Is Spring on the way?

Camelia in back garden 1st March 2009

Wendy and I are not great at watching films at home but we recently watched a free DVD "Away from her" simply because we noticed that it featured Julie Christie and that she had won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress and been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress.

Julie Christie was worth all these accolades but the perfomance of Gordon Pinsent was also noteworthy. The subject content of Alzheimer's was most poignant to us at the moment as Wendy's Mum continues to have more and more problems with memory loss. It was a very moving film based on Alice Munro's short story "The Bear Came Over the Mountain". To suffer Alzheimer's must be dreadful, equally to "lose" a loved one to Alzheimer's must be horrendous.

The dining room floor is going to have to be redone and so the turmoil returns. I'm not very good at coping with such upheavals. Ask Wendy about it! Luckily we have a bolt hole whilst it's being done so I don't have to live every moment of it.

I find two international rugby matches on one day difficult to take and so am delighted that France play Wales on Friday evening. What a fantastic and fascinating game too! I haven't enjoyed an international match not involving England for some time. France performed so well and yet Wales were still there with a chance in the dieing moments. The physicality of the game was enormous. I dislike the amount the ball is kicked these days but France had some great exponents of this skill.

England declare on 600 - 6 but having been a refugee for two days I've missed it all. Captaincy doesn't seem to be upsetting Strauss. Glad to see that Bopara has taken his chance. Can we now bowl well enough and can we do better in the field than the West Indies?

I find the rewards for failed bankers really obnoxious and am worried about the whole financial scene. But the corruption in Zimbabwe is more abhorrent and bringing such misery to so many. Surely the other African countries could have some influence in this terrible situation.

After the enjoyment of the France-Wales game the Ireland-England showed how low international rugby has stooped. I would have said that England have reached their nadir but I fear they could get worse.

Fortunately may mind was diverted from this debacle of a match when I attended Chris Taylor's opening dinner for his Benefit Year. Chris is really deserving of a great year but I felt the financial climate impinged on the success of the evening. Graham Gooch, as main speaker, was entertaining and funny but probably went on a little too long. I really loved the anecdotes about former cricketers he has played with. These evenings often drag on, making as many opportunities to raise funds as possible, and this was no different. It was good to meet up with a number of Old Colstonians and John and Bernadette Bracewell who did wonderfully well to support Chris at the evening as they had just arrived in England. Chris is supporting Sparks (Sport Aiding Medical Research for Kids) (http://www.sparks.org.uk/) and the PCA Benevolent Fund in his Benefit Year.


Graham Gooch speaking at Chris Taylor testamonial dinner


John and Bernadette Bracewell with Sarah and Chris Taylor

Chris with some of his school friends at the dinner

Purchased early Victorian mahogany 3 tier "What Not" which goes well on new wooden floor. Nice treat after all the turmoil. First cut of the grass, some tidying up in the garden and then played with new gadget for cleaning paving stones. Opened very pleasant bottle of Chianti Piccini received as present. Managed to keep some for the next day when it should be even better.


The bees are busier than me in the garden

Around February half term

Friday the 13th! Not so unlucky for me as there a couple of good photo opportunities: Valentine roses and then Colston's talent show "Colston's Got Talent" (not happy by the use, or lack of use, of the apostrophe here, but I suppose it is acceptable in mimicking the national competition by a similar name!).


Preparing the roses for delivery to Valentines


Colston's Got Talent

I really enjoyed the talent show (more cathartic than watching Bristol's miserable defeat at the hands of Newcastle in the Guinness Premiership) - I am amazed at the bottle that youngsters have in such situations and not only was I impressed by the talent of the contestants but also by everyone involved: host, judges, lighting and sound technicians, everyone else involved in staging such an event, and the audience who were very supportive and appreciative.

Half term was spent in a cottage in Devon. I can't believe I know so little of this part of the country which is so near to home and yet has great appeal. This format of holidays is also quite new to us and is a very good substitute for motor homes which we had for the best part of 20 years. I never thought we would find a cottage as grand as the one we rented at Azay-sur-Cher in the Loire, or as comfortable as Forest Cottage near to Killerton (also in Devon).


Forest Cottage in its quite magical setting in the middle of a forest


Blueball Barn at Colaton Raleigh is much nicer on the inside than this external view presents

I have always thought that seaside resorts in England were rather shabby (especially out of season) but Budleigh Salterton, Sidmouth and Exmouth, which we visited this time, and Lyme Regis where we spent a day in September were all flourishing and well maintained and we enjoyed our visit to them all during our sojourn.


Sidmouth

The botanical gardens at Bicton Park, near Colaton Raleigh (where our cottage was) as it's website claims has enjoyment for everyone and with the exceptionally pleasant February weather we were able to take full advantage of all the amenities, including a picnic alfresco (I suppose all picnics are alfresco).


Who enjoyed this ride most?


Flowers in bloom every day of the year at Bicton Park


Snow drops everywhere

More strenuous was the walk along the banks of the River Otter to Otterton - not a difficult walk in itself but little people's transportation paraphenalia posed some problems. Disappointed not to see a kingfisher as this looked to be very suitable surroundings.


The docile River Otter had clearly been in flood not long before


No kingfishers but robins two-a-penny

Made very little progress with "The Northern Clemency" by Philip Hensher, which looks very promising, as the young fellow residents were all consuming and quite demanding. Managed to follow the Third Test in the West Indies through the newspapers but read very little else and saw no television nor listened to the radio - but we all listened to music from Wendy's iPod which features loads of Fairport Convention or anyone who has appeared with them over the years (all very enjoyable though) and some interesting modern stuff. Thankfully the cricketers restored some pride to English cricket which has taken such a battering in recent times. I am not at all disappointed by the demise of the Stanford empire - I always felt the Twenty20 for $20 million was obscene. I didn't feel the administrators dealt very well with the Pietersen/Moores affair and, although I understand that they were frightened of losing players to the Indian Leagues, I felt they jumped into bed with Stanford too quickly. Mentioning pride in English sport, I thought England performed more creditably at rugby than I feared they would against Wales. I do feel that they are being over zealously refereed (but I must confess to always being blinkered on this topic).

Some great wines during the week, notably a Cabernet Sauvignon from the Languedoc called "Paul Mas" (so smooth) a Merlot from Chile (Errazuriz Max Reserva), Montana Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc from NZ and a Fleurie and Chiroubles from Georges DuBoeuf in Beaujolais - all to accompany all sorts of lovely dishes as usual from Wendy. Had to abandon rhubarb and custard as we had found some lovely goats milk cheeses from France.

The only dull day was spent on a most delightful trip to Becky Falls (on the edge of Dartmoor) to visit our friend Martin (who is a Bristolian yet supports Bath Rugby - perhaps the Pope isn't Catholic after all - but who can be excused because he has such excellent taste in wines and can claim asylum on residency grounds), who was having a similar cottage holiday with some of his family. His charming grandaughter was an excellent guide around the Woodland Park and entertained and enthralled my young friend admirably both in the park and at lunch in the very welcoming Old Inn at Widecombe-In-The-Moor (the pub with no draught beer!). Lunch seemed quite frenetic but we all enjoyed the company young and old(er).

Glorious weather again on the last day. Sitting drinking hot chocolate on wooden bench big friend said if you closed your eyes you would think you were on a ski holiday - couldn't agree more as our legs felt heavy from walking and it was as if we had ski boots on, and the sun felt like mountain sun.

Coming home was so disappointing as the dining room floor, which was being fitted with a new wooden floor in our absence, wasn't acceptably fitted and the house lay under several millimetres of dust. Where would we be without some sort of stress?

Saw Man Utd scrape another win. I have always wondered who all that shouting and screaming of coaches on touchlines was for: the team, themselves or is it just a spectator sport? Reminded so much of la Fontaine's fable of "Le Coche et la Mouche" (English translation). Recording of "Damages" was much better viewing than the football - only one day to go now to see the next part.

Last minute homework on saxophone - getting to grips with first arpeggio - G major scale.

Good weather continues which tempts me out for first game of golf this year. Golf course in very good condition. I can still hit the ball but in trouble as usual on the 7th.

A new year

I suppose a blog ought to start at the beginning of the year so just a bit of catching up to start.2008 ended with a great ski holiday in La Plagne – great snow for Christmas time and the slopes certainly suited how I wanted to ski at my time of life. The only down side was the very long delay at Chambery on the way back – I have heard so many similar stories about frustrations at this airport.


View from the balcony in La Plagne

Good reading at this time too. I enjoyed Aravind Adiga’s “White Tiger” which offered a picture of modern India and was not as difficult and as inaccessible as other Man Booker prize novels I have attempted. It was this book that prompted me to see “Slumdog Millionaire” in mid January. I really enjoyed the film and, although not really 5 stars for me, was well worth the hype it has been getting in being nominated for so many awards. I loved the music and the atmosphere. Good experience in seeing it at the cinema at Cabot Circus (or was it the meal in Zizi’s afterwards that made it so good?).


Cabot Circus (ex Quakers Friars) at Christmas

A highlight at this time of the year is the Wildlife Photography Exhibition at Bristol Museum. This year did not disappoint but there were so many people there that my young friend and I did not enjoy it as much as last year when we could take in so much more. However, it was great fun trying on different hats in the play area - for me at least.

Before term started I read Sebastian Faulks’ “Engleby”. I liked Faulks’ style in this novel and, although I disliked the main character from an early stage, I still enjoyed the book hugely. This was definitely more interesting than ploughing through “Dreamweaver CS4 for Dummies”, “Photoshop CS4 for Dummies” and “Flash CS4 for Dummies” which I did for professional reasons rather than pleasure – not that I am averse to the occasional manual or instruction book.

I found the special weekly offer from The Times “The Shack”, a theological novel by William P Young, interesting but I had had enough of it by the end. I have to admit to giving up on Sally Vickers' “The other side of you" half way through – it was not engaging me and as I had so much I wanted to read it wasn’t worth the effort.

A subscription to The Times gives access to some free offers with their Culture + and the novel by their correspondent Sathnam Sanghera “If You Don’t Know Me By Now: A Memoir of Love, Secrets and Lies in Wolverhampton” was excellent. This was an insight into a British Asian’s upbringing and the fascinating research into his dad’s and his sisters’s schizophrenia and also had interesting tales about growing up in the 70s and 80s.

I have grown to like Richard Thompson and, having seen Fairport Convention at St George’s Brandon Hill last year, I was looking forward to his concert “A thousand years of popular music” at the Colston Hall. He has been described as an English Bob Dylan but the eclectic music he played in this concert was quite a shock but very enjoyable. The highlight for me was the Beatles numbers he bashed out at the end. I couldn’t quite believe that it was 46 years ago since I had seen the Beatles on the same stage - “seen” being the operative word as I didn’t hear much of them through the screaming on that occasion.


First of the snow at Colston's

The weather has been exciting. I like the cold days when we see the sun; and a bit of snow generally evokes childhood memories when everyone claims it always used to snow. Let’s hope we are going to escape the dark dank days of winter in Bristol.

Duchess Pond in January

Sport on the television has been good too. I think I have enjoyed the football more than anything. I’m not a Liverpool fan (except when they are playing in Europe) but as they seem to be the only credible challengers to Manchester United I took great delight to see Torres scoring so late on against Portsmouth. Manchester United’s run of 1-0 wins has been noteworthy but I am suprised that the whole defence aren’t getting more credit for the run of blank score sheets. I like the post match interviews with Chelsea's Luis Felipe Scolari (admittedly not as theatrical as those with Mourinho) who strikes me as a really decent bloke - why is he putting himself through all that business with Chelsea?

I have enjoyed seeing Guinness Premiership and Heineken matches on the television and was particularly interested to see the performances of Colstonians playing at this level. Mat Stevens’ demise seems to have given Duncan Bell a new lease of life. I was really disappointed that Shane Geraghty let himself down for England against Italy when he seemed to have every chance of getting his international career going again. I can’t bring myself to comment on England’s performance against Italy but how can a coach of the standing of Nick Mallett make such a blunder as to play Mauro Bergamasco at scrum half (and how come an international flanker can pass so badly anyway?)? Jordan Crane and Alex Brown keep churning out great performances for their respective clubs and it’s great to see Gareth Delve looking fit again.

Looking for solace after England's rugby performance against Italy I turned to watch the cricket in the West Indies and was denied not only what I thought would be an exciting end to the test match but even some comforting views of sunshine! Who would be an England supporter at anything?

I seem to be going through an Italian period with wine tasting and nothing has been as good as the bottle of Vino Nobile di Montepulciano given to me as a Christmas present. It was so good we had to splash out for another bottle.Probably the best read in this period has been Rose Tremain’s “The Road Home” the story of an East Europen migrant worker, which was so different from “Restoration” which I also enjoyed.

Bob Dylan’s “Tell Tale Signs: the Bootleg Series Vol 8” has been getting most plays on my iPod. The TV series of Folk America on Saturday evenings has been as good as anything on TV, although I did enjoy “Above Suspicion” on ITV and ”Trial and Retribution” to a lesser extent. and "Unforgiven" on BBC (where an hour's drama really is an hour).

I think I belong to Filton Golf Club but I haven't been near there for over two months. I can't say I have missed it but will look forward to playing when the weather improves.

But it hasn’t all been reading, television and computers. I have bought a saxophone (alto) and have set about learning to play it. I have a music teacher who has been very helpful and encouraging and I have spent very enjoyable hours (generally in half hour slots as my embouchure goes to pot and I make some horrific sounds if I go on for much longer) in the garden room trying to follow “Abracadabra Saxophone”. In the garden room I am far away from everyone not to annoy them and have loved every minute of it so far. The motivating factor was to get me off the computer so why am I mucking around creating a blog?