Sunday June 25th, 2006
The people we used to be.
I have just come back from a party.
I took great care in dressing and preparing for this party. I wore a skirt, strappy sandals, painted my toenails, and shaved my legs. All of these pretty normal and tasteful things to do if you want to dress up and look nice. In my case though, I was not dressing to impress my host and fellow guests as such - it was more a ritual tribute in memory of the people we used to be. The strappy sandals were for Lesh - it was his 50th birthday (last Thursday in fact), and these were the things he talked incessantly about when he was 20. I stopped short of binding my breasts and dying my hair red though - but I did give him a framed photo of Bonnie Langford (the Perfect Woman); however, now he has Val, maybe he has forgotten about Bonnie.
Earlier on this year, Lesh and I met up again for the first time in about 25 years. It's always a doubtful experience to renew old acquaintance but really it was ... just great. I suppose we were firm friends for a few years in our 20's - constantly in one anothers company, and I had just forgotten how much I must have liked him for that to have been the case.
The leg shaving, now - that was for Chris - we'll leave it at that - I have not seen Chris for at least 25 years. He and Lesh were great buddies as undergraduates, but by the time I got to know Lesh better, Chris was out in the wide world of work, and my contact with him was an occasional drink at the Duke of Wellington. I expect he has forgotten about the legs (or maybe it is his overriding memory of me - who knows?) but it made me laugh at the time.
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Here are the strappy sandals -so flattering that Alison and I bought a pair each (not from Hobbs - that's all I'm saying). Very comfortable and secure on your feet. Spent ages this evening glueing all the chain decoration back into place before I could wear them.
Note the elegant skirt, pedicure, and silk smooth leg.
Friday June 23rd, 2006
Mere Pond
It was a water related day really.
I had to get to Thames Ditton to pick up Mini. Travelling by train, there are 3 stations to choose from but benefiting from a fortuitous set of connections (2 changes) I ended up at Kingston station. Although this is the furthest away, I was able to slip into John Lewis on a little errand, only to discover that the bargain wool I bought on eBay and expected to augment was not such a bargain after all, since JL have not sold their own brand of wool for about 5 years! What a time to give it up....... I suspect it is linked to the demise of the UK mills but (sigh) "let's not go there".** In JL, I bought Rowan's "Beach Cool" all over again - it's a nice book - as I need to alter Cannes which I knitted last year. I did look lovely in it (she said modestly) but now it doesn't fit me ... but in a good way. I also popped into Calico, (how could I not? it's in Rams Passage just off the Thames walk). Its a lovely shop run by a friend of my sister from way back - though he has no idea who I am. I was on a mission for Alison to check out the Liberty Tana lawn; he had lots of bargains but I could not decide on anything without further consultation.
** Lack of availability in this quarter led me to find lots of nice UK websites selling guernsey wool by mail order, though, so it's not all bad; more on this when I've knitted something.
After all this, as part of the master plan, I continued my walk down the Thames to get to the Cooper garage. The Thames towpath has been revamped since I lived there, and so much more of it is accessible. It was a simply lovely day and the walk raised my spirits no end.
My spirits were sufficiently raised, that in the evening before the weekly curry at the Indus with Robert, I suggested we went for a walk to the Mere Pond in Walton-on-the-Hill. I thought Robert needed his spirits raising, and I had seen a pile of cygnets settled by the side of the pond as I drove past earlier. When we got there, they had moved off to a safer position on the far side of the pond, but there were a lot of baby coots and moorhens, and all the birds in the wood were out and about with small families.
...and here are a few more pictures of the ponds - Coots on the Mere Pond:
... and Moorhens on our local pond.
I was pleased to see they are still there with some chicks, as there was such a rumpus in the middle of the night a few days ago that I assumed the fox had got them all. It's amazing that they manage to avoid the foxes and raise any chicks at all.
Thursday June 22nd, 2006
Mini in Shock Facelift Revelation
Mini has finally had gone to the beautician garage to have her eyebrows window trim plucked fixed.
Some time ago while driving to work round the M25, Mini the car began to make the most terrible noise which in some pathetic girly completely reasonable way I erroneously attributed to the wheel arches. Once at my destination I found the trim had come loose on the windscreen and was slapping cheerfully against the roof.
I was forced to make some temporary repairs involving masking tape. Gaffer tape was suggested by both George and Robert and my colleague Tony (what is it with men and gaffer tape?) but I felt that masking tape would be easier to remove when the time came. As it turns out, the masking tape peeled off all by itself while driving along, and began slapping cheerfully on the car roof (a slightly higher tone that previously) ... but only in some places. In other places it hung on like grim death and left a sticky mess all over the place.
I am not popular in the mechanics fraternity.
Sunday June 18th, 2006
Football
The title says it all really.
I suppose I should be grateful as it drove me into my workroom to recover
it to some kind of status where I can use it to - well - work.
I was beginning to lose all hope but made pretty good progress in just
a few hours of effort, (several interludes of 90 minutes to be precise).
I made all sorts of the archeological finds - D-rings (never a D-ring
when you need it) - eyelets (that I thought had been snaffled by step-daughter).
Now I can steam ahead and add that extra eyelet hole to my belt... I know
what you are thinking but it's in a good way.
How long does this football thing last? I may be able to rediscover the
entire house by then.....
Tuesday June 13th, 2006
Eco-princess
The trip home was unbearably hot as our car has non-functioning air conditioning. Just like travelling on summer holidays used to be. I can think of an especially memorable trip to a fancy dress party in Manchester in 1976 (medieval princess in case you were wondering - although some would argue that all clothing in 1976 was fancy dress). It was Wimbledon finals day - Bjorn Borg won his first Wimbledon title beating (the lovely) Ilie Năstase in straight sets - thus giving me mental as well as physical anguish. My idol's last stab at the title - as if 1972 had not been bad enough, (Stan "God was on my side" Smith - which he may well have been - but I would prefer to think that, being omnipotent, he'd let the best man win a sporting event without interfering, whatever his personal preferences, Stan).
So - it was very pleasant when I awoke this morning at 5am to the patter of tiny raindrops - and immediately did what anyone would do and rushed outside to tend to my plant pots. They had been sheltering from the desert like conditions on the porch while we were away, and I moved them back into the gentle rain. We do have a hose-pipe ban here, so keeping them wet from now on will be slightly more of a chore than usual.
Still, it's not all bad - you are also not allowed to wash your car..... so I am no longer the sloven with a filthy car but the ecologically-minded publlic-spirited woman who cares about our planet.
Sunday June 11th, 2006
Roses round the door…
Several barbecues later, and another sweltering day in the garden.
But what a lovely garden it is....
Not that I am in any way responsible for the amazing variety and quality of plants that keep springing up in unexpected places - that was the previous owners - but they were fond of roses - and, apart from apparently being Britain's favourite bloom, ( BBC - Gardening - Flower shows - Nations Favourite Flower), roses seem to be very tolerant and rewarding plants despite the traditional view of the fussy tea rose.
Here is but one of the splendid rose bushes, frantically blooming beside the front door. Every summer it is intent on covering the window (not ideal as the interior is already quite dark) and every spring we cut it back to within an inch of its life - but then off it goes again.....
.... and here are examples of the flowers in more unexpected places.
Finally, I am pleased to report the little cat has clearly had her kittens but she is keeping them somewhere secret - not in our barn which seemed to be the usual place. This has meant she has turned up for food morning and evening, but been absent in the day (and night) - hopefully feeding them. Here she is, cooling off, and taking a break from the kids. I understand she plans to get her normal figure back (spherical) by helping in the garden.
Friday June 9th, 2006
Pyromania
... and then a bonfire. I felt, given the excessive heat, that this was a mistake, but up until yesterday it had obviously been raining in France as much as in England (witness the stunning growth of grass and weeds since our last visit) so most of the grass was green and damp, and not at risk from stray sparks. Despite this we had a hose on hand to contain the surrounding area, (no hose pipe bans here - just metered water).
And to round off the 30-degrees-in-the-shade experience, we ended the day with a barbecue.
Thursday June 8th, 2006
Poachers Moon
As we set off for France the weather was changing to be a lot warmer than of late. I moved all the garden pots into the shade of the porch and watered them well, before we left. I have brought with me a neglected Rosemary tree - one of a pair I had bought to rescue from the mangling hands of a DIY store - the second, I shall plant in England, but have yet to choose the spot; I have already lost one and they can hardly be said to be fussy plants. I am expecting that the climate will suit it better in Normandy than in England. At La Gonfrairie, we have two huge bay trees - so big that I failed to recognise them when we were first there - but no Rosemary, which I always miss given the availability of all that delicious French lamb. However this plant has a way to go before I can mutilate it for culinary purposes.
We crossed the channel to Boulogne, which then leaves quite a journey to get down to Basse-Normandie. On the way, we stoped to eat at Neufchatel-en-Bray - "something fried in a basket" in food terms but much nicer surroundings, despite 3 out of the 4 tables being occupied by the English.....
We arrived in the middle of a delightfully cool night.
Here- a view from our bedroom window - sadly imperfectly captured on camera.
It is so completely dark here at night.
Around cities you forget how utterly black the night really is, and how utterly beautiful moonlight really is.
Monday June 5th, 2006
High-powered business woman.
What? ...no... I mean me.
How could I fail to impress? ... with my new shoes.....
...and.... my wonderful new PC bag - lovingly knitted by Alison, (at least - that's what she said).
Here it is artfully displayed lounging on my veranda, shortly before going to earn its keep at a meeting with a client.
After successfully concluding the day's business - success all due to the new accoutrements, of course - I went on to complete Boudoir Bedjacket which, all being well, will be on its way to Diane tomorrow.
