More aggravation

My computer is still dead, and Mas spent most of the day trying to sort it out and making various two hour long conversations with different IT people. I did gardening as I could not stand listening to it all; if left to my own devices I would have thrown my computer out and gone back to writing with ink and quill.

In the evening we were so fed up we watched an old episode of Jeeves and Wooster to relax, but I still had a poor nights sleep.

Friday was a ditto of Thursday, except that we went swimming in the afternoon, and in the evening watched a Pie in the Sky and the Mentalist, which seems increasingly stupid to me.

At a later date I found Joan had sent me this picture of spring flowers in her garden.

A very tasty treat.

Yesterday the weather was nice enough for us to go into the garden and have tea on our swing for the first time this year. While we were doing this Salty unexpectedly jumped onto the canopy which made Mas jump violently and throw most of the tea over the garden which made me laugh a lot. Mas could startle for the Olympics!


Later I planted out the geraniums into our window boxes, watering them in afterwards.


This morning we found a small dead mouse in the hall which we disposed of before breakfast.


Later we travelled down to Leicester Square, and then walked to the National Portrait Gallery. We were going to have lunch at the restaurant there; this was a present from Romy and Toby which we had been looking forward to. We had several drinks and a three course meal with another bottle of wine while looking out of the window at this London view.




























The restaurant was full, but we took our time and really enjoyed the meal. We were so full that on the way home we both fell asleep on the tube. It is a good thing that our stop is at the end of the line!

Bad health and setbacks overcome by laughter

Jana is flying home today. Mas is still feeling ill although his eyes are much better. I did more on my Deaths Head Moth picture. I heard from Pete and Toby, and a couple of friends called. In the evening we watched another episode of Wallender.

Sunday was a horrible day as we had problems with AOL all day, and the computers seem to have a problem too. The cat bought in another mouse.

Mas has started coughing badly again, and he gets so breathless that he passes out. As the doctors are not open today we went to the drop in centre at Edgware hospital. After waiting for a couple of hours Mas saw the doctor who thought he should have an x-ray. Once this was done we went off home again, and Mas took it easy until bedtime.

On Monday morning Mas was feeling better, and the weather is cooler again. AOL is still not working properly, and our computers are useless. To cheer ourselves up we had lunch at the Man in the Moon and then collected some groceries.

In the afternoon I painted a bit more of Pete's picture. In the evening we watched The Burbs which is funny, and one of our favourite standbys to cheer ourselves up.

A long days holiday

As arranged Jana arrived shortly after breakfast, and we set off for a walk, leaving Mas happily to his own devices until we got back again.
We walked across fields until we came out near the Elstree golf club; we were hailed by one of the golfers who said we had bought him luck as he had just played a very good shot. As we passed the golf club we decided to see if we could have a coffee, even if we were not members. We had a really nice coffee which was surprisingly inexpensive. We sat outside, in a friendly atmosphere where a group of golfers were joking with each other.

Once we left we crossed the road and walked a familiar way over the fields
and passed lots of horses. All the hedges were topped by blackthorn bushes in flower.

We passed a large home, close to the sheep below, which had its own helicopter parked in the garden. Its body was covered in protective clothing. We speculated on who would need their own personal helicopter. I suggested it may belong to a heavy duty criminal who may need a quick getaway, but as Jana said it would take at least half an hour to get the 'copter's jacket off, so we discarded that theory.

We walked through woods heavy with the scents of spring, and then across fields again. Eventually we came out near Aldenham School, and walked to Letchmore Heath.

Jana treated us to lunch at The Three Horseshoes, and we sat outside in the sunshine where groups of people were enjoying themselves and celebrating St. George's Day. Jana was also playing with the landlady's dog. As we left, after we had eaten, we looked at our favourite houses there before setting off across the fields again. We walked until we came to Elstree Aerodrome. As we skirted around the airfield a small plane, with circles on its wings, took off behind us, and then did a loop the loop in salute before flying off into the distance.

click to enlarge as usual

We also came across a beautiful dead fox at the perimeter. Continuing across fields we came across the reservoir where we admired the beautiful birds for a while; people were sitting around enjoying the sunshine. Walking further we walked to (the Winnie) the Poo field only to discover that the North Pole had been stolen!

We found that we were running out of time, but nevertheless we took the long way home as we were enjoying the walk so much. At Elstree Village we caught the bus for a couple of stops before hurrying home. We were late, and Oktay had been waiting with Mas for our return as Monika had a last evening planned for Jana. It had been along day filled with sunshine, I felt as if I had been on holiday, and I was sad to see Jana leave.

Treading water, and a surprise out of the blue

I walked to Edgware, meeting Myk briefly, and a friend I had not seen since we did our 'alternative' classes together. Mason's cough is bad again, so we have made an appointment for him to see the doctor.

I did some gardening, and re potted the parsley , and saw a rather moth eaten fox twice in the garden next door ,before trying to catch up on phone calls and emails. Romy invited us to go on holiday with her, Toby, Joan and Dick!

I took Mason's temperature which was 106 which gave me a terrible shock, luckily I had another thermometer and was relieved that his temperature was almost normal. I drove him off to the doctor and he was given antibiotics and antibiotic eye drops for his eye infection.

Today Mason's eyes are much better, but his cough is still troublesome. I did some painting; the Deaths Head Moth for Peter, while Mas was trying to take things a bit easy.

Busy time with friends

We went to St. Albans and had lunch at Sazios with Tania and Robert. Robert is still having computer problems which is stressful. The weather is now warm and sunny, and we got our fruit and vegetables before driving home. There are still no planes flying.

We took the opportunity while Jana is still grounded over here to have her, Monika, Oktay and the boys to come over tomorrow for a visit.

We watched an episode of Wallander in the evening.

On Sunday our friends arrived as expected, and we had a really nice time with them all. The boys were being very sweet, and Milan was making jokes, the weather was nice enough fotr the boys to go into the garden. Mas made a nice meal which we enjoyed, but they had to leave before too long as Milan is back to school tomorrow, and Monika is studying too.

Natural disasters and IT problems

Yesterday morning I had to go off to the Royal Free Hospital to have another blood test and routine CT scan, and on the way home collected some shopping.

There had been a volcanic eruption in Iceland, and because of the clouds of ash that had been discharged all the planes had been grounded temporarily so the skies seemed very empty. There was also an earthquake in China with 760 deaths reported so far.

Robert called and said to Mas that his computer had blown up, and he was urgently trying to sort out the problems.

We woke up listening to Salty going nuts rushing up and down the stairs letting out yips as he went, but he was simply playing, it had sounded as if the Pied Piper and all his friends had been passing through.

Today Mas and I tried to catch up with our usual things, and I walked off to the library and got out some books and music. The street trees are all in blossom now which always looks so optimistic. The weather has turned warm at last.

A sociable day to remember

After Pete, Mas and I had a light breakfast and chats Jana arrived. Jana had not met Pete before, but said afterwards that she felt as if she knew him already as I have talked about him so much. Sadly Pete had to go off to Brighton so could not spend more time with us.

Leaving Mas to work on his computer Jana and I headed off into the countryside where we walked over fields from Alum Lane and through woods; the weather was grey and cold which was a shame. We neared The Waggon and Horses pub in Elstree (built in 1471), and decided to have a coffee there. We found that the pub was not open because the decorators were working in the back, but the barman kindly said that he would make us a coffee, so we sat and chatted, and there was a lot to talk about as we had not seen each other for a year; it was hard to believe that Jana had returned home to live in the Czech Republic four years ago!

We sat near this fireplace which had a lit fire in the grate.

Before long we headed off home because Oktay was coming to pick us all up around 1.30pm, to take us off to his home in Cheshunt.

As arranged Oktay called in for us and we drove off to Cheshunt; it was lovely to see Monika and the children, Milan and Talu who were both looking well and happy despite having recently been under the weather. Monika and Oktay are having a new garden made, and although there is still more work to be done it is already looking very interesting.

Monika made a huge and interesting dinner with many courses which we ate in a leisurely way, talking and drinking. Monika had taken a course in making cake decorations, and she made this cake and the decorations too.












Jana and I played with the children upstairs for a while, me playing noughts and crosses with Milan who was cheating, when I mentioned this he agreed and said he always cheated! Jana took him aside and had a quiet word with him about this, while I played with Talu. Milan then demonstrated how he can turn cartwheels!

When we went down later we had a glass of Slivovitz and more chat and snacks until it was time to go home again. It was sad parting from everyone and saying goodbye to Jana who will be off to Spain, and taking a weeks lessons while she is there.

Once home again Toby called and had a quick chat. A very nice but tiring day!

Routine days then a visit from Pete

We spent all week doing our routine things, interspersed with gardening, cleaning the stonework and garden furniture, and Mas fixed the canopy over the garden swing which had broken with the weight of snow in the winter. For a break we had lunch one day at the Man in the Moon.

On Tuesday Jana phoned and said she could go for a walk tomorrow, and she would arrive around 9.00am. Mas and I took some videos over to Margaret's and John's and had chats with them. Pete came round in the early evening, and we sat around chatting about his concert, and looking at the score; Pete unreasonably refused to drink some beer which we had discovered at the back of the cupboard that was less than ten years past its' use by date! Mas made a lovely turkey dinner which we drank with some wine. It was a nice evening.

Entertaining and a sad event

This morning I tidied the house, and we thought about the meal that we would have when Barry, Wynford and Rupa came for dinner tonight. Mas was feeling somewhat depressed about what he had been working on as there are problems. Both Joan and Pete liked the illustration I had done of Grimsby the dog for Pete's book.


Barry, Wynford and Rupa arrived (from next door) at 8.00pm as arranged, and we sat about talking until dinner was ready. Mason had made a scrumptious meal which everyone enjoyed in a leisurely fashion. After desserts and coffee we talked some more, and we went back into the sitting room until they left to go home. It had been a nice evening.


Today we had the very sad news that a young relative had died, and had various communications which set Mas back a bit. For a change it was warm and sunny, and I saw the first bumble bee, ladybird and hover fly of the year which is always cheering.

I spent most of the day painting as I am trying to finish these pictures for Pete in a reasonable time.

Mostly a working week, interrupted by the TV

I went off for a walk this morning, and spent time in the afternoon trying to do illustrations for Pete's Skelly book. Mas went off for an appointment with a business associate, then afterwards off to the doctors at the end of the day, and we had a late dinner.

Friday, and I walked for an hour on this grey and dreary day. For a break we watched an old Diagnosis Murder, and I sent off a few e mails, and listened to a lot of religious classical music. Later, during the night it rained really heavily, and Salty spent an hour frenziedly rushing up and down the stairs during the night and occasionally yelping loudly, sooo restful!

On Saturday, we went as usual to St. Albans, and met Tania and Robert in Sazios and had a long and cheerful lunch before shopping and driving home again. Driving is quite hazardous at the moment as there are such large and deep potholes in the road surface after the icy weather.

Both Mas and I felt really tired in the evening, but watched another excellent, understated, episode of Wallendar . Luckily Salty did not put in an appearance all night, so we felt quite rested when we got up on Sunday morning.

Today was warm and sunny, so we did a lot of gardening. I did some drawing while listening to an old Hancock's Half Hour on the radio; the famous one about the Blood Donor. In the evening we had a bit of a TV fest, watching Monk, Foyle's War and A Touch of Frost, then we went off to bed before the men in white coats came to take us away!

Original Thinkers and mouse, not monkey, business

On Monday I pottered around doing my usual things, and Mas went off to Brent Cross to meet up with an acquaintance. I had been listening to the radio on which there was a programme about Delia Derbyshire. She had worked for the BBC Radiophonic Workshop and was responsible for creating lots of weird sounds and music. At the time, on the Third Programme (which became radio 3) they used to put on experimental and avant guarde plays which owed a lot of the atmosphere created to the work by the Radiophonic Workshop. Delia Derbyshire was most famous for realising Ron Grainer's theme tune for the original Dr. Who programmes.

Tuesday, and Diane is off to France. Mas spent all day meeting up with various people he is trying to work with. I walked to Edgware, picked up a little shopping and spent time browsing in the library. I began painting Grimsby, a dog character from Pete's book, but after a while I had to see Barry next door so I could look at his dog's feet, to his amusement.

I watched a programme called The Genius of Omar Khayyam. I was familiar with his poetry, I knew he was an astronomer but had not realised what an important mathematician he was also a philosopher. It is amazing what some people achieve in a lifetime.

This morning Salty bought in a mouse which immediately hid under the sofa. After a lot of cunning tracking I had the mouse backed into a corner (having excluded Salty from the room). I thought I would pick him up and then put him into the garden, hoping I would not be bitten too badly. As soon as I tried this, the mouse ran up my arm with the speed of light, and onto my head. I rushed out into the garden hoping I was still carrying him. Later, Salty seemed to have lost interest in the whole project, so I assumed the mouse had made it into the garden.

I went off for a walk, then later finished off the Grimsby painting for Pete.

Trundelling along as usual

Mas and I spent most of the week doing necessary but uninteresting things, and me going for rather dreary walks whenever I could. One good thing was that Mas went off to the hospital and got fitted with hearing aids. He said that they improved his hearing, and were so comfortable that he forgot he was wearing them, and they were almost invisible. We watched and listened to TV at a very low volume which I really liked.

I listened to the last part of the Jacques Brel series that I have been listening to on the radio, and spoke to Diane who is heading off to France soon. Pete came back from Guernsey, and I caught up with his news.

On Thursday Tania and Robert came down and we went off to 'the curry club'. We all felt a bit tired, especially Tania who was still suffering from jet lag. Ken arrived and had dinner too before he left to talk to other friends; he is off on holiday soon visiting India for the first time. We did not linger too long, but had a nice evening together.
















I watched a programme about Sacred Music which included interviews with Arvo Pärt which I found interesting; I think his music is amazing on so many levels. Later we watched 'Lewis', and although we had seen this episode before we still watched it again because it is a good one.

On Saturday Mas and I went for a walk to Stanmore, by the time we were there Mas had got the familiar painful tightening in his calves, so he bussed back home. I picked up a couple of things from the shop and walked home again. I tried my hand at painting more peculiar animals for Pete, as illustrations for his Skelly book. I watched an episode of Poldark which were first shown in the 1970s; I had enjoyed them then. We also watched another superb Wallander with Krister Henriksson as the detective. Mas has not been wearing his hearing aids and says he will wear them when necessary!

St.Albans visits, and Tania's return

Saturday, and we drove off to St.Albans to get shopping, and meet Robert at Sazios for lunch.
Robert had bought me some of the lovely business cards he had made for me, now all I need is the business. It is quite evident that Robert is missing Tania, but thankfully from his point of view she will be coming back tomorrow.

The fruit and vegetables in the market seemed rather expensive today, so we did not stock up with much. It still makes Mas laugh to hear all the market traders shouting out their wares for sale; they must be hoarse by the time they return home in the evenings.

On Sunday morning Wynford came round and gave us an enormous collection of videos, mostly Sherlock Holmes, Poirots and Agatha Christies. They have replaced these as they do not have a video player now. This will cause Mas to go through his collection, weeding some out so that the new ones can be put away, in the meantime they are stacked up in the sitting room.

We then drove up to Robert's house, and before long we were headed off to the airport to meet Tania as she arrived. Once at the airport we had a pizza snack and drink while we chatted until Tania arrived. Robert drove back home, and we stayed for a chat and tea. Tania has bought a karaoke machine which she wants Robert to set up for her. She showed pictures of her family which seemed to be full of laughing children and sunshine.

We left before too long, thinking how devastatingly tired Tania must feel after such a long journey, although she did not really seem as tired as we had expected. By the time we got home it was 8.30pm. We watched one of the new videos called the Fifteen Streets starring Sean Bean,
but I am not really a fan of gritty northern realism.

Cheerful friends and cheerless weather

I went off for a short walk this morning, and could not seem to settle down to all the things I should be getting on with.

As planned Robert came down to us early in the evening, and we went off again to The Man in the Moon as it was their curry club evening. Luckily we were early enough to get a booth to ourselves, and immediately the place filled up with customers. Before long Ken came in and joined us, and we had dinner and chatted, with many laughs, till 11.30pm when we all left to go home.

The cat woke me at 5.50am this morning, and I felt quite tired all day. The weather was depressingly grey and drizzly. I called Pete briefly, then listened to a Jeeves and Wooster on the radio. Later Toby called and chatted as he has returned home after visiting Alex in California. I watched 'Coast', and later Mas and I had a G & T to cheer ourselves up after such gloomy weather all day.

A bitter pill to swallow

Today the cat was due to have a worm pill, so I cut it into quarters and cunningly inserted them into his treats. Salty ate the first one, neatly spitting out the quarter of the pill, and regarding the rest of the treat with suspicion. Mas had to hold Salty, and I managed to drop the pill pieces one by one into his held open moth and down his throat; I was so surprised that this strategy worked! Mas cleared out the garden shed today, at last we can walk in without having to climb over things.

I spoke to Pete and found his hospital appointment had been cancelled. We talked about the Skelly illustrations he would like; I will try to do them soon. I did all kinds of boring necessary things and then went for a short walk. In the evening I watched 'Coast' which I find interesting.
In the evening I listened to the first of three programmes about the wonderful Jacques Brel, and they played lots of his music too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2wmKcBm4Ik&feature=related

The song 'ne me quitte pas ' has a lovely phrase in it expressing that he will be less than the shadow of a dog if she leaves him.

Sark Voices and gardening

On Sunday I did not do very much, except colour my hair with 'Mahogany' which came out an unlikely shade of red. Pete phoned and chatted. I had been listening to radio 3, Late Junction, where they played a traditional song by 'Sark Voices' sung in Sark French. I had not known before that Sark had its own patois which is now almost extinct.

Today it was warm and sunny for a change and I did some gardening. It was nice to be pottering about outside despite being ambushed and pounced upon by Salty. He seemed to have gone completely batty seeing me doing things in the garden again and kept running up and down trees.

In the afternoon I sat with Mas and we watched a new series called 'Missing' with Pauline Quirke in it, but I found it rather annoying and dreary.afterwards I went for a walk around Stanmore; it is odd how so many of the roads have now become 'private' with 'no entry' signs up everywhere. A sign of our troubled times I suppose.

Deja vue

I put the new 'spot on,' that we had bought from the vet, onto Salty before leaving with Mas who was going off to do some shopping. As I had another exhibition ticket I had arranged to go back to the Affordable Art Fair with Diane, for a day out together before she goes off to Normandy for a while.
After a difficult and slow journey, and because several of the underground lines were closed today,I had to take the bus, and after a roundabout journey I got to Sloan Square. I had told Diane about the Oriel, and so we met in the cafe bar of the Royal Court Theatre and had a glass of wine before going off to the art show.






























We walked about looking at the art for a few hours, and I had the chance to talk to one of the gallery people about painting watercolour on a gesso primed board or paper, which was useful.

After a while Diane suggested that we go to the Civil Service Club for tea as she is now a member, and after another long and noisy bus journey we got to Trafalgar Square and walked to the Civil Service club.

We had some Earl Grey tea and chocolate cake and talked for a while. Diane will be leaving for France at the end of March.

Afterwards we walked to the station and managed to get a train back to Edgware without changing trains.

The Affordable Art Fair

Today we were going to The Affordable Art Fair at Battersea Park, so we took the train to Sloan Square to meet Pete in the Oriel. We could not believe that the Oriel, one of our favourite haunts, has closed down due to the recession after 25 years. This is odd as the place was always busy, with the restaurant upstairs and the hidden away bar downstairs!

We sloped about disconsolately for a while, but eventually went to the bar cafe of the Royal Court Theatre, almost next door to the Oriel, hidden down the side.


































After a second restorative glass of wine and a modest snack, the surroundings looked less dusty and drab. We went around the corner and took the courtesy minibus to Battersea Park.

We looked at the artwork which is always enjoyable, and halfway through the exhibition we sat down for a while and had some sparkling water to drink, and more chat. When we all felt thoroughly tired we got the courtesy car back to Sloan Square and thus back home again.
A nice but tiring day.

Almost a car catastrophe

This week I spent a lot of time researching things, and sorting out direct debits. Boring but necessary. I called Margaret and talked to her for a while, and I spoke to Pete as well.

On Wednesday Mas and I went off to the Man in the Moon for lunch, only to find out when we were going to go home that the power steering in the car had gone wrong, and it was difficult to manoeuvre out of the car park. Mas dropped me off and I walked home with the milk we had bought, and he drove down to our local garage which luckily is within walking distance. The garage called later, saying that they may be able to part exchange something, if it was in good enough condition, also that the fan belt had gone as well. The car should be fixed tomorrow.

On a more cheerful note Joan sent a picture of Ethan's lovely cat, Skrimshaw, who is trying to fit in with the other cats and dogs ( his face is like my childhood cat Jimmy Lizard)















Today the garage called, the car was fixed, and for £100 less than we had expected. We cancelled the vet appointment as Salty is completely back on form now, but still taking the pills.

In the evening Robert picked us up, and we went, as planned, to The Man in the Moon as it was the evening for their Curry Club. When we went in all the tables and alcoves were being used, and we wondered if we would eventually get a table. While we were dithering we were invited to join someone sitting at a table as there were three available seats. In no time at all we were all four of us chatting and having an interesting time as well as a tasty meal. His name is Ken (from Kenya). We did not stay too long as Robert had to go home and work.

The Museum of London

On Saturday we went off to St. Albans and met Tania and Robert at the Waterend Barn pub for lunch. We has a good time chatting; Tania is off to the Philippines on Monday for a few weeks, and there was a lot to talk about.

Afterwards we got some shopping from the market and went home, and relaxed for the rest of the day. Salty seems much better, and loves his antibiotic pills and thinks they are special treats for him.

On Sunday we did our usual chores, relaxed and I went off for a walk just as the weather was turning colder, just for the exercise.

Today I went off to Old Street Station and met My brother Peter. We walked off through the city towards the Barbican. Peter pointed out these grim looking flats to me saying it was the highest residential block in London.

This 'sculpture' is a 500 year old tree, under which it is said Mendelssohn sat while he wrote the music for A Midsummer Nights Dream.

The highest London residential flats.

We walked through to the Museum of London ;I had never been there before, and in fact did not even know it existed. The display began in in London's pre history showing flint cutting tools and worked it's way through to modern times. There were lots of French schoolchildren looking at things.

The displays were very good, showing the kinds of rooms that people would live in during different ages, the food they would have eaten, and all the artifacts of their lives. Some of the displays were interactive which the children enjoyed. We worked our way through to Henry V11 times, by which time I was exhausted, and suggested we do the rest on another day.

The London Wall

This is part of the London Wall which is visible from the museum, which was begun around 194AD, if I remember correctly, and was added to and changed over the centuries.

Once we left, we went to the Watling Street pub and had a drink and chat until we got our walking legs back again, and Peter bought some exotic sausages from a bespoke butcher.

We walked off towards Trafalgar Square and took the tube home in different directions.

By the time I got home I was happy to sit and watch TV for a while, but I had enjoyed the outing with Peter.

Another visit to the vet

Yesterday I put some Frontline spot on onto the cat as it is now time to do him again. It got very cold in the evening, and Salty spent quite a bit on the night indoors.

Today I noticed that the cat seemed to have lost fur on his lower stomach, and that the skin was very red, so we made an appointment to take him in to the vet early in the evening. I had ordered some cat food and some of the usual Frontline spot on earlier in the week, and that arrived today. I walked down to the library as the weather was bright before taking Salty to the vet.

We tried a new, closer, vet today, but Salty was still very stressed even by the shorter car journey. The vet, after examining him, said that he had an allergy to flea bites, and although we had been using 'spot on' it was not working for him, so we have to use a more expensive one as the fleas in our area seem to have become resistant to the usual one. She gave him a quick injection of antibiotics, and we got more pills to give him tomorrow to start a course of antibiotics. After this consultation Salty got back into his carrying box, which surprised us because when we tried to put him in it earlier he had held onto the doorway with his arms and legs; he knew it was the only way to get home again, and he was ready! This short visit cost another £80.00! The good part was that he seemed to begin feeling better almost immediately.

I vacuumed and sprayed the house, and washed all the covers that he normally sleeps on. Florence had called earlier, so I phoned her and talked for a while, and spoke to Diane too.
I watched 'Coast ' on TV

Cooking and 'Writing a World'

Yesterday we spent time doing comfort cooking: rock cakes, (unfortunately they got a bit overcooked so turned out as the kind of cakes visitors would hide behind cushions to avoid eating them in case they broke teeth,) soup and shepherd's pie (without adding a shepherd).

This last, reminds me of Mason's mother: she had a statuette of an organ grinder with a monkey who was holding out a hat for the money. When visiting her one day, she asked if we had seen her monkey grinder which made Mas and I snicker more than somewhat, until she lost patience with us.

Today I went to Borehamwood, and went window shopping and bought some Frontline spot on to put on Salty later. I saw this poem which I really liked :

Writing a world.

'While I talk and the flies buzz,
a seagull catches a fish at the mouth of the Amazon,
a tree falls in the Adirondak wilderness,
a man sneezes in Germany,
a horse dies in Tattany,
and twins are born in France.

What does that mean? Does the contemporaneity
of these events one with another
and with a million others as disjointed
form a rational bond between them,
and write them into anything
that resembles for us a world.'

David Morley

The Jersey Boys musical

It was sunny and bright in the morning which was cheering. Both Mas and I seemed to busy all day, but I did go for a walk as it began to get dark. I enjoy walking through the streets, and as I pass brightly lit rooms I wonder about the people who live in them; it is like viewing stage scenery from the anonymous darkness. I was rather puzzled as some of the homes seem to have wall sized TV sets which were on and displaying a variety of happenings, but the rooms were empty, and no one was watching.

Salty seems rather off colour still, so we decided not to give him any more treat snacks in case he had an alergy to them or something. In the evening we watched the Holcroft Covenant with Michael Caine, neither of us had seen this film before so that made a pleasant change; it was based on a book by Robert Ludlam.










Today we went into London to see the Jersey Boys musical which is a present from Romy and Toby. We had to get there a little early as we had to collect the tickets from the Box Office first. The people at the Prince Edward theatre were very nice. After a quick drink at the bar we found our seats, which were well placed with a central view.

As it was a matinee performance the audience were largely elderly folk who did not have to spend the afternoon working. The atmosphere was very good.

The performance was outstanding, the actor palying Frankie Valli had an amazing voice. All the cast performed really well, the dancing was excellent, and there were a few light touches of humour. The scenery was effective, and the lighting set the mood for each scene.

We both really enjoyed it, and it bought back memories for Mas of listening to the music while driving. It was very inspiring to see how hard everyone concerned in this production has worked to make the show so good. At the end of the show the audience gave a standing ovation to show their appreciation.

When we left the theatre we went to the nearest Stockpot eatery

And we had a glass of wine; Mas said he needed one to gain his eqinimity again. We then had dinner. I have a new plan which is to have a starter, no main course, and then to have a dessert. Mas is following the traditional plan.

We went home on the underground, and Mas avidly read the programme while we travelled and was surprised when we reached Edgware so soon. What a day to remember!

Peace and quiet after the storm

Today we went to Stanmore later than usual, and bought some cat treats in the form op chewy strips. Mas had bought him some earlier in the week, and Salty loves them. We then went to the Man in the Moon, which was empty except for the staff cleaning and tidying everything up. Apparently we had arrived at the perfect time as a football crowd had been partying there earlier. We had noticed the police van, and five policemen chatting together outside the pub as we went in which had given us a clue. We had a nice roast dinner, and gradually the locals drifted back in, and things got back to normal.

When home again Mas gave the cat some of the treats; I have never seen him react to food like this before, and am convinced that they must put some special cat drugs into the food.

In the evening we watched LadyHawk which was entertaining. Salty seems rather lethargic, and did not go outside as much as usual.

Chinese meal with Poppy and Ben

Friday morning, Mas and I went for another short walk; as we left we saw Poppy and Ben and invited them for a meal when it was convenient for them. They said they would like to come over this evening. We saw Margaret, and gave her a birthday card, and chatted briefly.

I tidied up somewhat, while Mas went off to gather up a few missing ingredients for the Chinese meal he wanted to make tonight. Poppy and Ben came over as planned, and we had a fun evening chatting and eating; so much more fun than watching TV.

Today we had a bit of a lazy day, Mas spent time on the computer, and I went for a walk looking at the architectural styles around Edgware. In particular at some houses in a small road called Garden City where each house is painted a different pastel colour. They were built in 1920 by an E. Appleby.


















In the evening we watched one of the Rosemary and Thyme series.

Hearing tests and electrocuted cat

I spent most of the day pottering about, and in the afternoon I went for a walk and picked up a little shopping. Mas went off to Edgware General Hospital for a hearing test; he has some hearing loss and will see if he finds hearing aids helpful.

We watched an NCIS in the evening, and went to bed fairly early.

Today after breakfast Mas and I went off for a short walk together for the exercise,and later I went for a longer walk on my own. It rained heavily all afternoon; Salty rushed indoors looking as if he had been electrocuted...all his fur was stuck together in points, he was really soaking, and his tummy was all muddy. He threw himself down on the carpet, and within half an hour he was dried, fluffed up again and white!

In the evening we watched an old tape of The Hudsucker Proxy which was a very strange film with Tim Robbins and Paul Newman in it. The scenery and graphics of the film were strange futuristic/ art deco for the period of the 1950s, but fascinating.

A treat to remember

It was raining all night, consequently, the cat was running boisterously around the house, and tearing up and down the stairs, going head over heels, but catching onto steps with his claws to prevent himself from crashing down the flight of stairs in the nick of time. All this kept me awake, so I listened to the radio quietly for hours, and felt tired all day.

While we had breakfast we watched the snow swirling down, but it did not settle. For some exercise I vacuumed violently and excessively, before settling down to more peaceful occupations. I am so bored by this weather.

Today I walked with Poppy and Ben in the park, watching Lilu frolic around. There were other dog walkers too, and we met Jim with his elderly dog. I had not seen him around for a while, and he told me he had recently had a hip replacement, and had been staying with his son while he convalesced.

Mas had invited Poppy and Ben to come for one of our cheapy pub lunches, but Ben was on call, and had to urgently leave. Poppy called to say this may take some time, so Mas and I went off to the Man in the Moon, as we came back it snowed, and then sleeted.

Later, Poppy and Ben invited us to go out for an evening meal with them, and have some Persian cooking. We drove off with them to Finchley Central and went to a restaurant called Shiraz which was peacefully appointed, and with friendly service. We had a really nice three course meal with wine, and Poppy and I had Persian tea afterwards, which was amber coloured, clear and delicately scented. Mason, unusually, really liked the wine very much. Really, just the very tasty starters would have been ample, but it was interesting to try all the different flavours, and we had a really nice evening.

Later on, just as we were thinking of going off to bed the cat bought in another minute mouse. I managed to take it away from him and put it outside again, but I don't know if it had been hurt too much to survive. At this rate I think I will have to try and find a small robot mouse for him to chase, otherwise the area will be denuded of wildlife, or at least mice.

All's well that ends well

We had breakfast, with the sun shining for a change. Salty was particularly happy as he could pounce on, and watch the small rainbows that came from the hanging crystal.

We arranged to meet Tania and Robert at Sazios for lunch. Just before we left, I realised that I had written down the date for our visit to the theatre in the wrong month in my diary, and that we had missed the show by four days! I was so mad I felt like stabbing myself, especially as this was a gift from Romy and Toby.

We drove off to St.Albans, and had a really nice lunch with Tania and Robert, and I told them about some of my pictures being used on television. As I was driving back home the weather got colder, and it began to snow, and we thought how lucky we had been with our timing, getting lots of fruit and vegetables from the market before the snow came.

In the evening we watched an NCIS, and then I left Mas watching TV while I listened to my new Nocturnes CD and did some knitting for a change, but kept thinking about our missed theatre outing. We had eaten so much at lunch that we did not bother to have an evening meal.

We had breakfast with a snow shower, and this gradually changed to rain. Mas phoned up about the theatre tickets, and they were very nice saying we could go on another day, but to return the tickets. I felt so relieved.

I called Jean in Devon and talked to her for a long time; there was a lot to catch up on as we had not seen each other for years. I felt really happy to talk to her, and will try to call her more often.

I discovered that my pictures had already been shown on the BBC, on Click Bits on Friday, and L J Rich the presenter thought they had looked lovely on screen. Toby called to talk, and Pete too, so it was a great day for communications.

Good news

After having pains in one calf all night I got up early and went off to the hospital in case I should have DVT. After having my leg examined the doctor thought it very unlikely, as my leg was not swollen, the veins did not hurt, and the calf was soft when relaxed. I left reassured if somewhat sheepish, but reminded myself it was better to be safe than sorry.

Walking home, I met Ben who was walking towards the park with Lilu. We chatted for a while, and as it happened Ben had been out for a coffee with Mas while I was out. I had a lovely surprise when I got home as Jana had sent a letter full of news together with a CD of Chopin Nocturnes; the good news is that she will be coming over in April for a holiday. I really like these Nocturnes, and recalled how often while waiting for the Wednesday or Saturday play on the radio, BBC Home service, they would play a Nocturne first, which is how I became familiar with them.

In the evening we watched The Mentalist which is silly, but entertaining.