum. All as well as can be expected. Some of the glories of Stanmore.  

Middle of the night idea: radical decency. A radical refusal to be baited or pushed into polarised opinions by wannabe despots or bot farms or amoral tech bros.    Up before Mum. A chat with my lovely wife, who I am missing lots. A chat with Ben who found a parcel in Mum's green bin. Wynford popped in too.   For poor Mum another exhausting night of coughing and getting up for the toilet. She needed another sleep after breakfast, while I filed the pile of papers on the dining room table. However this afternoon Mum slept less and seemed brighter, and a bit more like her usual self making me feel very cautiously optimistic. Otherwise I've managed basics like making her drink and eat more.   Later I walked through Stonegrove Park and the puddle, which has receded yesterday was back. Weirdly there was an egret in it. I have never seen an egret in London before, perhaps the chief suspect in the missing goldfish mystery is shadowing me.  Sore throaty and sorry for myse...

Unusually bad night's sleep. Enjoyed breakfast with Lorraine, and general pottering about and a spell at my desk, plus the good clean fun of laundry. Lorraine was doing personal training and so on. I spoke to Mum during the day. Wynford called me this afternoon, and in the evening I spoke for 45 mins with Ben. Lovely how Mum's neighbours are so full of care for her. Ben thinks Mum should be doing Tai Chi. A longish walk by the sea on a bright and sunny day. The sun puts a different complexion on things but I felt heavy hearted. I called Carl and it was great to talk to him, a touch of the Watson common sense was exactly what was needed. Home, and Lorraine was back with Beth and Enzo. And our wildlife pond had frogspawn in it, that Lorraine brought over from Beth's garden. Beth is well, and had a long business call this afternoon with her work folks. Meanwhile Enzo literally a bouncing baby, and bouncing up and down with excitement quite a lot of the time. I bounced him on m...

Up early and a fast breakfast, swapping Valentine's cards with Lorraine. Then off to Edgware this sunny Valentine's morning. En route, Mum texted to say she wasn't seeing Robert as planned as she was feeling unwell. I found her very sleepy with the evil cough bug, a sore throat, very sore eyes and so on.  Soon after I arrived, Wynford popped in, and Maheena dropped in soon after I returned from shopping in Sainsbury's and Superdrug. I also spoke to Lorraine and Toby.  Mum fast asleep when I got back from Edgware. She was discombobulated when she woke up thinking she'd slept through the night. I gave her some teas and a hot cross bun and paracetamol, and then in the evening I cooked a bolognese with turkey mince. We watched TV but the signal was erratic. Mum had some wine, and we watched Dirty Dancing which for some reason I'd never seen. I was probably feeling irritable, but the lead female character I found insipid.    Mum fed the foxes and slowly got ready for...

Off to Edgware today. Did a few bits first, then made off around noon, just as the population of Southern England climbed into their vehicles. A longish journey up, having to go eastwards round the hateful M25 and under the Dartford Tunnel, which I don't remember ever going under. Quite a narrow tunnel and best seen crawling through in a traffic jam, giving you plenty of time to be mindful of the millions of tonnes of water pressing overhead.  Mum discovered in good spirits. We had a lengthy pause to let Lorraine have a decent break while we ate ginger nuts and drank tea. Wynford happened to pop in which was nice. Luckily I already had a card for him. I popped one into Ben's letter box, and Maheena's too. Mum has so many good neighbours. The journey back easier, despite the motorway from the M25 to Brighton being closed due to a fire on the road. Lorraine did brilliantly, and drove excellently there and back. We listened to Classic FM which was playing arrangements of Chris...

A cold now in full flow, and Lorraine beginning to feel a bit wussy too.  I lay in bed till late, confident that at least it could be a quiet day, but then I had to work on the podcast for a couple of hours. We got it out on time and Niall Campbell was a wonderful guest. I don't think I was on top form for this recording, but it is what it is, as penetrating philosophers of our time say. Just as I was writing the episode description, I got a call from Wynford who said Mum had fallen over in Edgware, while walking off to have a Christmas Dinner at the Church social club. He wasn't sure where she had been taken to. While I was hanging on the phone to Barnet Hospital A&E, Mum and a nurse called from Edgware walk in centre. Mum sounded okay. She'd slipped over in the heavy rain outside the music shop. Someone in the shop knew Wynford and called him, and he very kindly called me immediately.  The nurse explained that she had stitches, and would also need a scan just to ensur...

A cold start, and off to Edgware this morning. I discovered on the train that when I plugged in my laptop to recharge overnight, I failed to turn the switch on. I needed it to sort some things out for Mum. Feeling drained and depressed on the train, and was irritable all day. Once in Edgware and was walking towards Mum's place, it made me think of being in Edgware in my twenties, when times were colder. A chat with Rupa and Wynford, and Wynford's sister Linda. They are taking Mum to the pub tomorrow.  Mum drove us off to The Waggon. We met Steve there, who had kindly helped mum understand her tax form last week, and has set her up on the Government Gateway. However, this means that the authentication code to enter the Government Gateway is sent to Steve. I was unable to change Steve's number to mine in Mum's profile, as when I accessed it on my phone, I selected stay signed in for seven days. So I will have to trouble Steve again. However I bought him a large wine to th...

To Edgware by car with Lorraine today to see Mum on her birthday. A decent drive up there. We stopped for a cup of tea, and to give her some presents. The throw and pillows had already arrived, and we gave her some new pots and pans, to replace the venerable ones she uses. Lorraine drove us to The Waggon and Horses where we got a seat by the fire. Curtis, behind the bar, and Mum's crew, who call her a geezerbird, all cheerily greeting her and Steve shaking my hand and wishing me merry Christmas and happy new year. Just after we'd eaten Toby called  from Bali fresh from a yoga session-- thinking that we'd be together. So Mum got to speak to him on her birthday too. Very cheery in the Waggon, and Lorraine had a chicken shish like me, and was surprised at how genuinely excellent they are there. Home again and we sat by her fire in the living room. Neighours Emma and Gail dropped off some presents for her, and Wynford dropped in too with a gift. He sat chatting with us for a wh...

Lorraine and I up to Edgware this morning. A relatively easy drive and we arrived in about two hours. Had a cup of tea and gave mum some birthday cards and presents, from us and from Pat and Maureen.  Then we got Mas into our car, and Lorraine drove us all off to The Waggon and Horses. Mum had booked a table by the fire, and we  had hoped that Robert would come too, but unfortunately he was unable. We did have an excellent time, the pub was weirdly empty while we were there, and it was as if we had done it deliberately. We had lots of attentive service from Harri and Wendy, Mum having a pint of cider given to her on arrival. And Harri also suggested a Guinness for me, seeing as I had drunk that last time I was there.  We had a pleasant meal, again Lorraine and I had falafel and more healthy options, and the staff came out with a piece of cake with candles in for Mum, and sang Happy Birthday.  This happened quite suddenly and the snap I took of the moment, was out of ...