Lots of bloggers seem to put up a new post every day. How on earth do they find the time? Time goes so quickly, and it is already a week since I last posted. Would you believe it is exactly a year today since the WI Albert Hall gig where I met the Queen? Unsurprisingly, that was one of the most popular posts I have ever done. So, time for a bit of a catch-up…..
Weather has been horrible this week, dull, cold and biting north wind. Somewhat sunnier today. Here are some pretty poppies from our saunter down to the Old Town this morning.
 |
| Pretty poppies |
We had our good friend Shaun to stay for a long weekend, and did all sorts of nice things – it was actually sunny, and Shaun is very good company.
We showed him the Pier, and visited the Memory Room for the first time. It is interesting and good. There are excellent interactive tables where you tap on a picture and it shows information and other pictures about a particular aspect of the Pier’s history. It sounds nerdy but was totally worthwhile. We had a coffee on the upstairs glass-walled balcony again – very warm and sheltered. Shaun was impressed.
 |
| Seagulls at the Pier head. |
 |
| Unsatisfactory picture of a memory table…. |
In the evening he was also impressed with the Kino Teatr in St Leonard’s. It is settling down into a really cool place. We had a good meal, looked at the art, and then saw a gloomy and somewhat harrowing Hungarian film called ‘Son of Saul’.
Set in Auschwitz, the film is about one Sonderkommando prisoner’s attempt to give one boy a dignified burial. He spends the film rushing from one unimaginably horrible job to another while he tries to find a rabbi. I dreamt about the film – I was back at work, using the film as a case-study about why it was important to have proper job descriptions. I don’t think so….
 |
| Cool dining at the Kino Teatr |
The next morning we went to the Elm Tree car-boot sale at Icklesham. We all three got some really excellent things. Here are a few of mine. The two Doulton bowls were £2 each, and the Whitefriars somewhat more, £30, but still an excellent bargain.
 |
| One-off Royal Doulton Lambeth bowl, with inscription G A Allchin, painted by Vera Huggins, dated 1939, a bit damaged and restored. |
 |
| Royal Doulton Woodland Trees very large bowl, perfect, c1920s |
 |
| Whitefriars Knobbly large bowl, streaky green, c1964. |
Then to Rye Harbour, coffee and cake with Morgan and Peter at the Avocet, and a walk. We were lucky enough to see some baby avocets with their parents. Here are a couple of photos Philosopher took.
 |
| Avocet parent and chick |
 |
| Avocet chick |
Shaun went on Monday, and have been busy ever since. This coming week it is the South of England Show at Ardingly. Our WI has entered, as usual, for a number of the WI classes. I have written ‘an illustrated farmyard story for children, in 100 words’. Surprisingly difficult to do anything with such a tiny word count. More like flash fiction…, I don’t think it will do as well as last year’s entry. We have also entered, as a group, a knitted vase with knitted flowers
in, and a picnic scene with lots of crafty bits in, as well as other
individual efforts. We all are having a day out at Ardingly on Thursday
this week, and on Tuesday I have undertaken to get up at the clappers
of dawn to go over there with friend Jan to set up our exhibits.
Am also just finishing off a piece for this year’s Lady Denman Cup – not a poem this time, but a ‘letter to your younger self, in 500 words.’ Again, difficult to produce something special and different. The topic does not inspire me – it’s a bit naff, like an essay topic from school when you were about twelve.
We’ve got the builders coming in this week, we are having the bathroom redone. I won’t tell you more at this stage – the story is nearly as boring as the EU Referendum Campaign.
The Referendum business is so annoying I can scarcely think about it without my blood pressure rocketing through the roof. How on earth did our political so-called ‘leaders’ get us into this ridiculous situation? It has discredited both sides of the campaign who think we are going to be interested in/seduced by scaremongering, hyperbole and lies, and given air-time to some of the most gross and disagreeable creatures imaginable, e.g Boris. The whole thing makes our country look so embarrassing and stupid we are now scarcely in a position to sneer at the US Trump scenario. Well, I suppose it is not quite as bad as Trump….. Oh, stop writing, now.
 |
| Rye Harbour |
Comments from Google+