Heavy water
Light and dark
The wind was very blustery this morning. So fierce at times that as I was buying a box of organic eggs from the Somerset farmers, the stallholders had to hold down their flimsy tent coverings, two of which were buffeted mercilessly to the ground….. the eggs survived. I also replenished our apple juice store from Ringden farm orchards. A husband and wife team come up every Saturday from the Kent/Sussex Weald to sell both apples in season and juice all year round. I bought two bottles of ‘Russet’ and one of ‘Discovery’ for £5.00. They do a great variety, including Worcester, Cox and Bramley, Red Pippin and Grenadier. Large green glass bottles, great value and truly delicious.
I have started drinking a very small glass of russet last thing at night while sitting at the kitchen table, looking out at the night sky with the aeroplane lights winking overhead on their way to Heathrow while I am illuminated by the taste of sweet, liquid, golden sunshine.
This afternoon I made my way through the stormy winds and rain to watch the Boat Race. This sort of weather makes me feel very alive and vital for some odd reason as most people moan and groan about it. I managed to squeeze into the crowd just across from ‘The Bull’ pub at Barnes. I held my rose coloured umbrella aloft just in case my brother in Lancashire could see it as he was watching on television!
The water was rough and choppy in contrast to the Monet-like willow trees, protected from the wind and languorously draped on the Chiswick bank opposite. They looked very green against the treacherous grey of the river.
It’s thrilling to see the posse of boats wheeling round the bend from Hammersmith and into full frontal view of the crowd. A cheer went up. Drinking beer in the rain with jostling umbrellas is a very British scene, except that the two people behind me started to speak in German! After Sarkozy’s visit on Wednesday to the Queen at Windsor I wondered whether we are on the way to more than an ‘entente cordiale’ with the rest of Europe.
I had been to the video shop earlier in the day and John took two hours off from his permanent report writing to watch ‘Michael Clayton’. I did well with this choice. He loved it and said that the faultless photography and atmospheric lighting put him in mind of the ‘films noirs’ of the 1940’s like ‘Key Largo’. Great acting.