in a while

Busy, busy.
Things to do.

People to see.

Laterz.
x

hindsight 20/20

MasterM could not join us at the picnic

because he was running a marathon.

Not just any old marathon

but up and down the coastal footpath

from Lulworth Cove to Shell Bay.

The Jurassic Coast Challenge is 120 km

from Charmouth to Shell Bay.
3 marathons in 3 days.

You have to be superfit to complete it.

MasterM ran on the last day

to support his friend
who completed all three marathons.

This is MasterM's pedometer for last week:

MasterM has never run a marathon before

but, as you can see from the pedometer,
he thought he was already fit enough.

He won't make that mistake again!

It was all in aid of teamArchie,

set up in memory of Archie Lloyd,
inspiring and enabling young people,

helping them to fulfill their potential.

cutting the cake

When I tentatively suggested a big family picnic at Brentor on Mothering Sunday my brother and sisters got very excited and the whole project snowballed. I spent a lot of time imagining all the things that could go wrong but I shouldn't have worried - my family are picnic pros.

Five cars filled with aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents arrived at Brentor at the same time, a small miracle because one family drove up from Penzance and another family came down from Bristol. My father was given the task of scouting out the best place to sit and we all followed with armfuls of rugs, picnic hampers bursting with goodies and enough thermos flasks of coffee to set up a cafe.

We sat in the warm sunshine watching boy cousins climb on the rocks and girl cousins demonstrate their gymnastic prowess, sharing memories and enjoying each others company. Everyone had brought their favourite picnic food to share and so there was a feast of spinach quiche and salad, pasties, pork pies, baguettes and cheese, crunchy apples, flapjacks and party rings. At the end my mother cut her famous Dundee cake and for a happy moment it felt as though we had slipped back into our childhood.

team photo

When your children are adults

the best gift of all is

presence.

Wednesday 22 March

I arrived at London Waterloo yesterday afternoon intending to walk to the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square before returning to the South Bank to meet a friend and go to a concert in the Royal Festival Hall. It is a very pleasant stroll across the Jubilee footbridge looking down the river towards Westminster and I used to do it every day when I worked in London.

As my train approached the platform I could see that the entrance of St. Thomas's Hospital A&E was crowded with ambulances and police cars and that traffic was stationary on surrounding roads. The air was resonating with the sounds of sirens and helicopters and when I reached the South Bank I discovered that the whole site was taped off and that it would not be possible to walk across the river. Behind me a police van was shouting at pedestrians and telling them to clear the area.

These are the things that I saw and heard and my question to you is what would you do next if you were in my situation? Would you find another route across the river and continue with your plans for the evening or return to Waterloo, a crowded train station. How would you get information about the safest place to be?

I turned to Twitter and read on @BBCBreaking that the incident was in Westminster so my alternative route was out of the question. @MetPoliceUk were giving advice on roads that were closed and it was apparent that the incident was very serious with a large cordon around Westminster Bridge. There was no evidence of coordinated attacks in other parts of London but I checked @southbankcentre and saw that the site had been closed on police advice. @LPOrchestra quickly confirmed that the concert was cancelled and so I could make the decision to return home.

In contrast, my friend chooses not to have a smart phone or use social media and apps and I realised how vulnerable she has made herself by rejecting changes to the way that information is shared. She was dependent on other people before she could make decisions about the safest course of action and because reception for analogue phones is poor when everyone else is using their phones it was difficult for her to keep in contact.

I learned two things yesterday:

1. You do not know when you will be in a fast moving security situation. It could be a train station, a concert hall, an airport, a shopping centre. Think about how you would access information to keep yourself safe. In my experience Twitter is the quickest way to get information from reliable sources so it is worth investing time to become familiar with how it works.

2. Always have a fully charged back up battery for your phone in your bag. If areas are cordoned off or transport stops you may be using your phone for several hours and your family will need reassurance that you are safe.

I hope that you are never in a situation where this advice is helpful but please be prepared so that you can make informed decisions and stay in touch with your family.

This post is dedicated to those affected by the incident at Westminster on Wednesday 22 March and to the emergency services for their work protecting the people of London.

impossible blossom

Almond Blossom, 1890

Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890)

From Blossoms

From blossoms comes

this brown paper bag of peaches

we bought from the boy

at the bend in the road where we turned toward

signs painted Peaches.

From laden boughs, from hands,

from sweet fellowship in the bins,

comes nectar at the roadside, succulent

peaches we devour, dusty skin and all,

comes the familiar dust of summer, dust we eat.

O, to take what we love inside,

to carry within us an orchard, to eat

not only the skin, but the shade,

not only the sugar, but the days, to hold

the fruit in our hands, adore it, then bite into

the round jubilance of peach.

There are days we live

as if death were nowhere

in the background; from joy

to joy to joy, from wing to wing,

from blossom to blossom to

impossible blossom, to sweet impossible blossom.

Li-Young Lee

“From Blossoms” from Rose

Copyright © 1986 by Li-Young Lee

Source: Rose (BOA Editions Ltd., 1986)

blossom report

Prunus Incisa Kojo-no-mai

I can highly recommend taking photos of your garden first thing in the morning. It improves the mood. Especially if it is sunny. But only if there is no one to scold you for letting your porridge get cold.   

kimono envy

Girl in a Red Kimono

George Hendrik Breitner (1857-1923)

The Japanese Print

William Merritt Chase (1849-1916)

Lady with a Fan

Charles Sprague Pearce (1851-1914)

Goldfish

Richard Edward Miller (1875-1943)

The Japanese Parisian

Alfred Stevens (1823-1906)

The Silk Kimono

Lee Lufkin Kaula (1865 – 1957)

Woman in Kimono

Mary Brewster Hazelton

I will neither confirm nor deny that I have been researching antique kimonos with a view to purchase one of the aforementioned items. Any conversation that I might have had with MissM on the subject is entirely coincidental. Nothing can be inferred from the large number of images of kimonos on my laptop. MrM will testify that he is completely unaware of any intention related to imminent kimono purchase. 

virtual sushi

This is not my sushi but I'm going to claim some of the credit because we gave MissM the vouchers for the Waitrose Cookery School at Christmas. After a very enjoyable session at Finchley Road she is now a Grand Sushi Master with black belt and knots. Unfortunately I had to restrict myself to drooling over the photo because the sushi was consumed by MissM and her flatmates. MissM is fired with enthusiasm and has persuaded me to enrol on a breadmaking course with her. There will be photos of me looking hot and covered in flour in your future. You have been warned.

amaryllis

Never in doubt.

Thank you for your friendship this week. I'm going to be spreading compost on the garden because that is what Tracey the Boot Camp Gardener has decreed so you can be sure that whatever you are doing is going to be somewhere above me on the scale of Weekend Fun. Enjoy your weekend!

spring sunshine

Light Wash

Andrew Wyeth (1917-2009)

© The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens

It was sunny on my day off! I hung out the pillow cases and watched them blow on the washing line, drank a mug of coffee and listened to a blackbird in the holly tree, admired the dayglo pink camellia flowers, looked carefully at the green buds on the cherry tree, gloated over bold patches of daffodils by the summer house and thought briefly about cutting the grass before putting on my sunglasses and going for a spin in the car with the sunshine roof open. By the time I came home winter had left the building.

emergency cake

There are days when comfort food is essential.

If you have given up chocolate for Lent

the only answer is cake.

Coffee cake.

meanwhile

...MasterM and Drummond the horse are getting on just fine.

MrsM is delighted to receive this aquatic action shot but MrM looks slightly faint and goes off to check the insurance policy for clauses excluding 'phones dropped into rivers within ten days of purchase'. 

diverse dinosaurs

MrsM
Why are there paper dinosaurs in reception?

Office Manager
There was a Diversity meeting last night.

MrsM
How lovely! What could be nicer than paper dinosaurs?

Office Manager
Cake would be nicer than paper dinosaurs.

snow petals

I can see the white camellia when I open the curtains in the morning. Day by day I watch the buds grow fat, willing them to stay closed until the danger of frost has passed. Now the slender branches bend with the weight of flowers and I am astonished. Was there ever such a year, such a reckless abundance, such a storm of snow petals? 

recovery plan

Girl in a white dress resting on a sofa

Alfred Emile Leopole Stevens

Apologies for absence over past few days - sometimes I try to do too much and my body protests. It is probably a hangover from my brush with meningitis and is very annoying but over the years I have put together a plan of action which starts with "stop doing stuff (including writing) and get some sleep". So I wrap myself up in my Donegal blanket, lie on the sofa, and remind myself that it is better to suffer from having too much fun than too little. 

daffodils in a jug

Kate's Flowers

Winifred Nicholson (1936)

My mother says:

"I wish that you could see the wild daffodils in the woods but it is so wet today that it wouldn't be much fun. The daffodils in the orchard have come out very early - just look at that selection in the jug - but I am afraid that there won't be any for Easter which is such a shame. Come and look at my hellebores - if you stand just here you can see them without getting your feet wet. I'm definitely going to plant some more for next year - they seem to like it in that spot. Now stay there because I'm going out to dig up some snowdrops for you to take home. I have been moving them around this year so that they flower in the right places where I can see them next year. And what do you think of my camellias? These are the ones that I have grown from seed - I don't know if they are going to flower this year but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. "

My mother is always looking forward enthusiastically to the next season, the next year. It is the life-enhancing characteristic of real gardeners. 

carpe Iris

Seriously, you turn your back for one moment and the next thing you know the Iris are in full bloom. Not that I'm objecting but I would have preferred to appreciate the process a bit more. A petal here and there rather than an overnight explosion. But now they are here I'm committed to full time Iris appreciation. Can't waste a moment because they'll be over if I blink.

(And before you Classical types get angsty I can confirm that the correct accusative form of Iris is Iris because I checked with MrM.)

an enchanted world

The Star

Edgar Degas

MissM and MrsM went to watch 'The Sleeping Beauty' at Covent Garden last week. They clapped as loud as anyone when the divine Marianela Nuñez completed the Rose Adagio and swooned ever so slightly at the sight of Vadim Muntagirov doing jetés. Kristen McNally was commendably Gothic as Carabosse and MrsM's secret passion for James Hay remains undimmed. All in all a very satisfactory night out at the ballet.

Two Dancers on a Stage

Edgar Degas

MissM and MrsM were particularly impressed by the bouquets received by La Nuñez. One was the size of a small garden and must have required an individual delivery van. Somewhere in London there is a wholesale florist planning a family holiday in the Bahamas.

Dancer with a Bouquet of Flowers

Edgar Degas