A musical weekend

Good weather and outdoor events don't always coincide in Blighty, but, for once, the long-planned mini festival at the hotel in our hamlet was a glorious blue sky event. A temporary bell tent town had been erected for the overnighters. We sauntered up the road with friends in good time for the main stage events. Our blokes settled themselves on a hay bale with their drinks and prepared to enjoy Sister Sledge.

Hats were definitely the order of the day, unless, of course, you had an umbrella! It is always fascinating to see what festival-goers wear; lots of floaty dresses, short shorts and retro jeans! After Sister Sledge it was Jools Holland and friends on the centre stage. What a joy!

Not everyone was dancing!

It was such a happy event. Sunday morning promised another glorious day. Good, we had been invited to a party at Teãn's. Her husband, Alex, heads the 'After Hours' band and they were going to be playing in the garden for their friends. Their home is beside the Bristol Channel and it is fascinating to watch the variety of craft moving up and down; tug boats with huge transporters in tow, a flutter of small sailing boats having a Sunday afternoon race and individual boats. The music must have sounded lovely for them as it floated over the water.

Some were eager to find a bit of shade.

June books

Our June book club discussed 'Invisible Ink' and although it is a small book it produced a lengthy discussion! In our group whoever has chosen the book does the introduction. Hearing about the author's life was fascinating, we could see the connection to things within his novel. A biography of his life would make another good read!

Toad Hole Cottage

Having ducked down and successfully navigated the bridge at Ludham it was good to moor the boat and step ashore. We discovered the delightful small museum of Toad Hole Cottage, a house that had been lived in by generations of eel catchers.

There were several items that I remember from my childhood, stone 'pigs' used to warm cold beds.Those pigs will have been very welcome in harsh weather, surrounded by water I'm sure the damp would seep into your bones. There would have been jousling for position to be close to the fire on winter nights! In the pantry there were jelly moulds like the ones we had at home, my mother used her rabbit mould for blancmange or caramel custard.

All aboard!

 We've been on the Norfolk Broads for a few days with all the family. With three kilos of duck food on board and pairs of binoculars we were ready to see the sights.

The weather was kind.

There are windmills in all states to see, from disrepair to des res.

Tied up for the night and after supper at the pub it was back to the boat for a good night's sleep.

Ducking down under Ludham Bridge.

The captain has a break while we take in water.

'The Queen' was spotted waving from a number of cabin windows and seen sitting on the lawns of various waterside houses. The place was awash with flags and bunting.

Are these dwellings with moorings or moorings with dwellings?!

 

 

February book club meeting.

 The book group met for Sunday lunch today to discuss 'Klara and the Sun' by Kazuo Ishiguro a dystopian novel  that imagines a future involving the use of artificial friends, AFs and on the advantages or otherwise of genetic engineering.

The novel met with a mixed response, the majority of our group of eleven people (none of whom have been genetically engineered to be in any way superior!) liked the book. I was not of their number, having found the first half of the book very slow and rather dull. I doubt that I would have finished it if it had not been up for discussion. The latter part of the novel became more interesting and the subject matter really gave us plenty to consider and discuss. The presenter handed round images of  artificial humans already in production and these certainly added to our unease. 

 

 

 

This is a worrying and unhappy book and we are now experiencing extremely worrying and distressing times,  a country acting in a way that I thought could never again be contemplated. In spite of this we had a lovely day. The company of good, kind friends, lively conversation and tasty food is the happiest of combinations. The hosts provide the main course of the meal and the rest of us bring side dishes, puddings and wine. It is always a feast!

My heart goes out to the people of Ukraine, I wish them every success in their fight for freedom.

January reading

 The New Year started well with a book by a favourite author, a beautifully constructed hardback with a fabric spine that was a pleasure to hold in the hand.

Elizabeth Strout is a gentle storyteller, which is not to say that she isn't quietly devastating. She writes about the everyday, about unspectacular people and the complexities of human emotions.

The story is told by Lucy and the William of the title is her first husband with whom she lived for twenty years and had two daughters. The book starts after Lucy's second, happy marriage has ended with her husband's recent death and she looks back at her earlier life. Her relationship with William continues, giving many opportunities to say, Oh, William!

'This is the way of life' Lucy says. 'The many things we do not know until it is too late.

 

After the joy of the Elizabeth Strout book I had a struggle getting through 'Detransition Baby' by Torrey Peters. I ordered it from the mobile  library as it is up for discussion in our book club. I was immediately  plunged into an alien world, with terminology that I didn't at first understand. Most of the book I found irritating, uncomfortable with the written style and feeling that the story took a long time to say little. The timeline jumped back and forth  in an unnecessary way and hindered plot development. Only a few parts of the book gave me any insight into the  problems and griefs that the trans community has to endure in present society. I finished the book thinking that a far better one deserves to be written on this subject.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a pleasure to turn to a detective story by the Irish writer, John Banville knowing that I was in a safe pair of hands. He is an elegant writer, beautifully descriptive, both of landscape and people. And when a book starts 'The body is in the library,' Colonel Osborne said you know that you are in for some fun!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edna O'Brien is another well-known stylistically elegant Irish writer, but 'Girl' is a subject far from home. It is the story of a girl abducted and married into Boko Haram. It is a powerful read.

My best books of 2021

 Sometimes a year of reading leaves me uninspired,  book after book with stories that do no more than pass a little time and are quickly forgotten. But 2021 was a good year for me, three of the books that I read were outstanding, Mary Oliver's beautiful book of poetry is a joy, I have it by my bedside to dip into. Her thoughts so often echo mine. Here is the start of HOW I GO TO THE WOODS

Ordinarily I go to the woods alone, with not a single friend, for they are all smilers and talkers and therefore unsuitable.

The ending is

If you have ever gone to the woods with me, I must love you very much.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In May I wrote about my response to Hamnet, the imagined story of Shakespeare's wife and the death of his son. This book reduced me to tears. I think it is a work of great beauty, threading together the few known facts with elements from the various plays. It is a work of great imagination.

My third book, 'The Summer Isles' is subtitled a voyage of the imagination. It is the record  of a journey made in a sailing boat up the west coasts of Ireland and Scotland to visit, really to make a pilgrimage,  to the Summer Isles. 

 

How do I start to describe this book? Magical - you have to read it! When the author was sailing I anxiously watched out for the weather. In harbour I relaxed and heard all the island tales. I kept saying, oh, how my mother ( a romantic Scot who holidayed on the islands as a child) would have loved this book!