Night Prowler

I have been re reading Barack Obama`s book, Dreams from My Father as I have to introduce it to my book group on Tuesday. It really is most remarkable, I keep wanting to read bits out loud to whoever is in the room, as he has such a power with words, and a warm heart. He wrote it over ten years ago when he had no idea that he was to become president. I hope the rest of the book group like it, I am always very downhearted if they don`t enjoy a book as much as I do.

I drank a cup of strong coffee last night before driving back from Brighton as I sometimes get sleepy on the motorway late at night. As a result I could not get to sleep when I went to bed, though it was about midnight. The films on every channel on TV were unbearably violent, the radio had ghostly frightening stories. I had a bath at 3 am, I filled hot water bottles, I took paracetamol, I had a snack, I read Obama`s book,I prowled around the silent house. Oddly enough I have felt fine all day and enjoyed a visit from 2 sons, 2 grand daughters, 2 grand sons, and one daughter in law. Its been a lovely Saturday.

Its been a long day and I have just finished a monumental washing up with the help of D after cooking and serving supper for twelve Catholic prospective adopters. I wore my new pristine white apron and tried to look efficient and like a proper catering person. They seemed to enjoy their meal but really they are so involved in all the excitement of getting their adoptive children that I could probably give them a bit of bread and cheese, and they would be happy. So many people have popped in today, and come to various meetings and groups. This house really buzzes witrh activity from dawn to dusk and beyond. It is never boring here as D has just remarked. He is cutting up vegetables as I write this for the Quaker soup tomorrow and it is now half past eleven.

Fired with enthusiasm

D lit a lovely bonfire down the garden this evening, and we at last burned the Christmas tree which had been lurking round the back of the shed, plus all the debris from the gardening day on Saturday. I love bonfires but mine tend to get a bit out of hand, and the last one nearly caught the fence and the compost heap, I had people dashing about with buckets of water.
It was magical outside this evening with the magnolia just coming into flower and the cathedral all lit up. The crows are keeping their distance thank goodness. I am not sure if it is the CDs strung on humming wire, the large flapping white wooden owl or the occasional appearances of the drunken falling over Vicky Darling lookalike scarecrow. Tomorrow I am having a new lawn mower delivered. I can`t wait. I want to use it as a Hoover to clear all the mess from the crows and the bits that fall off the magnolia tree. Such things give me enormous pleasure.

scarecrow saturday

The terrible crows have completely wrecked the lawn, but the chafer grubs have been treated with a sort of contraceptive which will do no harm to wild life, not that I would want to actually kill any crows of course. So we have rolled and reseeded the whole area and I have put a white wooden owl which flaps his wings in the mulberry tree. D has made a splendid scarecrow and dressed it in my old clothes but it keeps lurching drunkenly and occasionally falls over. We had a gardening day today, M cut her leg on a stick and had to go to A and E, I was out there until it was almost dark and now I can hardly stagger up the stairs, but on the whole it was very enjoyable.
I am going to bed early with the Saturday Guardian as I was up at the crack to drive back from Brighton. J and Tiger were up early too as they were going up to the allotments to do a worm count for a survey, with a picnic breakfast.

swanning around

This morning which was Sunday, I was just slicing the top off my boiled egg when something large and white plummetted out of the sky outside the window. It was a swan, who then sat under the magnolia tree looking worried. After a while it lumbered to its feet and started waddling round the garden hissing and glaring at any of us who approached it. Obviously it couldn`t get enough of a runway to take off, so I phoned the RSPCA It was one of those `press one for a cow, two for a dog sort of messages, and when I got to birds, it was ducks and pigeons but no swans. After some time I spoke to a real live person in the same county who was very vague as when she would arrive. I pointed out that the elderly Quakers did not like an angry swan on the doorstep. An efficient woman came an hour or so later with a long hook and a thing like an icing bag (cone shaped linenbag with a small hole at the top for the beak to poke through)
It took a considerable time to get it into the bag I must say, but now our swan is happily swimming in the River Itchen again.
I have just come back from a few days up in Newcastle where there was a dedication of a Writing Room to Julia at Live theatre and an adaptation of one of her novels as a play, which was beautifully acted. It brought out a lot of mixed feelings especially for my two lovely grand daughters, but it is good to have her remembered and honoured. I loved seeing so many old friends too.
I had a funny time on the train last night. Firstly the guard insisted on moving me down to a first class seat as he said there was a crowd of Derby football supporters getting on at Sheffield and they `were like animals`Then a wild looking man got on, tipped out a set of very large chess pieces on the table and more or less ordered me to play with him. It was a most exciting match which he of course won, but I have never known the journey pass so quickly.I almost went past the station.

A rather stressful couple of days, but with highlights. The Emmaus hostel had an Opening Ceremony which was performed by Terry Waite who then came on to stay at the meeting house. The weather turned very nasty: cold, deluging rain and a gale force wind. The boiler which had been working perfectlywell until it was serviced that morning, went off and wouldn`t come on no matter how much I banged it and pushed all its little wires about. I felt so mortified to have a freezing cold house and no hot water, with a special guest staying, and there were two other B and B`s, let alone the other 6 residents plus a roomful of Theosophists, and half a dozen Gamblers Anonymous in the Library. Everyone in the house had a go at it, and at last D poked a wire into a hole and it sprang into life. What a relief.
The Terry Waite lecture in the evening at the University was really brilliant and we listened to him for over an hour, spellbound. Everybody in the house came down in good time for breakfast this morning, and sat in respectful silence gazing at the great man. But he was nice and friendly and very interested in the Quaker meeting and J`s work for Emmaus.
Then I had to tackle three lots of sheets, pillowcases and towels which I put out on the line to dry in brilliant sunshine, then five minutes later it started to snow!
Later today, I tidied up the kitchen cupboards and decided to make two simnel cakes with all the bits of old marzipan, cake fruit and stuff left over from Christmas cakes. Now I can`t go to bed as they are taking hours to cook but the house smells lovely and cakey.