Big and fat is about the size of it, after a few days intensive eating in Malaga. Already have been back for ten days, and it seems so long ago. The weather here in Hastings is relentlessly grey and damp. I felt unwell for a few days when we came back – don’t know if it was simple fatigue, or had picked up a bug. Nevertheless, Battleaxe has been doing all sorts of things, despite what the post title says. Went to Eastbourne Hospital to see a dermatologist, had a day in London visiting the Photographer’s Gallery with the same band of Philosopher’s old friends that we now meet on a regular basis, went to Stanza poetry group, and enjoyed a visit and a lunch out with Philosopher’s niece Harriet and her father Mike, Philosopher’s brother-in-law. No photos of any of it, I’m afraid. But what’s this?
My workspace. This might be the last ever blog post I write on this faithful old desktop computer. It has served me well since 2014 but is now so slow it struggles with the simplest thing. It doesn’t like my latest iPhone. Wifi pick-up is unreliable. It will only take Windows 10, which of course is close to the end of its life… It no longer likes processing photos. So, its hour has come. I do have a fancy state-of-the-art laptop which I bought during the pandemic largely for Zoom purposes, so I can use that. But all my writing gets done upstairs in my study, with my knick-knacks, my array of spaghetti poodles and cats, my view of the sea out of the window. This morning John the computer man came and the replacement is now on order, plus another new one for Philosopher, whose PC is even older and slower than mine. I have procrastinated about getting a new PC for literally, years, because the process is invariably so distressing. When the new machines arrive, even though John says he’ll transfer everything, expect a period of agonised trauma. I have backed up everything possible but still…
So, first, Eastbourne Hospital. Question. Increasing amounts of hospital services seem to be transferring from the Conquest to Eastbourne, but if you are anxious aged/ill person without a car, how are you supposed to get there? Train to Eastbourne I suppose, and then a bus? It’d take ages. Fortunately I had Philosopher to take me in the car – you need that if you don’t even know where to find the hospital in the sprawling suburbs of the town. Saw a dermatologist about a persistent patch of dry rough skin on the bridge of my nose. She said it was unlikely to be cancerous but proposed attacking me with her handy freezer gun. It was unexpectedly painful… my eyes watered for hours afterwards, and now, to make life worse, I have an unsightly scabby weepy patch on my nose.
These are two of the images from the exhibition at the Photographer’s Gallery, Letizia Battaglia: Life, Love and Death in Sicily. (From the website). The photographer was clearly a very brave woman, capturing frequently graphic and grisly images of the Sicilian mafia in the 1970s. The exhibition was very powerful – none of us had expected it to be so good. Battleaxe has never been to the gallery, in Ramillies Street, before, but it is definitely worth a visit – has a nice caff too. Battleaxe would recommend the exhibition, but it is only on until 23 February. After the exhibition we all had a nice Italian meal at a restaurant I had never been to – Mortimer House.
The other family visit was good too… lunch at the Queen’s Head in Icklesham, where they give you the most enormous portions of food. There is yet more family to come – this week we go to London again to meet my nieces …
As you can probably gather from the tone of this post, Battleaxe is not feeling chipper at the moment. Bad weather, my good friend Jan is ill, and the wider world/UK situation is totally beyond grim. Maybe, in the distant future, people will unearth Hastings Battleaxe from some dusty digital vault and read it for sociological interest – a personal account from the perspective of one of the last remaining European liberals. Who can imagine what our future will be. History tells us that totalitarian regimes don’t last long, and that dictatorial regimes will collapse, but in C21, such regimes can do more damage to humanity and the environment than they did in the past.
Ah well, Spring is creeping slowly towards us. Here’s a crocus in Alexandra Park, photographed by Philosopher in a rare sunny moment last week.
Oh poor you. I hope you feel better when the spring comes properly. Those photos are amazing! I’d love to see that exhibition. I feel the same about the state of things, but since I can’t do anything about it, I am refusing to focus on the news and spend my time on more local and pleasant matters.