1. I know nothing of Prince Henry or his teeshirt. All there is to know is Madeira cake, madeira wine, and mountains and sea, of course. One day just merges into another and I am none the wiser.
2. They sell bananas and eucalyptus leaves as local produce and some speak a little English and talk of Tommy Cooper.
3. The language looks similar to Spanish but sounds like an Eastern European language.
4. Open House with your cold must have done some good. Are they allowed to smoke indoors or do they have to go outside.
5. The wind is cold again, but at least it is not raining. A few more climbs up to the top of the mountain and then it will be time to come home. A welcome thought, I feel.
Sunday, 13 April 2008
Saturday, 12 April 2008
Le sang froid habituel
1 Translate 'Voici l'Anglais avec son sang froid habituel'. No, try again. And again. You really must pay attention. 'Here comes the Englishman with his usual bloody cold'. I am that man. I am in what I hope will be the concluding, short phase of a cold. Meanwhile, I carry packets of tissues. I keep blowing. Yet however hard I blow, there is always more to expel.
2 Otherwise, the blog provides me with the opportunity to record some of the thoughts as I served the teas and coffees in Open House for nearly four hours yesterday. It was my first shift for a long while. (Pause for a blow.) Some of the day-centre users were familiar to me. One who came to the counter with bleary, wet eyes and a slack stature, the results of a serious drinking session, I first met on my first shifts in Open House some ten years ago. There are others whom I remember from those days, others who have not been and are not beholden to the bottle. Of course, there were people there whom I had not see before, though I knew most by sight if not by name. Generally, the people who come to the day-centre are coming for the company, for each other's company, Open House being the place in the town where they will be welcome. It's a club, a club for those who would not be admitted to other clubs.
3 Young, old, men, women - each of their individual journeys has led them to Open House. Loneliness leads more than one to the warmth and company of the day-centre. A place to sit for a few hours in a room with other people, to drink a cup of tea or coffee, to buy a breakfast or a lunch or both. The mis-use of alcohol or drugs is also common. One woman caught my eye because she was well-dressed, held herself well, and spoke a middle-class language. Like others she gave me the tea-token and I passed over the tea. No evident signs of the mis-use of drugs. It must be the mis-use of alcohol. Like everyone in the centre, she was taken on her own terms. It is an egalitarian place. Abandon place all ye who enter here.
4 And I took the tokens, and the occasional small payments, and returned the teas and the coffees. No pushing, no shoving. Just a steady line of customers on the other side of the counter. Just before 1000 I made myself a cup of tea. At 1030, I noticed, I had scarcely touched it. How pleasant, how comfortable it all was. A worthwhile job to do, a simple, straightforward job A nice way of spending four hours. I'll be there again next Friday.
5 And what about the Prince Henry tee-shirt. Or the Great Fire. Or Madeira.
6 Three new members were enrolled at the collection this morning.
7 Time for Abdul
Stayathome
2 Otherwise, the blog provides me with the opportunity to record some of the thoughts as I served the teas and coffees in Open House for nearly four hours yesterday. It was my first shift for a long while. (Pause for a blow.) Some of the day-centre users were familiar to me. One who came to the counter with bleary, wet eyes and a slack stature, the results of a serious drinking session, I first met on my first shifts in Open House some ten years ago. There are others whom I remember from those days, others who have not been and are not beholden to the bottle. Of course, there were people there whom I had not see before, though I knew most by sight if not by name. Generally, the people who come to the day-centre are coming for the company, for each other's company, Open House being the place in the town where they will be welcome. It's a club, a club for those who would not be admitted to other clubs.
3 Young, old, men, women - each of their individual journeys has led them to Open House. Loneliness leads more than one to the warmth and company of the day-centre. A place to sit for a few hours in a room with other people, to drink a cup of tea or coffee, to buy a breakfast or a lunch or both. The mis-use of alcohol or drugs is also common. One woman caught my eye because she was well-dressed, held herself well, and spoke a middle-class language. Like others she gave me the tea-token and I passed over the tea. No evident signs of the mis-use of drugs. It must be the mis-use of alcohol. Like everyone in the centre, she was taken on her own terms. It is an egalitarian place. Abandon place all ye who enter here.
4 And I took the tokens, and the occasional small payments, and returned the teas and the coffees. No pushing, no shoving. Just a steady line of customers on the other side of the counter. Just before 1000 I made myself a cup of tea. At 1030, I noticed, I had scarcely touched it. How pleasant, how comfortable it all was. A worthwhile job to do, a simple, straightforward job A nice way of spending four hours. I'll be there again next Friday.
5 And what about the Prince Henry tee-shirt. Or the Great Fire. Or Madeira.
6 Three new members were enrolled at the collection this morning.
7 Time for Abdul
Stayathome
The News - what news
1. The rain has gone, the wind has subsided and the pool is warm. Warm enough for a morning dip before breakfast. The waking does not begin until after 8. I lie perfectly still until the young man comes to wakefulness.
2. The cold, the cold sounds awful, sapping the homestayer's energy. How sorry I am to hear of that. I trust the medications are doing their work.
3. Life on the mountain is slow - well as slow as two little boys will allow it to be. We look up, but there is not much to look up to other than the sky and the viewpoint where the coaches appear at 8.30 and we look down, down to the sea and the city of Funchal.
4. We take the bus to the city and wander around. We look at the cruise ships as they bring the tourists in. We taste Madeira wine and we sample the food - meat and chips, fish and chips, omelette and chips. The vegetables do not appear to grow here! However, the bananas, oh the bananas - what flavour what scent.
5. I have introduced them to the Ealing Comedies - The Lady Killers yesterday and we have a request for another one. We while away the time.
6. I am not sure whether I want to go to China, after reading fried eggs and chopsticks. I must make sure I take some antiseptic gel - two in fact.
Again the screen is being requested. Look after the cold or send it elsewhere.
2. The cold, the cold sounds awful, sapping the homestayer's energy. How sorry I am to hear of that. I trust the medications are doing their work.
3. Life on the mountain is slow - well as slow as two little boys will allow it to be. We look up, but there is not much to look up to other than the sky and the viewpoint where the coaches appear at 8.30 and we look down, down to the sea and the city of Funchal.
4. We take the bus to the city and wander around. We look at the cruise ships as they bring the tourists in. We taste Madeira wine and we sample the food - meat and chips, fish and chips, omelette and chips. The vegetables do not appear to grow here! However, the bananas, oh the bananas - what flavour what scent.
5. I have introduced them to the Ealing Comedies - The Lady Killers yesterday and we have a request for another one. We while away the time.
6. I am not sure whether I want to go to China, after reading fried eggs and chopsticks. I must make sure I take some antiseptic gel - two in fact.
Again the screen is being requested. Look after the cold or send it elsewhere.
1 Alas, the cold remains. Sleeping is hard to achieve, after about three to four o'clock. It's a relief when the light begins to appear. I was staring at the screen soon after seven o'clock. The Grapple Reunion. I'm getting a grip on things.
2 Blue skies and fluffy clouds. And Luke. He'll be able to tackle the front grass, but the back is still water-logged. We'll see how he gets on. More to the point, I must find out if the grass-cutter will splutter into life.
2.1 Well, in the past few minutes I have found out that a cold-infused body is ill-prepared for the business of starting a grass-cutter after a winter lay-off. There has been not the slightest splutter. And I can't find the petrol-can. So Luke has been postponed.
3 Today will be the day of a visit to Abdul. I realise that I do not visit regularly. And yet I am reluctant to ask Anna to take me off the case. Today, it may be possible to complete a fresh application to NASS. But my head is infused with cold. I'd really like to do nothing more than go to Chartham Park, there to sit in the sauna.
4 On the once-wooded island, I hope that the sun has continued to shine, that the boats have not capsized, that all are active in the sun and in each other's company.
Stayathome
2 Blue skies and fluffy clouds. And Luke. He'll be able to tackle the front grass, but the back is still water-logged. We'll see how he gets on. More to the point, I must find out if the grass-cutter will splutter into life.
2.1 Well, in the past few minutes I have found out that a cold-infused body is ill-prepared for the business of starting a grass-cutter after a winter lay-off. There has been not the slightest splutter. And I can't find the petrol-can. So Luke has been postponed.
3 Today will be the day of a visit to Abdul. I realise that I do not visit regularly. And yet I am reluctant to ask Anna to take me off the case. Today, it may be possible to complete a fresh application to NASS. But my head is infused with cold. I'd really like to do nothing more than go to Chartham Park, there to sit in the sauna.
4 On the once-wooded island, I hope that the sun has continued to shine, that the boats have not capsized, that all are active in the sun and in each other's company.
Stayathome
Friday, 11 April 2008
Prince Henry, a tee-shirt, and that sort of things
1 By now, you will have read about the way that the islands became part of the Portuguese empire. John, the young man; Prince Henry, the well-known Navigator; the naming of the new possession. And all the rest. Enjoy the tale. There's probably a tee-shirt with a picture of Prince Henry on the front.
2 When you return I will tell you about the deer which crossed the road ahead of me; I'll tell you too about the badger.
3 And the cold? It is ameliorating. However, just as soon as Any Questions finishes, I will take my cold, and the currrent edition of The Spectator, to an early bed.
Stayathome
2 When you return I will tell you about the deer which crossed the road ahead of me; I'll tell you too about the badger.
3 And the cold? It is ameliorating. However, just as soon as Any Questions finishes, I will take my cold, and the currrent edition of The Spectator, to an early bed.
Stayathome
Dazzling history
1 Ah, our own dear Kidd's Hill. How simple, how gentle. How, in those early years , I felt that it was the complete test. How weak I felt, how strong I felt, when I rose to the open spaces of our own Ashdown Forest. And now, years on, I return to it with the memory of the wind-driven, rain-washed, sand-blasted climbs and descents of the faraway island, and I smile at my innocence. I smile.
1.1. It may have been Madeira or perhaps the Canary Island (or maybe Ascension Island) on which Roy Woods completed his Iron Man triathlon.
2 It was Herman which was damaged. It was the first time that Herman has had to withdraw from a ride. However, the bike is being attended to. Tomorrow, or sometime next week, I will recover the familiar red rover and return it to its place with the others. And the slow puncture on the other one. Yes, it waits to be attended to. So too does the grass. And the trees. Meanwhile, I have a head full of cold. My eyes, my ears, my nose - they combine to give out the unambiguous message: turn aside from this man.
3 However, the day's full programme was completed yesterday. The familiar old fellows assembled in the upper room for the first of the daytime RBL branch meetings. The familiar matters, the familiar contributions (including none), the familiar outcomes.
4 And a following familiar meeting in the RA with another old fellow. As the Cranach and the From Russia exhibitions are being held simultaneously, it shouldn't have been a surprise to see the queue which extended halfway from the steps to the path. We recognised each other. We gave ourselves another 30 minutes of more to look at some of the pictures from Russia. Once again I looked at the 1905 Revolution, at the man who was ecstatic, at the common joy, at the man, the only one, who face was without emotion. I also looked at A Gust of Wind, at The Marne near ....., and at the pond round which the three people appear when one looks closely. Closely.
5 At the box office, the man asked 'Are you seniors?'. 'Thank you for asking', I replied. The boys, Hector, Mr Irwin, the Headmaster, and Dorothy, the changing sets - we sought to follow it all. I had a sense of a moving spotlight, now illuminating this aspect, these persons, now moving to others. But not moving from right to left and back again. No, the effect of the scene changes was to produce the effect of a revolving stage, so the light shone from the side as well as from the front, and, for that matter, it may have shone from above. There was a narrative thread, there was a home tune, but there were embellishments, developments, along the way. What's left? Well, certainly a sense of theatrical deftness, a text, whatever it contains, which admitted to a dazzling presentation of stage. And the text itself? It should be read.
5.1 And so - what was going on? Ah, needs thinking about. Different purposes of teaching, different styles, a parody of a headmaster (but one who suited whatever was going on), the role of Dorothy, the one woman (there was another woman on stage, briefly, who did not speak), sexual activity (practiced and imagined) and its expression and accommodation. And, let it be missed, the context, a class of 18-year-young boys.
6 And so to Wivelsfield and a Board meeting of the Central Sussex credit union. Good hearts, committed hearts notwithstanding, the meeting could have been filmed and then used to demonstrate some features about meetings which it is in the interests of all to think about. After nine years, nine years.
Time for Open House and visits.
Stayathome.
1.1. It may have been Madeira or perhaps the Canary Island (or maybe Ascension Island) on which Roy Woods completed his Iron Man triathlon.
2 It was Herman which was damaged. It was the first time that Herman has had to withdraw from a ride. However, the bike is being attended to. Tomorrow, or sometime next week, I will recover the familiar red rover and return it to its place with the others. And the slow puncture on the other one. Yes, it waits to be attended to. So too does the grass. And the trees. Meanwhile, I have a head full of cold. My eyes, my ears, my nose - they combine to give out the unambiguous message: turn aside from this man.
3 However, the day's full programme was completed yesterday. The familiar old fellows assembled in the upper room for the first of the daytime RBL branch meetings. The familiar matters, the familiar contributions (including none), the familiar outcomes.
4 And a following familiar meeting in the RA with another old fellow. As the Cranach and the From Russia exhibitions are being held simultaneously, it shouldn't have been a surprise to see the queue which extended halfway from the steps to the path. We recognised each other. We gave ourselves another 30 minutes of more to look at some of the pictures from Russia. Once again I looked at the 1905 Revolution, at the man who was ecstatic, at the common joy, at the man, the only one, who face was without emotion. I also looked at A Gust of Wind, at The Marne near ....., and at the pond round which the three people appear when one looks closely. Closely.
5 At the box office, the man asked 'Are you seniors?'. 'Thank you for asking', I replied. The boys, Hector, Mr Irwin, the Headmaster, and Dorothy, the changing sets - we sought to follow it all. I had a sense of a moving spotlight, now illuminating this aspect, these persons, now moving to others. But not moving from right to left and back again. No, the effect of the scene changes was to produce the effect of a revolving stage, so the light shone from the side as well as from the front, and, for that matter, it may have shone from above. There was a narrative thread, there was a home tune, but there were embellishments, developments, along the way. What's left? Well, certainly a sense of theatrical deftness, a text, whatever it contains, which admitted to a dazzling presentation of stage. And the text itself? It should be read.
5.1 And so - what was going on? Ah, needs thinking about. Different purposes of teaching, different styles, a parody of a headmaster (but one who suited whatever was going on), the role of Dorothy, the one woman (there was another woman on stage, briefly, who did not speak), sexual activity (practiced and imagined) and its expression and accommodation. And, let it be missed, the context, a class of 18-year-young boys.
6 And so to Wivelsfield and a Board meeting of the Central Sussex credit union. Good hearts, committed hearts notwithstanding, the meeting could have been filmed and then used to demonstrate some features about meetings which it is in the interests of all to think about. After nine years, nine years.
Time for Open House and visits.
Stayathome.
Thursday, 10 April 2008
Hello Mother, Hello Father
1. Hello mother, hello father here were are in Camp Madeira, boys are swimming, girls are sailing kindly disregard that letter!
2. Here comes the sun here comes the sun, follow that sun over the mountains and far away to the other side of the island where the sand comes from the Sahara. Though with the storms the Sahara asked to have it back again. So there we are with bigger boulders and bigger boulders, but the water was warm and some of the sand was good for building.
3. What a hoot that I should have even dared to ask about bicycles. Have you seen the hills here, they make Kids Hill look like the track. What an upper and what a downer. It makes you sick to look below.
4. Sorry about the bike, which one was it. Does that mean two are out of action. I cannot believe that Hilary braved the elements.
5. My turn to baby sit tonight so I may be in for a little quiet ride so long as the two settle quickly. They should do with the sun and sea.
6. Did you get my text about the plug for the Credit Union on BBC 1.
7. Must depart a queue as usual.
2. Here comes the sun here comes the sun, follow that sun over the mountains and far away to the other side of the island where the sand comes from the Sahara. Though with the storms the Sahara asked to have it back again. So there we are with bigger boulders and bigger boulders, but the water was warm and some of the sand was good for building.
3. What a hoot that I should have even dared to ask about bicycles. Have you seen the hills here, they make Kids Hill look like the track. What an upper and what a downer. It makes you sick to look below.
4. Sorry about the bike, which one was it. Does that mean two are out of action. I cannot believe that Hilary braved the elements.
5. My turn to baby sit tonight so I may be in for a little quiet ride so long as the two settle quickly. They should do with the sun and sea.
6. Did you get my text about the plug for the Credit Union on BBC 1.
7. Must depart a queue as usual.
Wednesday, 9 April 2008
1 I could have told you. I could. I knew that you should have gone to Bournemouth. I knew. Of course, no-one asked me. No, no-one. Still, I knew. I knew. Or Eastbourne. You could have had some nice walks on the cliffs.
2 Of course, that's not to say that we have had it all our way here. Oh no. You know about the snow last Monday. But I bet you didn't know that three of the bikers, who have more enthusiasm than sense, assembled in the Square. Well, John Aitken didn't say 'assembled' in his report. He said he found Andrew and Hilary - yes, Hilary - huddled in the doorway of Future Cycles. He joined the huddle. And they all reviewed the situation. A ride to Tunbridge Wells was the common view. It seems that they reached Hartfield before sense prevailed over courage, stout hearts, indomitable will, a willingness to go on against all the odds. They turned back, cycled back to Forest Row, and they then spent their time in Java and Jazz.
3 I joined the ride earlier today. Five of us set off towards Isfield. We were about three miles from the village and on an incline when strange sounds from the back wheel were the first indication that something was amiss. The next indication was conclusive: the bike stopped, I leaned towards the left, and, with my left foot still locked on to the pedal, I fell onto the bank. The simple device which holds the mech (the two little wheels which absorb the chain) had broken. A spoke was also broken. Road-side repairs, with Ron as the repairman. I was able to cycle, without a gear, to Uckfield. After a look at a £5k bicycle in In Gear, a pot of tea and a scone, I bought a newspaper and a railway ticket and took the train from Uckfield to Hurst Green to East Grinstead. From there I was able to cycle the bike to Future Cycles.
4 There was time for time in the conservatory in the sun. A SSAFA visit. A postponed visit to Abdul.
5 Of course, I do hope that things have brightened. It's time to come down from the misty, mysterious mountain.
Stayathome
2 Of course, that's not to say that we have had it all our way here. Oh no. You know about the snow last Monday. But I bet you didn't know that three of the bikers, who have more enthusiasm than sense, assembled in the Square. Well, John Aitken didn't say 'assembled' in his report. He said he found Andrew and Hilary - yes, Hilary - huddled in the doorway of Future Cycles. He joined the huddle. And they all reviewed the situation. A ride to Tunbridge Wells was the common view. It seems that they reached Hartfield before sense prevailed over courage, stout hearts, indomitable will, a willingness to go on against all the odds. They turned back, cycled back to Forest Row, and they then spent their time in Java and Jazz.
3 I joined the ride earlier today. Five of us set off towards Isfield. We were about three miles from the village and on an incline when strange sounds from the back wheel were the first indication that something was amiss. The next indication was conclusive: the bike stopped, I leaned towards the left, and, with my left foot still locked on to the pedal, I fell onto the bank. The simple device which holds the mech (the two little wheels which absorb the chain) had broken. A spoke was also broken. Road-side repairs, with Ron as the repairman. I was able to cycle, without a gear, to Uckfield. After a look at a £5k bicycle in In Gear, a pot of tea and a scone, I bought a newspaper and a railway ticket and took the train from Uckfield to Hurst Green to East Grinstead. From there I was able to cycle the bike to Future Cycles.
4 There was time for time in the conservatory in the sun. A SSAFA visit. A postponed visit to Abdul.
5 Of course, I do hope that things have brightened. It's time to come down from the misty, mysterious mountain.
Stayathome
Marooned
1. Marooned, shipwrecked on an island in the middle of the Atlantic are the little family in the villa Teresa at the top of the mountain. No views, no sights, in fact where are we. We can see no further than our noses because of the mist and the stair-rod rain. Does anybody know we are here. We are isolated and the airport is closed.
2. What is this place called Madeira, full of flowers and sunshine? Have we arrived at the wrong place.
3. The mountain is steep - the levadas are steep and all the steps up to activity are steep and the rain comes down like cats and dogs. How lucky we are to have a courtesy bus we can call upon. Just call 872 and they will come to take you to civilisation - to a mini market, to a games room, and an indoor swimming pool.
4. We are coming down the mountain, without rain, we are coming down the mountain without rain. Singing ey, ey yipee, singing ey, ey yipee. Funchal - gracious did we spot some blue sky up there. We walking along the harbour in the blustery wind; we wound our way along trailing two young tots, jumping on and off walls.
5. How different this all is from expectations. What is this place on a mountain in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean?
2. What is this place called Madeira, full of flowers and sunshine? Have we arrived at the wrong place.
3. The mountain is steep - the levadas are steep and all the steps up to activity are steep and the rain comes down like cats and dogs. How lucky we are to have a courtesy bus we can call upon. Just call 872 and they will come to take you to civilisation - to a mini market, to a games room, and an indoor swimming pool.
4. We are coming down the mountain, without rain, we are coming down the mountain without rain. Singing ey, ey yipee, singing ey, ey yipee. Funchal - gracious did we spot some blue sky up there. We walking along the harbour in the blustery wind; we wound our way along trailing two young tots, jumping on and off walls.
5. How different this all is from expectations. What is this place on a mountain in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean?
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