Tuesday. 5.40 a.m. Today would have been my mother's 97th birthday. She's so missed. It would have been wonderful if she had seen her great-grandchildren or even her grandchildren.
5.30 p.m. A very productive day at Camphill. Last week we were informed that we were going to be joined by school pupils, but there was a mistake, and it wasn't today but will be next week. We also learned that they weren't going to be primary children, but sixth-form children, and from Shenley Brook End School, an Upper School, and right next door to The Oaktree Centre. In fact, when I first came to live in Milton Keynes, after marrying Carol in 2007, we used to go to Shenley Christian Fellowship, which, at that time, met at that school, before the church moved into its own, purpose-built home at the Oaktree Centre, which opened in 2016.
We were told that a new project will be set up sometime next year which will utilize puppets and be a collaboration with another workshop department at Camphill, which will create the puppets. As part of this project, we will also go to see a show at the Barbican Theatre, which is called 'My Neighbour Totoro Barbican Theatre, My Neighbour Totoro' which is based on the Japanese animation studio, Ghibli and is a collaboration between the R.S.C. (Royal Shakespeare Company) and Henson, the company behind The Muppets and other characters, television and film productions, such as The Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal. There is a distinct possibility that we will be going to a relaxed performance of 'My Neighbour Totoro' which is devised to make it easier for those with autism and other learning disabilities to enjoy, lower sound levels, lighting and more. Also, we might be able to go backstage for what is called a 'touch tour' which allows those with sight problems to interact with the set, costumes etc. There are a couple of members of the theatre group who do not like crowds and would find a theatre performance difficult, so they may not come with us.
We continued with developing the three silent movies, although there were several members missing because they were elsewhere. My group, which is working on a time-travel story, managed to complete the storyline. It is somewhat convoluted, to say the least. After lunch, the other group, which is developing a sort of pirate/swashbuckling mash-up, showed the rest of the group what they had been working on and at the end of the day we gave feedback on the day.
I got back to Dexter House, and it was overcast, with a vague fall of rain, but no sooner had I got back in the flat than the heavens opened and there was a very heavy fall of rain, followed very shortly by an almighty clap of thunder, which continued for about twenty minutes and a while later, joined by flashes of lightning. I managed to record it on my iPhone because I thought it might be useful as a sound effect in the Camphill theatre workshop at some point.
Wednesday.1.30 a.m. I am wide awake, having gone to bed and then immediately fallen asleep. This always seems to happen when I've been out all day at Camphill. I think it's best explained because it's quite tiring. Part of it is due to the medication I am on, according to my doctor, to whom I mentioned this when I had my last GP appointment.
8.45 a.m. It's quite sunny and bright as I write this. The rain I mentioned earlier has been useful, as I am using it to help write the next sequence in my writing project. It should, in some ways, add some authenticity to what I am attempting to create. According to Carol Kirkwood, the weather presenter on BBC Breakfast earlier, there were around 8,000 lightning strikes across the country.
2.10 p.m. I have now got a remote for the gimbal. I knew this could be controlled with such a device, but I had to hunt on the internet to find where I could buy one. In the end, I found it for sale on the Hohem website. Well, the most obvious place! I paid in Dollars, so I imagined it would be coming from the U.S.A., but it was delivered to me at midday, which was a surprise. But, like so many things, I had to do further internet research to find out how to pair it with the gimbal. I eventually found out how this was achieved and it's now working. Success!
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