Day 100

Level 2 Chi Kung. Microcosmic orbit.

Now fully back into term time, with the start of Saturday Stagecoach and guitar lessons. Everything went smoothly and, when I returned with Kate and Dash about 1330 in the afternoon, it was to discover Nick vigorously attacking the scrubby mess under the trees on the righthand side of the front garden. There is an old, and picturesquely tortured-looking, prunus at one end. We will keep the prunus of course, but the rest of the bed is a mess of self-seeded holly, ivy creeping over from next door and generally uninspiring dross. There is a rowan, which will stay, but I might grow a clematis or something up it’s trunk. Six months ago I ordered a kowhai and two kakabeaks (one white and one red) to go in this bed, thinking that I would give them an easy start by planting them in spring. But because they were part of the same order as the feijoa trees, they didn’t finally arrive until shortly before we went to Italy. We managed to get the feijoas in the ground but the rest had to stay in pots while we were away. Unfortunately it seems the snails have had a good go at the poor kakabeaks and they are looking very sad. I will have to take up my old passtime of going out snail-hunting in the evening, equipped with a torch and a half-brick.

On the way to Stagecoach in the morning, I reminded Katie that she won’t be going to school on Monday as it is an inset day.

K: An INSECT day?
me: No an inSET day? What do you think the teachers do on inset days when the children aren’t there? Do you think they return to their true insect form (sfx feelers waving and legs clacking)?
K: NO! They plan our lessons for the term and just rest without the children there. And go out for lunch and dinner.
me: Oh, is that all? Do you think they kiss and cuddle?
K: NO! Of course not. Except Mr X kisses his wife. [Mr X is the head teacher]
me: Who is Mr X’s wife?
K: Mrs Y [Mrs Y is the deputy head].

I would be extremely surprised if romance was indeed blossoming between Mr X and Mrs Y (not least because I have always assumed that Mr X plays for the other team) but I guess you never know!

Top ten plays – number three is The History Boys, with Richard Griffiths as the teacher and James Corden as one of the boys. Seen in London on April 10th, 2007 and Nick denies all knowledge of it so I suspect I saw it with Barbara Edmonds to celebrate our birthdays?

Random musings – Scotland

I didn’t want Scotland to leave the union, but I nevertheless feel obscurely sad at the result. The 45% who so passionately wanted independence must be devastated.

 

In the wake of the referendum result, listening to inevitable carping comments about London, I am reminded of an old bumper sticker ‘Don’t complain about farmers with your mouth full’. I wish someone clever would come up with something equally pithy about slagging off London while accepting the tax haul it brings in.

 

All this talk of constitutional change allows fascinating thought experiments. If London and the south were given the opportunity to vote for independence from the rest of the UK, there wouldn’t be any dithering about with 45%. We might shed a wistful tear over York, Harrogate and Durham but, let’s face it, no one is going to lose any sleep over Oldham, Worksop or Hull. We would vote one day and be out building the wall the next. Or, as Nick pointed out, we would more likely be paying some Polish guys to build the wall for us… And the next time someone started yantering on about the north/south divide we could just point out the window and say ‘There it is. Visible from space apparently.’.

Day 99

Level 2 Chi Kung.

Calais. Did Chi Kung while Nick went for a walk then met him downstairs for a nice hotel breakfast. Checked out, went for a bit of a walk, then drove to the enormous Carrefour. Sadly, the ‘shop is so large that the staff get around on roller skates’ turned out to be an urban myth, but we had a look around, failed to find any kirsh but picked up some cheeses, macarons, treats for the children and some more pudding wine. While Nick was buying water, I spotted a shop with the iPhone 6 Plus on display and had a bit of a play – it’s too big for a phone really but I still want one – I hardly ever use my phone as a phone anyway :-). 

We decided we might as well head for the tunnel terminal early as they will let you go on an earlier train if there is room and we were thinking of things we could get done in London if we arrived a little earlier. As we got into the car, I remarked to Nick that I couldn’t help feeling that something was missing: everything had been too simple – without the usual quota of minor disasters. We arrived at the tunnel terminal without difficulty, checked that no unwelcome fellow travellers had secreted themselves in the boot, went through passport control and were accepted onto the train before the train we were booked on. We went to the loo in the terminal building, then drove to the appropriate queue at first call. At first the cars were zooming up the lane quite steadily but then, when we were about 5 or 6 from the front, everything stopped, and we then sat there while our train’s status went from ‘waiting’, to ‘boarding’ to ‘closed’, and the next two trains began to show as ‘re-timed’. No staff and no information – must have sat there for an hour before things finally got moving again, luckily still just in time for us to make it back to London before the nanny turned into a pumpkin. Hey ho – should have kept my mouth shut when things were going well!

Arrived home to find the children much affected by International Peace Day. Although they used to be the best of mates, lately the bickering between Kate and Dash has got to the point where we are all finding it pretty trying. So it was lovely to arrive home and find them all loving towards each other. Katie has even made a card for Dash, which said, with characteristic directness: ‘Dear Dash, thank you for being such a sweet and lovely brother. Sorry for hating you so much. Love, Katie’.

Continuing with my top ten plays: number two has to be Robin Williams as the tiger in Bengal Tiger at the Bagdad Zoo, seen on Broadway with Nick Curnow as part of my birthday celebration in 2011.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m97R9C8xMRg

Day 98

Day 98: Level 2 Chi Kung Body and Mind Process.

Calais! Totally impressed with the shuttle. So easy and quick – so much less stressful than flying. Will definitely consider rental car/shuttle for our next family holiday. Left home about 10am and, even losing an hour on account of the time difference, arrived in Calais in time for (a sadly mediocre) lunch at a little bistro opposite our hotel. After lunch we found a nice park and tried to walk off the frites, then headed to the wine shop to collect the wine I had pre-ordered. The wine shop paid our shuttle fares and the £4.50 per bottle we saved on the 6 cases of wine should more than cover all the other expenses of the trip. Wandered around and added a couple more cases, including some inoffensive Shiraz (Rosemount) to mull for the bonfire night party and a few bottles of pudding wine and other little treats. All well below UK prices. Back to the hotel for a nap (naps being one of the great treats of travelling without the children. For dinner we decided not to take any chances and went for a Michelin-recommended restaurant with very high ratings on trip advisor. Nick loved his food – I thought mine was shite. I sometimes wonder if I am becoming too fussy. While waiting for the tarte tatin to arrive (BTW who the hell makes tarte tatin with bloody shortcrust – made me think of Pam Ayres: ‘and if your teeth had got a bit too long like, well that’d be the stuff to grind them back’) we were talking about various plays we’ve seen and I started on my top ten list.

Number one, without a doubt, is Jerusalem, starring the wonderful Mark Rylance. Seen in London with Nick Curnow and then (because I got all evangelical about it) again with Betsy Boo. It was clever, funny, moving, magical…
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=up3M7WOPsg4

Day 97

Level 2 Chi Kung Body and Mind Process. Microcosmic orbit.

Decided I had better have a Bayswater day before the nanny disappears. Got my roots sorted at my old hairdresser, where when I casually asked if she had had a good summer, Lena announced that she had found love and would be leaving for Denmark at the beginning of December. It’s a bit ironic that she speaks Bulgarian, German, Russian, French and Italian and she falls in love with an English guy who lives in Denmark. She has promised to invite us to the wedding. Had a late lunch at Grainger (disappointing), then got a neck and shoulder massage. The therapist threw in 15 minutes of reflexology for my knee, which hurt like hell but felt good afterwards. Finished up with a walk in Hyde Park for old times sake – I’m not impressed with what they’ve done to Round Pond but the rest of the park is looking lovely.

Home and a sandwich for dinner to finish off the last of the roast chicken before browning the bones and putting them on to simmer for stock. Went upstairs to do some urgent paperwork, forgetting that my useless hob couldn’t manage a low simmer if life depended on it, and was alerted to the terrible fate of the stock only when the lovely smells wafting up the stairs turned to acrid smoke. I raced downstairs to find Nick asleep in the living room and the pot burned black. So much for the long-awaited chicken soup. I’ll have to roast another chicken next week.

I think I might be falling in love with John Lanchester. It’s purely platonic – I’ve never met him, I’ve never even seen a photo of him. I love him for his clear thinking, his wonderful writing, and most of all, I love him for this paragraph:

‘This may sound grim, but I am not pessimistic. Rising inequality is not a law of nature – it’s not even a law of economics. It is a consequence of political and economic arrangements, and those arrangements can be changed. Inequality in the developed world fell for most of the 20th century; we can make it fall for most of the 21st century, too. But it won’t happen without sustained pressure on politicians from electorates. So let’s get on with it. Let’s start to make them hear what we’re saying: it’s about the inequality, stupid.’

Here’s the full article: http://www.theguardian.com/…/poverty-uk-better-calling-it-i…

Day 96

Level 2 Chi Kung Body and Mind Process. Microcosmic orbit.

A bit of a fox and geese day today. This morning was the second session of the collaborative art project. I wasn’t looking forward to it as Karen the obnoxious care worker was meant to be bringing 5 dementia patients along and I didn’t think adequate arrangements had been made to make it a good experience for them, particularly given that they had missed the first day. They didn’t show up, but we wasted the first half hour waiting for them.

Home and just time to do Chi Kung and a few bits and pieces and it was time to collect Katie from school. Home to wait for Dash, then off to drop Katie at ‘Tuesday Strings’ (cello lesson and orchestra). Home to wait for Jack. Back to the village to collect Katie. Home (phew!).

On the way home, Katie and I had what I suspect will be the first of many many conversations about politics.

K: Hey Mum, have you heard the news? Scottish people have a big decision to make on Thursday. They are going to vote on whether to be independent or stay part of the United Kingdom.
J: Yes, it’s very exciting – no one knows what’s going to happen.
K: Each day after break the teachers put the radio on and we listen to the noos.
J: ‘News’ honey, with a ‘y’ sound. We’re not Americans.

Day 95

Level 2 Chi Kung Body and Mind Process. Microcosmic orbit (really enjoyable and fab light show at the end – blues and greens).

After receiving a text from the nanny on Sunday night saying “we need to talk” I was braced for her to resign this morning. She is very part-time (she only does 2 hours each morning and Thursday evening) and her main thing is opera – both singing and coaching others on their Italian diction – so we have always been aware that she would leave if the opera took off. It isn’t such a big deal now that I’m not working. In fact, when I knew I would be giving up work, we briefly considered doing without childcare altogether, but quickly decided not to. This was partly because we really value our Thursday nights out (and I have theatre tickets booked up a year in advance!) and partly because we just never want to go back to the situation where we have no one who the children feel comfortable with. Anyway, she didn’t resign but she does need to go to Thailand from Saturday until mid November. The main problem is the APMP course I am booked onto in the last week of October. Heaven knows how I managed to book myself on a course during what turns out to be half term week. In the end, our lovely cleaner, who I think would very much prefer to be a nanny, came to the rescue and will do that week and the Thursday nights. I am still gutted about missing half term, but the alternative would be to delay the course indefinitely and I don’t really want it hanging over me when I am wanting to be concentrating on making my own yoghurt etc.

Amazon finally delivered the last item for the birthday and Christmas parcel I have been preparing to send to New Zealand (the Christmas posting deadline for surface mail is the last week of September but it doesn’t pay to cut it too fine), and I had great fun putting it all together. For those who have read “What Katy Did At School”, the birthday parcel is loosely inspired by the Christmas box the girls receive at boarding school, except it does not contain any kid gloves! The fun tapered off slightly when I discovered that Royal Mail no longer takes parcels that weigh over 2 kg and that to send it by parcel force would cost £54! I spent the rest of the afternoon repackaging everything into sub-2kg packages.

In the evening, more activity prompted by the imminent departure of the nanny. Six months ago, I bought a bottle of wine as part of a mixed case, which I didn’t then get around to tasting for ages. When I finally did open it, it was to have a glass in the bath after a hard day in the garden, so, when it tasted utterly sublime, I wondered if it was just because I’d spent the day sieving soil. So I had another glass the next day and it was still fabulous – at which point I went online and tried to order some more. No luck – the last few bottles had sold and no one was stocking it any more. Over the last few months I have been doggedly trying to track some down, even going so far as to contact the producer, who confirmed that they no longer have any distributors in the UK, but the only place with stock is a wine supermarket in Calais. So I hatched a plan to make a quick wine-buying trip to France some time during the autumn but before it gets too cold. But with Monique departing on Saturday it was now or never, so we got organised to go on Thursday and return on Friday. Amazingly, if you buy enough wine (6 cases), the shop pays your Chunnel fare. Although we have taken the Eurostar a few times, we have never taken a car through, so that will be interesting.

Finally, I remembered to get Nick to sign my declaration and voted.

Day 94

Level 2 Chi Kung Body and Mind Process. Microcosmic orbit.

My turn on morning duty, while Nick was out on a long bike ride. Porridge for Katie, crumpets for Dash, huge pile of toast and marmite for Jack. To my relief, no one asked for gingerbread pancakes – I am so bored with that recipe. Did some origami with Katie – it’s ages since we have done this and it was really fun.

After Nick got back from his ride, I helped him with the long-delayed reorganisation of the garage (which should really be called ‘the shed’, since we have neither a car nor any intention of getting one). Over the past two years ‘the shed’ has been gradually filling up with crates of Nick’s tools, dead appliances, and large piles of cardboard waiting to be either put out with the recycling or recycled more directly via the compost heap. Nick bought some shelving a few months ago but a major clear out was required in order to create room for it to be put up.

Feeling very smug and virtuous about having persuaded the children to do all their homework on Friday evening thereby avoiding any mad panic tonight.

Day 93

Level 2 Chi Kung Body and Mind Process (just the once). Microcosmic orbit.

My turn to sleep in, so had a lazy morning, then did Chi Kung. A bit of cleaning and shopping, then roasted a lovely big organic chicken for dinner. Didn’t do anything fancy – just washed it, put a quartered lemon in the cavity and rubbed some rock salt on the skin. Very juicy and tasty. Baked some new potatoes a la Delia Smith (rubbed with olive oil and sprinkled with rock salt), steamedcarrots and broccoli and made a quick salad of julienned courgette with a basil oil and lemon juice dressing. Saved the pan juices from the chicken to make stock. I love chicken soup and, as you can’t get bags of organic necks, carcasses and giblets here, I generally only get to make it from the bones of a roast chicken. And then I usually end up using the stock in a risotto or something, but this time it is definitely going to be soup.

A couple of weeks ago, Nick was on a bus when he was amused to hear a woman, who had got on the bus with several little girls, call out to one of them ‘Destiny, go and sit down beside Glory’. A few days later, I was on the bus when a woman got on with four little girls and called out to the littlest ‘Paradise, come and sit here by me’. I was desperate to find out if Paradise’ sisters were Glory and Destiny and what the 4th one might be called (Fate? Salvation? Charity?), but the bus was crowded and there was no chance.

Conkers are so beautiful – it is such a shame that, aside from being a natural moth deterrent, they are no use to man nor beast. It is said that squirrels eat them, but our squirrels seem to prefer to chomp on my allium bulbs.

Day 92

Level 2 Chi Kung Body and Mind Process (x3). Microcosmic orbit (spectacular!).

For some time now I have been feeling curious about what it would feel like to start the day with two hours of Chi Kung a la Richard Bolstad. Today (and cynics will no doubt point out that the timing suggests the lengths I am prepared to go to to avoid clearing out the bloody filing cabinet) I decided to give it a try. I couldn’t really recall how to do the wall-squatting and iron shirtstuff Richard does, but I figured that if I did the Body and MInd Process (which takes just over half an hour) three times and then the Microcosmic Orbit (which takes about 20 minutes) once, then that would pretty much use up 2 hours. So, is it really, as Richard says on the CD ‘always easier the second time’? Well, yes and no. Mostly yes. In fact the only bits that were noticeably more difficult the second and third time around were the shoulder bits – especially ‘claw like an eagle’ – which doesn’t give me any trouble when I only do the process once but was really quite trying on the third go around. And did I feel three times as energised as when I only do the Body and Mind Process Once? Well, at the point where I had done the B&MP three times but hadn’t yet done the Microcosmic Orbit, I confess I felt like I needed a warm bath and a long nap. But after the Microcosmic Orbit I felt great. As the afternoon wore on, I gradually began to feel like someone who has done really really a lot of exercise, or perhaps climbed something very tall.

At school pick up time yesterday I was chatting with Lena, the mother of one of Katie’s friends. Lena is a Russian journalist who I gather generally reports on London life for a Russian radio station. At the moment however, she said it’s all about Scotland because of the parallels with Crimea. I laughed and asked jokingly if Putin thought we would invade Scotland if the ‘yes’ vote wins the day, but of course they see the parallel the other way around.

Last night I realised that I had never fully appreciated the length and flexibility of a dog’s tongue, until Sherlock caught me bending down to get a new tin of coffee grounds from a low shelf and stuck his tongue right up my ear canal. A truly disgusting experience.

The day before yesterday, Katie pushed a note under my bedroom door bearing the one word message: ‘Sory’. Given the range of destruction for which Katie has NOT felt any need to apologise, this struck fear into my heart. I went downstairs and asked what she was sorry for but she said she couldn’t bear to tell me. In spite of all encouragement, offers of immunity from prosecution etc, she has maintained this line ever since. It is like living with an unexploded bomb.