The Spring Has Sprung!

Tuesday. It's relatively warm and sunny this morning. Let's hope it stays that way.

Wednesday. Well, not a lot happened yesterday as you can see from the above.

Although I have watched 'Kinky Boots', the musical, on Broadway HD, a Netflix-style streaming service which has recordings of Broadway and West End musicals and plays on its service. It's a real spirit-lifting show, based on a real story and set in Northampton, which is no more than a twenty-minute drive from Milton Keynes. I have also watched the 1982 RSC production of 'Nicholas Nickleby,' as mentioned in an earlier post on here, as well as 'Private Lives,' and a one-woman show by Elaine Strich. Plenty more I want to watch and should keep me endlessly happy when there's not much else to watch, which is the case with traditional television at the moment.

It's surprisingly mild and dry this morning.

I had a telephone call from The Groom Room, in response to the message I left yesterday regarding a haircut for Alfie. The only appointment I could get was for July 9th, although I'm taking him to have his face trimmed next Thursday week as he can't really see where he's going. Then there's the build-up of mess under his eyes which he won't let me deal with.

Later. I have been into the MK Centre to get my hair cut at Central Barbers, and I have to say I feel a good deal better about it. Around six months since my last trip to the barbers. Enough hair cut off to stuff a cushion or more likely two cushions!

Thursday. Another bright and sunny morning. Also, not a great deal to report on here. Now there's a surprise.

I have to do a bowel cancer test every two years. It was time for it again, which I did (no need to explain the details.) I have had a response and it's a negative, so I'm all clear in that area. I only wish that Carol could have had a similar test. I have to have one done as I'm over 60, but because of her age, she didn't fall into the age group to be tested. I think it's about time age shouldn't come into it and everyone a good deal younger has to be tested, perhaps for all types of cancer.

I had my eyes tested this afternoon. There seems not to be anything wrong with my eyes and I get a new pair of glasses on the NHS, and the new glasses will be ready and bought for me at Dexter House in around two weeks.

Friday. 5.45a.m. It's still dark and I'm here sitting in my armchair writing this blog post and waiting to take Alfie out.

I had a plotline written some while ago, probably well before Carol's cancer diagnosis. I haven't worked on the writing project in some time and have only fairly recently picked it up again. Some points didn't make any sort of logical sense but now I have managed to find a way to tie things together, which I will not disclose here. All of which means that I can now continue with writing. All will be revealed, hopefully, in the fullness of time!

Yet Another Week of Lockdown

(Thursday) I've been to Waitrose this morning. There's things I can't get elsewhere, such as soap and I like their bath foam. Good value, considering it's  a Waitrose Essentials product. There was the obligatory queue system to get in, similar to that at Sainsbury's. I was in and out quickly and I used a manned checkout as I'm not sure about the self-service machines. It was a clear run down Chaffron Way and it was odd that there was virtually no traffic, as Marlborough Street, where it crosses Chaffron Way, is usually chocker-block at around 8.30a.m, which is around the time I'm driving to Camphill on a Tuesday morning. None of the nose-to-tail along the road, people obviously going to work. At the moment they will do doubt be on lockdown.

(Friday) Seems amazing to think it's 1st May. How did we get here so quickly? It doesn't seem that long ago that we were celebrating Christmas.

I'm having a bit of a Shakespeare festival currently. I know it was The Bard's birthday last week (how old would he have been? I think around 456 or something like that.) and I watched the National Theatre's production of Twelfth Night with Tamsin Greig as Malvolia, The Globe's version of Romeo and Juliet and, on BBC iPlayer, 'Hamlet.' As for other productions, available, free, on YouTube, I saw the National Theatre's 'Frankenstein' with Benedict Cumberbatch as 'The Monster.' It was a good production (I say 'was' because it's no longer in the National's repertoire. I'm not entirely sure how long ago it was on. I believe Twelfth Night was around five years ago.) but the only problem I have with watching via YouTube is that it doesn't work too well. I suppose I shouldn't look the proverbial gift-horse in the mouth, but generally speaking you don't get the full 'live' theatre experience seeing these plays on television. Well, you can't expect too, but it's great that they are recording these performance because once a live show finishes, there's usually no record of it for future viewing or for future generations to enjoy or for those who wouldn't normally go to the theatre.

(Saturday) It doesn't feel like the weekend. It doesn't feel like any particular day of the week. It's probably due to the lockdown, when each day seems to melt into one another. There's no focus to the week, such as going to Camphill on a Tuesday or church on Sunday.

I have been watching 'The A Word' and today watched two more episodes of the first season. I know there's a new, third, season due to start in a week or two so I want to have watched the second run before getting to the new season. Having worked almost exclusively with people with autism, I can identify with the problems of the family it's about. The little lad who plays Joe is amazing. I can't think how they get such a brilliant performance out of a child of around 5 or 6. They must have a great deal of patience.

(Sunday) I was out with Alfie before 6 o'clock this morning. He kept looking at me, which is usually his way of telling me he needs to go out. It was quite mild, thankfully. I usually do washing up from the night before, so I did that and the kitchen is again sparkling clean.

I have now seen the final episode of the first run of 'The A Word,' and I will start on season 2, probably this afternoon. I don't watch episodes back-to-back, but iPlayer almost insists that you with the next episode as soon as the previous episode is finished.

Having the windows open has it's disadvantages. Some delightful person drive up in their car and parked right below my window and had thumping pop music playing on their radio (it might have been a CD or from a mobile, but never mind.) This sort of thing is annoying. Please don't do this at such an hour of the morning. But Noel Coward was right when he said 'strange how potent cheap music is,' which is a line from his comedy 'Private Lives.' Just awful thumping news. People never play something calm, a bit of Beethoven or other classical music, and why play it so loud that it interferes with out people's lives, and in my case, concentration?

Having had a scan of what's on iPlayer, there is no excuse to say 'there's nothing much to watch.' Just overwhelming by the stuff you can watch.

Alfie insisted on another outing, as he was staring in his usual way so I felt obliged to take him out as soon as I'd finished watching 'The A Word.' I have to say, having worked with people with autism, it seems a very accurate portrait of someone with the disability. I'd be interested to know whether the writer had first hand experience of life with an autistic.

1360th Blog post. Still Sunny!

This will be my 1360th blog post! Why should that be so important? Well, it isn't, but it's quite an achievement to have kept this blog going for so long.

The sun is shining, the birds are singing! What more can one want? I can do without wasps, flies and other insects which invade the house. I can also do without pop music blasted at me from whatever quarter. People have their windows open, which means there is a leakage of boom-diddy-boom-diddy-boom-bom-boom. You know, or perhaps you don't, that drum beat that a lot of pop music seems to have. It's right what Noel Coward said, 'strange how potent cheap music is!' which is a line from his play 'Private Lives.' The joke is, if you know this play, that the music which is playing in the background is 'Some Day I'll Find You,' which he wrote! So it's sort of turning things on itself. But, regardless of all that, I do agree. I suppose that the sentiment in that line is that popular music has to be potent, in the sense of probably, a drug or alcohol, it has to work it's magic by being repetitive or overwhelming. Anyway, my thing is that drum beating in the distance can be just annoying and puts me off whatever I'd doing, probably attempting to plot a piece I happen to be writing. Then there's those crazed individuals who insist on having pop music blasting from the speakers in their cars as they speed by. So loud it makes the car vibrate and all you get is the booming sound, no music to speak of. Why can it never be Beethoven or Mozart of any other composer's music you care to mention? But if that's the case, why have it so loud that everyone else has to put up with it, regardless of whether they want to or not.

Later. Yesterday evening (Thursday) I went to S.C.F. for another session of The Bible Course. There are three more to go. I was undecided as to what to wear and in the end I didn't wear my new shorts and short-sleeved shirt. As I left the house, I was suddenly hit by the heat. I was around 6.45 and it was quite intense, not helped by the fact that when I got in the car I found the interior hotter still, by quite a few degrees. It made my heart rate increase. I was feeling quite unwell, not exactly helped by the other drivers who insist on tailgating me as I drove up Chaffron Way to the Oaktree Centre. I had to have a drink of water on arrival and I found the main hall cooler than the café area and by the time we started the course I was feeling better. But I think it's a warning to be more careful when the sun is so hot and I was shocked by how hot it was so late in the day.

(Friday) I was quite insistent that I get a lie-in. I was more than determined that I wouldn't get up before 6a.m. I actually took Alfie out at 7 this morning! He wasn't exactly pleased, but it was worth the extra time asleep. I hope to continue with this regime.

Too good to stay indoors today. I had to get out, even if it was just a trip into central Milton Keynes. I had to first go to get some change for the carpark. I do have the RingGo app on my iPhone, but it doesn't always work, so I had to have change for the machine. I went to the Eaglestone shop to use the A.T.M. outside but when I got there, it wasn't working. No cash in it. I know these machines have a tendency to run out of cash, but it was somewhat annoying because I then had to drive all the way to the One Stop shop in Coffee Hall. Fortunately the machine was working, but because the sun was so strong it was next to impossible to read the screen, but fortunately I was able to extract £30 from the maws of the mighty machine and then go into the shop to buy two bags of wine gums and fruit pastilles in order to get change.

I arrived at the carpark and then I found the RingGo app wouldn't work, so I was glad that I'd had the foresight to get change for the parking meter. This technology can be great when it works, but when it doesn't, it's just a waste of time. So it's as well to not always rely on it and use a different method of payment. I walked into the shopping centre and paid some money into my Metro Bank savings account. From there I went into Midsummer Place and as I was waking through I heard my name 'John!' but at first I didn't respond. Then one of the guys from Campbell ran up to me. He said he was about to catch a bus to Peterborough. It's great that they can respond to me and we have long chats when I'm there. I told him he'd better not miss his bus, so he went off, presumably outside to the bus stop. No doubt I'll hear more about his visit (which I believe is where his parents live.) when I'm at Camphill on Tuesday.

Next. Something to eat. Waterstones was near so I went in and as there was nobody queuing I decided to order a latte, toastier and a bun. Very efficient staff and I was soon sitting at a table. As I had my iPhone with me I was able to connect to the internet and look at Facebook and Twitter. Are these devices such a good idea? In some respects, yes, but when people spend a long time on them and disregard those around them, for example, in a work situation, with family and friends, they are more of a distraction and aren't really a replacement for face-to-face conversation, but can be useful for keeping in contact with family and friends and if you want to be easily contacted, ideal. But being in a bookshop it's an ideal place to have a café. Put me near books and I'm quite happy, so once I'd finished my snack I had a browse of the tables that Waterstone so craftily has set up which entices you to look at the books on display and then I went upstairs to the history section to have a further browse. I left before I purchased a book. I have to be honest that I have more than enough books in my bookshelf and could easily buy more. I have several which are waiting in a queue to be read.

From Waterstones I went into the main shopping centre and walked along the mall towards John Lewis and was interested in a store which is going to open soon, called Typo which I have discovered sells stationary. As Staples has since disappeared from Milton Keynes, which is a disappointment because where am I to buy fresh stocks of computer ink cartridges, paper and all the other paraphernalia, pens, pencils etc etc? I'm not sure when it's due to open, but I will have to visit once it's up and running. Also, I had to go into The Works, because they're stock changes rapidly and you have to buy whatever catches your eye when you're there because otherwise it's gone and by the time you return it will be gone, which is the same with T.K. Maax, another store I love browsing in as well as their partner store called Homesense. A good place to go if you're looking for kitchen items, such as saucepans, baking tins etc. 

Watching "Downton Abbey"

We are currently watching "Downton Abbey." We are watching the 'box set' of this highly popular and successful I.T.V. series through Sky +. We had watched an early episode when it was first broadcast but gave up because it had so many commericials in it. I realise that I.T.V. is funded by the sale of advertising, but they really have too many breaks within an hour's programme. It actually runs for around 45 minutes so there's a least 15 minutes-worth of commercials. You can record programmes and then fast-forward through the commercials, but there are so many adverts for sofas and car insurance you can take, believe me.

It's an enjoyable show, if a little slow. Nothing much really happens. It is actually little more than a soap. The sinking of the Titanic as well as the First World War comes into the story, along with some other historical points in early Twentieth-Century history, along with such things as the Spanish Flu epidemic which kills off some of the central characters along the way. The 'downstairs' characters are far more interesting than the 'upstairs' characters. They seem to have far more interesting storylines. The Hugh Bonneville character, the Earl of Grantham, is somewhat one-dimensional. He is rather passive and as such a bit boring. He never seems to have much to do. He's dominated by the women around him. He has all daughters (hence the longwinded storyline regarding the succession to the title.) His mother-in-law, his wife as well as his mother, as well as his daughters, all know exactly how to wrap him around their little fingers in order to get what they want. He doesn't seem to have a great deal of control of his family, his household or the estate. He can't be much good at financial matters, hence the storyline about how his investments have gone pear-shaped and the threat to the future of Downton Abbey. How on earth would anyone be advised to invest all their fortune in just one company, and an American one at that? Just doesn't ring true somehow. And a member of the aristocracy? Please. I know it's only fiction, but it's a bit far-fetched. Also, why is it none of his household staff are unable to iron his nightshirts? Whenever we see him in bed, or preparing to go to bed, and he's dressed in a nightshirt, it looks so creased and obviously un-ironed, or even poorly ironed. I realise that in the early 20th Century there weren't the kitchen gadgets we take for granted today in our homes, for example, electric steam irons. But are we to honestly believe that the male head of the household will put up with so poorly ironed clothing? How many staff are there in the kitchen? Why is it that the Head Butler, Carson, makes such a fuss of the slightest thing, even insisting that His Lordship's newspapers are ironed, but not his nightshirt? This is a real slip-up. Having worked as a supporting artiste on various television shows over the years I know that the wardrobe department is generally very particular about the standard of their costume-care, so to have the central character's nightshirt looking so shabby is really poor. Also, the storyline concerning the mis-laying of His Lordship's shirts. Not realistic in the slightest.

We love the Dame Maggie Smith character, the Dowager Countess of Grantham. She seems to get all the best lines. She manages to out-act virtually everyone else on-screen when she has a scene, along with up-staging everyone. A sheer joy. Love her to bits. I remember seeing her on stage with her late husband, Robert Stevens, when they were acting together on stage in Noel Coward's delightful play "Private Lives." It must have been in the 1970's. She was also in the film version of "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie." Also, another film I enjoyed called "Hot Millions" with another favourite actor of mine, Peter Ustinov.

What also makes watching "Downton Abbey" so enjoyable is the fact that we know so many of the locations they used to film it. Some scenes were shot at places we've been as members of the National Trust, such as Waddesdon Manor, West Wycombe Park and Basildon Park, which we visited only a a couple of months ago

Family Summer Holidays- Part 2

Just looking at the road map and in particular the route to Frinton along the A120 evokes a lot of memories for me.  Mention of the names of the places along the route, such as Baldock, Buntingford, Puckeridge, Bishop's Stortford and so on wakes up a lot of memories. I knew the route well enough as a child and then again in the early 1970's when I used to drive it when I was an A.S.M. at Colchester Repertory Theatre and used to use this road when I went home for the weekend.  (Colchester Rep is no more. It was replaced by the Mercury Theatre in the early 1970's The foundation stone was laid by Eric Porter, who played Jolyon Forsyte in the 1960's BBC series."The Forstye Saga". I remember this from when I was working there. The old rep building, which was in the high street, had been an art gallery before it was converted into a theatre, and is now a building society or bank, I can't remember which.) It probably was quite dangerous in those days, particularly late at night (I used to leave Colchester after the evening performance, which would end around 10.30 p.m.) so driving on the A120 wouldn't  have been been very safe as I don't imagine there were many street lights along the long sections through open countryside.

I do remember that there was one thing that sticks in my mind. Somewhere in Dunmow or Coggeshall there was a tree at the side of the road which had been shaped into what appeared to be a table. I don't know whether it is still there, but it was something that, as children, we always managed to point out on the journey. I imagine you wouldn't be able to find it now, if it is still there, as it's most likely to be in the centre of a town and you now use a by-pass and not see it. That's one of the drawbacks of by-passes. You don't see the sights that you would have seen if you drive through the  centre of places and by-passes always seem to be routed through cuttings with high banks so you never see much of the surrounding countryside.

We had another sort of 'game' which was whoever saw the water tower which was near the entrance to Frinton and whichever of my brothers saw it would get a bag of sweets or something. Silly now, I suppose, but I imagine my mother, who would be driving the car, needed something to keep us occupied on the journey.

To enter Frinton you go through some gates, which are in actual fact part of a level crossing which goes over the railway line, and Frinton's railway station is one of the first buildings you see when you enter. As such, the railway line is the sort of 'outer wall' of the town, if you like. You drive in and down Connaught Avenue, which is the main shopping  street and runs right down to the beach. There is a sort of air about the place as if you've stepped back in time. Probably then, but not so sure now, as I haven't been there for at least 30 years. It's sort of stuck in a timewarp of the 1930's. Very genteel, and dare I say it, middle class. When we used to visit there were no pubs. I can't remember if there were any fish and chip shops, which seems very odd, considering it is a seaside town. You always associate the 'seaside' with fish and chips. Well, at least I do. There were bars in the hotels, but these seem to have been frequented by a very select few. A sort of feeling of one of those Agatha Christie mysteries. If not the setting for one, you can imagine  a television or film production company  using it for the location of something set in that period. A lot of the houses are built in the classic Art Deco style. Somewhere, also, you can imagine Noel Coward frequenting. Perhaps being the setting for one of his plays such as "Private Lives" although I know that was supposed to have been set on  the French riviera.