Friday November 8th.
On my walk with
Callie this morning I called at Onesacre Farm and told them about the bloke in
the night, we’d encountered yesterday. The woman who answered the door seemed a
bit dozy and I am not sure whether what I said to her meant anything or not.
Perhaps she was just really sleepy, it was 6am after all and still quite dark.
I only knocked at the door because there were lights ablaze in the kitchen. You
could tell it was the kitchen because of all the lights. Still I have done my
civic duty by telling her. You can’t do more than that, can you?
If anything makes my
heart glad [apart from looking at Laura, something which I could do forever] it
is listening to beautiful music play beautifully. Anyone who was lucky,
sensible or savvy enough to be at Sheffield City Hall last night heard that
sublime combination in Spades! The English Chamber Orchestra has just played
the most amazing programme of music which will enthral those who already know
the works and inspire those who don’t to listen again.
The programme opened
with Prokofiev’s Symphony Number One “The Classical”. I know it was written in
ironic response to the communist authority’s strictures on what was
“acceptable” music but this has to be the most wonderful irony of all, it was
brilliant. It always sounds fresh and new and their interpretation just enhanced
that joyous feeling.
That a piano concerto
was going to be on the programme would have been a bit obvious as the orchestra
had one in front of them for their first piece and sure enough the Conductor
settled behind it for their second; Mendelssohn’s First Piano Concerto. A
sureness of touch and a wonderful lyricism meant this was as good as Sergei P’s
opener for the evening.
We met Mrs Briggs
[again] in the interval and she commented on how we both looked stunning –
Laura and I had both done “girly” tonight and wore complimentary shades of
blue, an effect that I thought looked wonderful before we set off, and Mrs B’s
comment showed how right I was. She is often at these concerts and will be at
all the International season ones too. She thought the Mendelssohn seemed a
little too technical for her taste, I am afraid I had to disagree with her as I
thought the conductor brought a delicacy of feeling to the piece. She told me
that Christopher wasn’t coming to this evening’s performance which was a
relief, TBH. Laura thinks it is funny that I have an admirer who’s a
mathematician as she is also an admirer and mathematician. She wondered if I
attracted maths addicts?
The second half was
just as good as the first. The Faure Pavane was very good indeed but the icing
on the cake was definitely the Mozart. Leaving it until last meant everyone in
the hall went home cheered and uplifted after such a rousing performance. It is
probably Mozart’s best known and best loved Symphony and they played with gusto
for such a small orchestra. I honestly don’t think there was a piece to
touch it until a certain Ludwig came along a few decades later. [His works have
never been surpassed in my humble opinion!]
The next
International event is Britten’s “War Requiem” on December 1st but I decided
not to go to that one. Britten quite often, to my ears, doesn’t sound right –
so I avoid listening to him if I possibly can. Our next event is at the
University this coming Sunday when we are off to hear Handel’s Music for
Vespers by the English Touring Opera and the Cathedral Choir. I asked Mrs B if
she was going but she didn’t even know it was on! I obviously have my ear
closer to the ground than she does. I was also able to tell her about Ensemble
360 also playing at the Firth Hall on the 19th of November. I piqued her
interest with this one as they are playing the Debussy String Quartet that has
the Gamelan Style passages in it. She said she might attend that one and I had
to give her more information next Tuesday.
We had a very
energetic evening after the concert and both of us were exhausted after taking
turns with our strappy! Mmmmm……….
Saturday 9th November.
I had a mega mega
clean this morning. Laura and I went swimming as usual and then I got down to
blitz the house. I started with the study this time and worked my way
downstairs. I was sorely tempted to clean in the cellar, but a quick sweep
round with the duster and the floor brush was my compromise.
I think Callie was
looking forward to a Long Walk but the weather was excessively Grottsville. We
even had our first flurry of snow overnight. [Well, OK, I concede it may have
been excessive hail rather than snow, but whatever it was there was a light
covering the further up the hill I went.] Callie loves snow and had a whale of
a time trying to catch the ice balls I threw for her. Tricky in the dark,
really, but she enjoyed it. It made my hands freezing cold though. I spent the
rest of her dog walk with my hands thrust deep into my pockets trying to bring
back the circulation to my fingers!
Laura still can’t
quite get her head round why I have to clean so thoroughly. I have tried to
explain it to her, but I suppose unless you have OCD it is difficult to
comprehend the feeling of terror when things aren’t the way you want them. The
only way to reduce that feeling is to make sure everything is perfect! You
could eat off my kitchen floor! I know it is stupid and silly but it is
something I HAVE to do.
Once I had worked out
my obsession it was the time to Skype the folks in Australia. We had a long old
chat about Dad and Louisa’s impending visit. I tried my best to give a frank
and unbiased description of Louisa but I had to hold back on one vital piece of
information. [I haven’t told her because it may freak her out, but Louisa does
remind me a hell of a lot of Susannah! I don’t mean in appearance but in manner
and demeanour. There have been a couple of times when I have bit my tongue in
Louisa’s company as I was either about to say, “that is just like Suze” or
worse, been about to call her Suze instead of Louisa. Did Dad marry a woman who
reminded him of his eldest daughter?]
I actually get on
very well with her, now I have got to know her a little better. She doesn’t say
much about her first marriage or speak of her daughter, whom she didn’t contest
custody of when the divorce was arranged but I guess that is only to be
expected, isn’t it? She and I have a relationship similar to that of Suze and
me. I simply can’t call her Mum so she is Lou and I am Vic. It works for us.
[Vic is what Dad called me for ages and ages. So much so that when I met some
of his new colleagues at Sheffield – where he worked before his current post –
they were expecting a boy not a girl!]
I was hoping to have
a private chat with Jill but that was not to be. I tried to give her an oblique
message about contacting me with any worries but as I addressed it to all three
kids she may not have sussed what I meant. Annabelle is still as delightful as
ever. She has had her fringe put back in her hair, just like I did. She does
look a bit like a mirror image of me [with darker hair and fewer freckles!].
She still says she misses me sooo much and why can’t I come out with Dad and
Louisa? I explained about house sitting and dog sitting but she just said that
Phil could do it. You can tell she hasn’t met Phil! She knows Loll and I will
be out in our summer but she says she simply can’t wait that long; she’ll
burst! At this point Jeff obligingly told us that she has been bursting out of
her T-shirts – they then disappeared from view having a sibling fight! I did
think she had developed a bit in the few weeks since I had last seen her, but
it certainly wasn’t the sort of thing I would mention in front of everyone.
Brothers, eh?
After our Skyping we
went and caught a tram into town and had a wander round, a window shop and a
cuppa in John Lewis’. We actually bumped into two of the Scampi Tails in there;
Lorraine and Sue. They were doing the same as Laura and me but had actually
bought some stuff as well. Sue had this gorgeous blouse which was in grey
chiffon and looked really delicate. She told me where the shop was but of
course when we parted we didn’t bother going in. The girls were saying they
would like to go rock climbing sometime. I had mentioned that I was teaching it
to some Undergraduates on Wednesday evenings during the summer and they had
seemed keen to have a go too. I was a bit surprised, but what the hell, if they
want to try it why not? I told them to give me a buzz on the next clear weekend
day, so we could use our practice pitches on Stanage Edge.
After Lewis’ we went
to Pollards and I bought another 250 grams of my tea. They have a system there
where you can have your own blend made up and they write the ingredients and proportions
down in a ledger, so that when you go in you simply say could I have xx grams
of Miss Smith’s tea, please? They look it up in the ledger and then blend it
for you there and then. It is so cool. It is mainly an Earl Grey black china
tea blend but with a dash of chamomile too. That extra little dash makes all
the difference to the flavour. I experimented for ages to try and match the
flavour of Lipton’s Old Earl Grey Blend they used to sell in Australia. They
changed their recipe in 2006 and it is nowhere near as nice as it used to be. I
think I have arrived at a pretty close match by experimenting with teas from
Pollards.
Laura had the first
of the Christmas Parties tonight at the restaurant. Pretty early for a
Christmas Party but I suppose that you have to go where the spaces are. She
made over £40 again in tips. I don’t know how she does it. She then spent a few
very enjoyable minutes tipping my velvet. Mmmm…
Sunday 10th
November.
I actually stuck my
poppy through a button hole on my duffel coat as I walked Callie this morning.
It seemed like the thing to do. I was greeted by an old duffer in Sylvia’s shop
who went on and on about how many young people didn’t seem to want to wear the
poppy anymore and he was incensed by white poppy wearers.
I bit my tongue as I
didn’t want to let him know how I thought the whole thing was so bloody
hypocritical, especially having Butcher Haig’s name on the front of the sodding
thing. But I didn’t. I held my ammo in reserve. Believe me, I have enough ammo
to sink both fleets at Jutland once I get going. I am a historian though, so it
is only natural I should.
Back home we’d had a
phone call. Really bloody early I thought. It was Lorraine. Today looked like
being a really fine day, did we want to go to Stanage Edge? Oh bugger! You make
these daft promises on the understanding people don’t take them up. I checked
with Laura, she was all for it, so I told Lorraine to be at the top of Burbage
Brook at 10.30! I sorted out enough slings and harness etc so we didn’t have to
share and piled it all on the back seat of the quokka. We almost drove off
leaving all the ropes on the kitchen table though!
It was really sun and
surprisingly warm in the sun, in the shadow it was a bit cooler though. There
was no sign of Lorraine or Sue so we sat in the car for a while and then headed
towards the pitches. I set up a belay point at the top and Loll climbed the
first pitch. She is getting better and better. We swapped and I swarmed up in
next to no time. We decided to see who could cover it the quickest [I know,
silly and dangerous but we were bored] next. I managed four and a half minutes,
Loll did it in five. We heard a “Yoo Hoo!” away towards the top of Burbage
Brook and sure enough Lorraine and Sue, Rachel and Ann were heading across
towards us.
I did the tutor thing
while Loll belayed me then we let them loose. Well, we let L & S loose.
I took Rachel and Ann
to the second pitch, set up another belay and showed them the route free climbing.
I thought it would save time. They were just gobsmacked. I hadn’t really
thought about it, I’d just set off; calling down to them as I went, telling them about the tricky bits. [There
aren’t any really, that’s why we use them as novice pitches.] They had a bit of
trouble with the first big step – people often do on here. You have to put your
foot at about waist height and reach for
a ledge with your hand which is quite a stretch. Ann couldn’t make it, so I scrambled
down again and showed them the opening moves once more. This time I got them
both onto the first little step and made them get off a couple of times so they
felt more confident, then I climbed up the route again back to my belay
position. They made it eventually but very red in the face and out of breath.
They both took about fifteen minutes.
Laura came over and
climbed my pitch with Lorraine and Sue while I took Rachel and Ann to Laura’s
pitch. This one is easier although there is a layback up a crack for a while,
which needs to be done in one go or your arms turn to jelly after a while if
you stop for a rest. I did explain this to them. They both made a much better
fist of this one and after about forty minutes we all met up at the foot of the
third pitch we’d chosen. This one is longer and steeper but has some really
good holds in the millstone grit. The tricky bit for the novice is a chimney section
near the top. Laura climbed as I belayed and she called out what they needed to
do at each section. She then took over the belay and I free climbed alongside
each of the Scampis as they came up. This actually took far longer than I had
thought it would and at the top we decided to call it a day and head for the
pub in Ringinglow.
At the pub they were
all excited and giggly and suddenly all experts after a few simple pitches. You
are at first. I have seen it so many times. What pleased me the most was that
none of them wimped out, they all had a go. Even when Ann was left dangling
like a weight on a pendulum on the last pitch, she kept going once I had got
her hands and feet back on the route. Naturally they all wanted to do some
more, so I promised them they could come out with us again when we had another
fine morning.
Lunch was a little
over cooked when we got back. The pork joint just fell to pieces. It was
gloriously tender though. Loll had a shower while I cooked the veggies and then
after lunch I was going to have my shower but we ended up sharing and I didn’t
actually wash myself, Laura made me stand there and be washed! I don’t think
she did as good a job of the washing as I would have done but I suppose when
the person you are washing is busy putting their fingers inside you it can be a
bit distracting.
The Handel Music for
Vespers was excellent. Although I must say the turn out could have been better.
The Cathedral Choir were a revelation. I knew they were a professional lot but
I had taken that with a pinch of salt. Just shows how wrong you can be! The
whole programme was over far too quickly. We will have to see when the CC is
performing again. The English Touring Opera was probably doing its token visit
to the grim north for the year but the CC should have more engagements nearer
Christmas [well you’d have thought they would].
All in all it turned
out to be quite an unexpectedly eventful day. I imagine the girls will be full
of the climbing on Wednesday when it is our next Girly Dining Club meeting at
Lorraine’s house. I wonder if by then she’ll have become an expert!
Callie was absolutely
pooped after her exertions on Stanage. She kept going between the foot of the
climb and the belay points over and over again during the morning. Daft bugger.
She was fast asleep in her crate when we went out to the Firth Hall and it didn’t
look like she’d moved much when we got back. She made a half-hearted attempt to
greet us when we came in and then went back to her bed in her crate. On our final
walk she performed the necessary, then turned and gave me a real hang doggy
look, as if to say, “Do we have to go all that way? Look, I’ve done what I was
supposed to!” When I said, “All right. That’ll do then!” she was off down the
lane before I could grab her to snap her lead back on!
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