In the garden after rain

A busy week

Camille O'Sullivan

The Norfolk and Norwich Festival was in full swing last week.  We went to see a cabaret artist at the Spiegeltent.  Her name is Camille O'Sullivan and if you ever get the chance, go.   She has a great voice, is funny and great entertainment.  Afterwards we met friends in the beer tent...

I volunteered twice at the library last week, helping people with whatever they are trying to do on the computer.  When I see people of all ages struggling to achieve simple tasks it makes me very glad we started with computers so long ago!  There was an interesting item on the radio this week about what a boon the internet and skype are to the elderly.  One woman was talking about how it opened the world to her and another said it reinforces loneliness.  What old people want is people for company.  She was furious that the government had suggested spending a great deal of money on teaching the elderly to use computers (in the expectation of saving money on services) rather than other more 'social' services.

Cinema Club last Thursday.  We saw The Two Faces of January to a mixed response...from excellent to terrible.  I thought it was pretty gripping.  Great acting and scenery (Greece and Crete).  We had a meal in the restaurant at the cinema, The Dining Rooms...but not before we had re-organised the seating arrangements!   They had sat 9 of us on an L shape so we moved the tables around.  Fortunately we weren't on top of other people!  We love our local cinema!

Cinema City

The cellist

On Friday I went for a walk with Monica and we discovered a new area near Whitlingham Broad.  We were planning to take the path round the broad, but this was much more interesting...a path with steps up and down through woods and around an overgrown quarry.  We also discovered a children's jungle gym in the woods, so we'll be taking the children there.  In the evening we went to another concert.  This time something completely different.  An Armenian cellist and a Kazakh pianist.  They were excellent. We met friends in the bar...again!

Another discovery on Saturday.  Peter and I paid a long overdue visit to the Bridewell Museum in Norwich which re-opened months ago after a complete refit and re-design.  We could have spend hours there.   There are lots of wigs and hats for children to wear, shoes to totter about in and drawers to open everywhere.  A good rainy day destination for the grandchildren too!

Last supper with Lucila

On Sunday we put Lucila on the bus to Heathrow.  Our Chilean friend has used our house as a base for her 6 week stay in the UK.  She packed so much in and saw so many old friends I'm sure she has a host of memories to last her until the next time. 

Bridewell Museum

 In the evening we to went to a birthday BBQ for Miriam hosted by her neighbours in the garden they all share hidden away between buildings behind their houses.   It was a very sociable party and we met many new people, as well as old friends...and consumed a lot of sausages and lamb and wine!

http://www.luphen.org.uk/walks/peddars_way/norfolk_songline.htm

Monday was a holiday and Peter and I repeated the walk from Ringstead to Hunstanton that I had done with the girls earlier.  It was a beautiful day, perfect for walking.  We took the coastal path along the dunes for part of the way and it was hard work on the legs walking on sand, but we enjoyed the views of the sky, the sea and the beach.  We were so stiff by the time we got home that we actually got the car out to go to the cinema down the road...an unheard of thing for us to do.  We saw Fading Gigolo - an absolute scream!   And so ended the week!

Evensong

St Paul's

Yes, Evensong is not normally our thing, but the great St. Paul's Cathedral is just round the corner from the flat and as we have spent the day cleaning (in advance of a cleaning company coming to have a look tomorrow morning - yes I know, who cleans up before the cleaner comes....not you, of course), we thought we might benefit from a bit of spiritual uplift.

Actually Evensong was a bit of a let down.  The thunderous organ and the accoustics meant that although we were aware the choir was singing, we couldn't hear a word they said.  Having a sing-along to the hymns was out of the question.  There was an interesting sermon by a retired bishop explaining a way of getting the churches is distant parts to accept the Church of England's stance on homosexuality, though it may have lost something in translation judging by the blank faces on some of the tourists listening.   Never mind, the cathedral is beautiful and we had the required resting period and mental and spiritual uplift. 

Now we're off by bus to Stoke Newington for supper with Simon and Tania. 

London life

Inside

In London for the weekend.  The sun has shone all day.  I've got my geraniums watered and we've cleaned half the flat.

This evening we went by two buses to St. John's Smith Square for dinner in the crypt followed by a concert.  All the world and his wife/girlfriend/boyfriend out on the streets enjoying the warm evening.

The crypt

Outside

Ringstead Downs

The Gin Trap Inn

A reunion of old friends last night at the Gin Trap Inn in Ringstead Norfolk to join our friend Miriam on her birthday walk.  She's doing about 100 miles around Norfolk staying at B and Bs and inns and revisiting favourite walks and raising money for Plan UK. http://www.justgiving.com/Miriam-Barnett

Our bedroom at the Gin Trap Inn

A glass of bubbly to celebrate and then supper followed by a good sleep and then a full English breakfast to start the day.   It was probably the hottest day of the year so far.  We walked through Ringstead Downs a wonderful soft hidden chalk valley.  Some butterflies were out and wild flowers springing.   Some people needed a rest very soon after setting out! Must have been the size of the breakfast.

Ringstead Downs

The first stop. One of many...

Then on into Hunstanton, a typical East Anglian holiday resort with people enjoying the sun and the beach.

Tides out!  Just visible: cockle pickers and people punting on the water

We stopped for coffee and surreptitiously ate the banana muffins I had bought along in case of starvation!  We walked along the beach beneath the chalk and carstone cliffs to the beach cafe where we had lunch.  We noticed with alarm the couples sitting right at the foot of the cliffs, clearly not having made the connection between the mounds of jagged rock next to them and lumps falling from on high.

 Geologists, note the cliff formation

Baby's left home!

An interesting sign. Wonder what goes on down there?

Striding out...

I was wearing my A&M visor, but no-one said 'Howdy'...

Then on past the golf course and back inland to Ringstead.  About 9 miles in all.

The Wednesday Walking Group

Lovely name

 Last Wednesday we did an excellent walk, about 6 miles, north of North Burlingham through the Millenium Woods and up to South Walsham and back again by a different path.  Perfect weather, and the usual mixture of woodland, grassy paths, field edges and open skies.  We took a picnic which we ate in the churchyard in the company of Mr Honeybun

Wall painting

. 

Exploring the church

The village green

The Festival starts

Yesterday was the opening concert of the Norfolk and Norwich Festival.  The great and the good filled St. Andrew's Hall to hear Tasmin Little play Mendelsohn's Violin Concerto with the Philharmonia Orchestra followed by a Rachmaninov symphony (no. 2) which we didn't enjoy that much.  The people spotting and greeting was good though!   In the interval we went outside and enjoyed the light evening.

Volunteering at the library

Outside the Forum, with City Hall in the background

Another library, another volunteer role!  A few months ago I was going to the Carnegie Library in Bryan TX to transcribe oral history recordings.  Now I'm volunteering at my local library, the Forum, a
wonderful building with a lot going on inside and out.  On alternate Thursdays I'm helping over 60s who have been on a computer course called Surf's Up.  They drop into the library for extra support and to remind themselves how to do things on the computer.  An interesting mixture of people, including a lady with a learning/communication difficulty who needs a great deal of support, a retired engineer who wants to keep up with his grandchildren, a lady from Hong Kong and two ladies who were busy helping each other.  There's a new Surf's Up course starting soon so the number of people attending this session will grow.  

In addition I've volunteered to be a computer buddy to anyone (of any age) who drops in on a Wednesday for an hour to get some help. 

I'm in and out of the library for all sorts of reasons (coffee, exhibitions and occasionally to borrow books)  but I haven't sat upstairs and observed people coming and going.  I've seen a huge cross section of people.  Some are reading books or newspapers, others are working on their laptops, knitting, drinking coffee or staring into space.  What they are not allowed to do is fall asleep!

Out walking

An 8 mile walk with Miriam yesterday around the Blickling Estate taking in the bluebells on the way.  They were just slightly over but still beautiful.  The exposure or focus went slightly wrong on this picture, but it gives the effect.  It was a perfect day for walking.  Sunny and bright, a slight breeze and just the right shade of cool!  We took in fields and woods and tracks and streams and even braved walking through a field of cows and calves with the bull in attendance and actually doing his stuff!  We had coffee before we set off and tea when we got back to the car at the National Trust tea rooms.  Both of us smuggled our own cake into the tearooms.  So we had my Barm Brack in the morning and Miriam's brownies in the afternoon.   All in all a great day. 

A busy weekend

Saul sorting the cutlery while we wait.

The house was given over this weekend to boys and their toys!  

We started on Saturday with lunch out to celebrate Rupert's birthday, although Abe thought the absence of a birthday cake was a serious oversight.  However, the 34 year old wasn't too put out!  Lunch was followed by a walk in Holt Country Park and a trip up the watch tower, which Eliot remembered being further away from the car park and much higher!  We spent many hours in this park with the boys when they were small, so it was a great pleasure to share it with the next generation. 

Useful uncle

Up the tower

Grandma, Saul and Eliot

During the course of the weekend, various forms of transport for small boys were enjoyed.  First Eliot fixed up the two wheeler for Abe and then proceded to run up and down the road bent double, encouraging Abe to pedal and steer and look ahead at the same time.  Limited success, but it's early days.  The so-called pizza delivery bike was also charged up and brought out, Saul riding shotgun on the back! 

Eliot guiding

Pizza delivery

There were also haircuts to be had.  A traumatic process.  Eliot slashing with the scissors and me feeding the boys blueberries while they looked at the ipad perched on the top of the boiler.  Then more ipad to recover afterwards!

Saul, amiling at last

Two shorn lambs drying off.

After the drama of the shearing, it was time to bring out another surprise, the Radio Flyer which Rupert had been renovating.  This is the original that Peter brought back from the USA on a visit long ago and which our boys enjoyed for many years.  It was languishing in pieces in the cellar and quietly rusting.  However, it can now be enjoyed again.

They liked it!

Rupert checking his handiwork

Eliot at work again!