The Doorstop

Goodness me
what are you all like?
I thought that we had a relationship
built on truth and trust.
Obviously not.
Here is THE doorstop
and before you even ask
my edition of How to Eat
is signed by the author.
But the Shakespeare is not.

Wolf Hall changed my life...

Look at this pitiful blog!
It is reduced to pictures of leaves and bread rolls.

This is not giving the right impression…
there is more to me...
much, much more...
I have critical contributions to make to Blogland
and I am starting right now...
with Wolf Hall and what it has meant to me:

1.
It is hardback.
Big BIG Hardback
so it looked impressive when I was reading it.
No-one could miss the fact that I was reading
A Serious Book.
Excellent for Image.

2.
My daughter could see me reading a book.
Which apparently will help her confidence with reading.
It may be too little, too late but I’m doing my best.

3.
For the first time in my life
I have read the Man Booker Prize winner
BEFORE it is announced.
I am IN with The Literary Crowd.
I understand what they are talking about on Radio 4.
I can practically lecture on Modern Literature.

4.
I can discuss it casually with Hilary M.
When I next see Her.
(she is a friend of a friend...
Not that I am dropping names)

5.
I know how to pronounce her surname
ManTEL
(c.f. MANtel which is how I have pronounced it until now.
How embarrassing is THAT!)

6.
When the guide at Hampton Court
gives erroneous information about Cardinal Wolsey
I can gently correct him
and sound annoyingly authoritative.

7.
I can refer to the renewed interest in the Reformation
AND the reassessment of Sir Thomas More
I am sure that the History Department
will be contacting me any day to act as guest lecturer.

I am telling you
there is SO MUCH that is good about
Wolf Hall
that if I was the sort of person who did book reviews
I would give it 11 out 10.
It is THAT good.

Oh, and...

8.
We have a new doorstop for the dining room door.

MrM and MrsM take the air

It was late afternoon by the time
we walked through the woods.

It was not yet dark
but it would soon be so.

We could still see
the amber colours of the leaves
but the camera saw only
silhouettes against the sky.

We talked of plans for Christmas
and perhaps a weekend away in January.

Madrid? Vienna? Amsterdam?
Or just a cosy cottage with a log fire...

And then we went home
and had a cup of tea
and crumpets with strawberry jam.

*****

This post is for Breadbox,
a long time friend of this blog,
who will recognise the location.

England v. Australia

Saturday morning...

much slicing, spreading
and assembling to be done.

I am reminded of all the birthday parties
that I have catered for over the years...

especially the one where I set fire to the oven
cooking the cocktail sausages.

This is for a car park party at Twickenham
and the tray of food will balance precariously
on top of the beverages
which have been chilling overnight.

The sun is shining;
friends are arriving from near and far;
Jonny Wilkinson is back in the team...

it should be a great afternoon.

Guess who is driving the car back this evening?

China Galore

I was passing the V&A on Tuesday
and the lure of the new Ceramic Galleries
was irresistible.

Look what I found...

Here is an Iznik tile
with a gillyflower motif:

Here is a William De Morgan tile panel
designed by William Morris:

Here is the copper engraving
for the filigree pattern
on my Croissant Plate:

Here is the stoneware casserole
that my mother has in her kitchen:

Here is the bowl that I stood in front of
for what seemed like hours
and felt quite ill with desire:

In the end, feeling chinaholic desperate,
I asked about the policy on taking photographs
and was told I could take as many as I wanted.
How Wonderful.
How Enlightened.
Thank you V&A.

Planning Ahead

When I have my *personal arboretum
I will plant a grove of Ginkgo biloba
and surround it with maple trees.

(*I may not have mentioned
this particular ambition to MrM
so I had better go and discuss it with him
before he reads it here first.)

Walking through the RGS

"The learned society & professional body
for geography & geographers."

1.
The Map Room has low cabinets
with shallow drawers.
The temptation to open one
almost overcomes me.

2.
There is a lunch reception and
I see out of the corner of my eye
that the immaculate man on the sofa
is from the Embassy of Azerbaijan.

3.
Tea Room : for use by Fellows and Guests only

(Do eminent explorers drink tea?)

4.
I am momentarily distracted
by the selection of guidebooks
for the Arctic and Antartica.

5.
Stanley, moustachioed and belligerent,
is hidden behind the swing doors.

6.
The Zanzibar chests
are from the Artefacts collection of the Society.
Please do not sit on them.

7.
A sliver of the Royal Albert Hall
is glimpsed through tall casement windows.

8.
In the empty lecture theatre
the brass edge to the balcony seats
shines dully in the half-light.

9.
Lavatories on the Minstrels Gallery

10.
Sir Wilfred Thesiger stares back at me,
his hooded bronze eyes exactly on a level with mine.

11.
The leather seats in the corridors
are gold embossed with
the impressive design of the RGS,
crowned and gartered.

12.
Photographs of Sherpas
from the 1936 expedition to Everest
stare solemnly out over the exhibition space.
In this building where great expeditions
have been proposed and planned
they claim their rightful place.

*****

Founded in 1830,
the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)
is a world centre for geography:
supporting research, education,
fieldwork & expeditions,
and promoting public engagement
and informed enjoyment of our world.

Monday

I was late for work because...


...the sun was shining
on the leftover Bakewell tart
(with extra raspberries)
and I had to take a photo.

useful information

MasterM tells me
that if you bob for apples
in a barrel of cider
your hair is quite sticky
when you wake up
the next morning.

words

whenever I worry about writing
and not being able to find the words
I remind myself
that I have already recorded our life
for two and a half years
and so it doesn't matter
if I don't write anymore
because those memories are safe
and that seems to help me
overcome the fear
of silence


Image courtesy of Wordle