Tuesday 31 July 2012

He who would so valiant be......

The `blessed` pilgrims  returned safely and managed the whole route on the South Downs Way with the two horsed, the cart, four dogs, and a variable number of adults and children. Only one kissing gate that wouldn`t let the cart through, which meant a bit of a detour. Otherwise it was all lovely with butterflies and wild flowers and warm sunshine.   I went up and joined them one day near Chanctonbury Ring, but was glad to come home and sleep in my bed rather than a cold open field like the Raggle Taggle Gypsies.  
I am heartily sick of the Olympics. My favourite programmes on TV disrupted ( I am addicted to a quiz which is on every day called Eggheads) I hate all the competitiveness and obsession with medals, and when anyone does something exceptional, they say they must have cheated with drugs. The opening ceremony was extraordinary but I loved all the plump nurses prancing about and our noble queen leaping from a helicopter.   

Tuesday 24 July 2012

summertime and the living is easy.........

What a treat to put away the winter clothes at last....... But actually the title of this blog comes from one of the songs we played in a Quaker band on Saturday night at a convent at Wickham near Winchester, with a funny combination of instruments: a cello (me) a piano accordian, two violins, two clarinets and two guitars plus piano.  It was a good weekend and we did all the slightly odd things that Quakers do when they get together, like African drumming, circle dancing, bit of drama, and earnest dicscussions on the the state of the world, plus a bit of yoga -ish cavorting on the lawn before breakfast. I loved it all.  We were looked after at the convent by eight elderly Indian Franciscan nuns.
Daughter J with grand- daughters T and M are walking the South Downs Way this week, with a group of friends and dogs plus a horse and cart carrying their camping gear. If any of the chiildren get tired they can hop on the horse (or the cart) When they left Winchester on Sunday morning, a local vicar came out and blessed them on their journey, hopefully it is all going well and they are lucky with the sunshine though maybe today it is too hot....
I had a pesky virus in my computer which has given me and other people a lot of trouble.  But the good thing about it is that it sent a peculiar message to most people on my contact list (oddly not all) and I have had emails, phone calls and letters from people I have not heard from for ages. Anyone out there who is puzzled by a communication from me online that they do not understand do not OPEN IT! 

Sunday 8 July 2012

and the rain came tumbling down, again.......

After the terrible flood experience up North, I view the rain water cascading down Ditchling High Street with some mistrust. Poor sister J is suffering: waiting for blokes to deal with insurance, flooring, electrics, cleaners, and in the meantime there`s nasty smells in cupboards and under sofas.  It is a nightmare and also there is the possibility that it could happen again.     The only thing for her to do is to lie on said sofa in a darkened  room watching Wimbledon.....     I still have not done this, being the only person in England who has never quite got the hang of tennis so all the excitement is rather lost on me.
I went to London on Thursday to the Royal Academy for the Summer Exhibition with friend D who is a member of RA What an interesting day. The odd choices of the Hanging Committee, the huge sums of money spent on Nursery School daubs, the hundreds of red dots on miniscule prints of Tracey Emin`s work, left me amazed. Of course, there were some wonderful paintings and sculptures too, and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. Why do I not go to London to exhibitions more often?
I am trying to understand about the Higgs Boson. I will have to ask the grandhildren. It may change all our lives like the microchip and computers and mobile phones, but I am still to find out exactly how. 

Sunday 1 July 2012

water, water, everywhere

The great grand baby is beautiful (still unnamed) and I held him and gazed at him to my hearts content.Also it was lovely to see my other two GGbabies and my GG niece. 
I stayed with sister J who has recently moved to a village a few miles from Newcastle.   She had just got the place straight after the move, hundreds of books, new underfloor heatin, gleaming wood floors, spanking white paint,  when disaster struck on Thursday afternoon. A sudden violent thunderstorm and the whole area was flooded.  I had always thought that you only got floods in low lying spots near rivers, but J`s house is up a steep hill.  The water poured in making the most terrifying noise and we rushed around in panicseizing  rugs and moving things The cats got marooned in a corner, and we were all soon covered in thick mud which has settled on every surface.  No electricity, so we had a candle lit night upstairs calling out through the windows to the helpful neighbours who wading about trying  to unblock the drains and divert the flow of water. I felt sad to leave my poor sister in her devastated home when I came home on Friday, but there was nothing more I could do until the insurance people came to assess the damage.  All the trains were disrupted on the way home so I got home very late on Friday night. My little cottage seemed a warm dry haven, so I will stop moaning about it`s insufficiencies. But I suppose the floods could happen anywhere, even hilly Ditchling?