The Summer of 1970

... and other stories.  Is now available in paperback, published on Amazon!  It took me a couple of days to work out how to make a cover and line up the text neatly within the margins.  Look for my full name; Angela Knutsen , on Amazon to find the book and other titles available for Kindle for the time being.

There and back - again

I was hoping to include some pictures in this post, but I still can’t get the pictures from my phone onto my computer. Dom shows me what to do every time she comes, I forget very quickly.

We’re just home after spending another week in the UK. We originally planned to return in September but Rob was looking for cheap flights and we ended up going 8 weeks after our first visit in April. The plan was the same as before; stay with C & J and then with MIL for a few days. We took her shopping which she didn’t really enjoy from the height of a wheelchair. On other afternoons we walked around the village and also visited a garden centre and had a cup of coffee. We also went to see my mum and sister as well a shopping in Worcester. Top of my list was Honey trap lip balm from Lush. I discovered a shop, Healthy Planet Books for Free, where I could choose 3 free books – which I did. How could anyone throw away a book? We made a donation in exchange.

The best part of the visit was the weekend we arrived. C & J took us on a trip on a steam train on The Great Central Railway. The stations on the route were holding a WW2 event. Each station represented a different country, Germany, France and a US base. There was plenty to see, even George VI and Queen Elizabeth, Winston Churchill and others, plenty of singers and music from the 40s. Many people were dressed in clothes from the time and uniforms, some were carrying gas masks. We even had ID cards which were checked while we were on the train – once by a very severe looking German soldier. It was a lovely day.

Shiny new bridge

When Olivier came out to lunch with us in Bordeaux a couple of weeks ago, he told us that he hadn’t explored that part of town. That weekend he went for a stroll along the quays with some friends and he took this picture of the rainbow over the brand new bridge. He did take other pictures and some captured two rainbows, but this is the best one. As you can see he wasn’t the only one. The platform lifts up to let shipping pass underneath:

This weekend we had Dom and J-M, as well as Olivier home (although Olivier goes out most of the time with his friends). Dom bought me a pile of books by John Irving including the English version of Last Night at Twisted River which I read recently in French. If you know John Irving books at all, you’ll know that it is a hefty pile. I will be occupied for months to come.

As usual she sorted out my computer so that I can get at the pictures on my phone at long last. We had a lovely weekend which went much too quickly.

Olivier went back to Bordeaux at lunchtime; the house is very quiet

Bits and Pieces

Recently, we’ve had snow, warm spring weather and now we’re back to cold with the threat of snow. Although we seem to be in winter still, we’re only a week away from spring. Where has the time gone?

On Monday in town I saw a hollyhock in flower.

Last week there was a small earthquake locally – it didn’t wake us up.

I watched “The Lake House” on Sunday evening. Lovers corresponding to each other from different time zones – just the kind of film I like!

Just finished “Last Night at Twisted River” in French. Dom is going to lend me it in English next time she and J-M come to visit. I’ll review it on Still Learning when I’ve finished the second reading.

Findus France have announced their recent troubles as a “problem with labelling”.

More cookery?

Incredibly I dreamt about cooking last night. I was in a long narrow kitchen, there were plenty of cupboards ovens and electric and gas burners but no work surfaces. It made life very difficult – nowhere to put down hot saucepans and dishes, let alone prepare the food. I’ve not long started reading 'Last Night in Twisted River' by John Irving – hence the busy kitchen. I already knew that the loggers ate well, but the descriptions of the huge quantities of food that they eat and the conditions of preparation obviously went to my head. It’s a great read, but not if you’re on a diet.

What a good weekend

Dom and J-M came back from Edinburgh on Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately I couldn’t go with Rob to collect them from the airport as a couple of Dom’s colleagues needed a lift to the station. Dom’s presentations went very well . J-M went along to support her. It’s so nice when they visit, there is always plenty to talk about. They found time to explore Edinburgh. Taste the food (especially fish and chips) and soak up some of the rain. They bought back short bread with (Belgian) chocolate chips – needless to say that has all disappeared.

Dom came back with a copy of The Time Traveller’s Wife and told me that I could read it first as long as I don’t talk to her about it until after she has read it too. So far it looks as if it is going to be a good read…

This term they are both teaching: Dom will be teaching statistics to 1st year psychology students and J-M is teaching economics to students at an agricultural lycée.

Olivier is going to Bordeaux tomorrow to see about an apartment; I hope he likes it. They are very hard to find in Bordeaux at this time of the year. He starts term in about 2 weeks.

This is where Dom presented her work.  The picture comes from Wikipedia (where else?)

Today is my turn

Today is my birthday!! Dom and J-M are slaving away in the kitchen. Dom is making ratatouille and J-M has finished making tiramisu (and he let me lick the bowl). Among my presents I had this beautifully illustrated book!

It’s beautifully sunny, but will it be hot enough to eat lunch outside?

The Great Gatsby across the miles

It’s a little while since Dom told me this one so the details might not be exact:

Before Christmas Dom borrowed a copy of ‘The Great Gatsby’ in English from the library at Poitiers. As she was busy she had to hand it back unfinished, so she left a bookmark in at the page where she had read to and returned the book. When she went back to re-borrow the book it was out, which she thought a bit of a coincidence considering the book was in English. She kept a look out for the book and surprise, surprise, she found it again with her bookmark still in place and a little note. The note was from an American student who could not resist trying to find out who would be reading ‘The Great Gatsby’ in a French town. They corresponded for a little while – probably about books and went their separate ways.

"Last night I had the strangest dream..."

A couple of nights ago I dreamt that I was in a clearing in a woods sat at a table with some other people. In front of me I had the narrative to a play I was in. I knew that the lines I had to read were in the form of a poem. I couldn’t learn them because I didn’t understand the words. The rest of the cast were cross with me because they could see that I intended to have my script in front of me when I was sat on the stage.

The reason why I had this dream was all thanks to the computer. The clearing in the woods was on one of the postcards I’d been preparing during the day. Then, when I was having a stroll around my blog friends I came across a word I’d never seen before and had to look it up. Next, I popped via the comments to a new blog where I learnt that the lady who used to organise the poetry&words tent at the Glastonbury festival had died. Strange the things that stay in your head.

When I woke up I remembered a play I was in in my early teens; I was the narrator in The Pied Piper of Hamlin by Robert Browning (I didn’t remember it was by him!), I tested myself and I remembered the first verse. This took me on in my thoughts to a Canadian film, *The Sweet Hereafter, with Sir Ian Holm about a school bus which crashes and kills most of the children in the village. The poem runs through the film (The survivor used to baby-sit and read the poem to her young charges.). Sir Ian Holm is the insurance investigator who is sent to decide whether the survivors should be awarded any money. He is also trying desperately to reconnect with his daughter, who is a drug addict, at the same time. It’s a very sad but beautiful film. I remember the lady who drove the school bus saying that when she picked up the children for school every morning she felt like she was picking berries and putting them into her basket. If you haven’t seen it I recommend it.

*Adapted from the novel by Russell Banks

Ahem

Don’t forget that if you are visiting and you are from the UK, you can now order Zoe’s book. She’s very famous you know. Just scroll down to my Amazon Ad.

Friday afternoon

Dom and I wet to the mediatec (library) on Friday afternoon. I rejoined and we looked at books and borrowed some. I thought I’d give John Updike a try in French. I don’t know why I haven’t got into the habit of going there. On the first floor you can sit in comfortable chairs in front of enormous windows overlooking the port (and pretend to read?).

The fair is in town so we picked out way back through the booths and rides which were being set up (it really puts you off, seeing them being constructed) and went for a coffee at our favourite ‘belle epoch’ café.

When we were crossing the square I spotted three girls dressed in white with wings (angels)! They were promoting perfume and gave us scented fluffy white feathers and a card. When I got home I read the card and it’s got a number on to phone to see where to go to get my free samples!

It’s nice going out with my grown up daughter.

Dream time
I had the most amazing dream a couple of nights ago. I was in London and had a telescope to look through. Although the telescope didn’t make things look bigger they were definitely clearer. I could see the details on a tiled floor and the mud on a football some children were playing with. I looked up the telescope in my dream book; “….suggests that we are taking a closer look at something” (I think I might write a book about dreams too ) A telescope can symbolise clairvoyance, so be careful what you’re thinking when you visit this post..

Dreaming of mud suggests we are bogged down, lol. Sorry but I find my book really funny at times.

The Perfect Hostess
I’ve been reading ‘The Perfect Hostess’ by Rose Henniker Heaton, written in 1931. It’s very tongue in cheek and so funny. She says things like “It isn’t the menu that matters it’s the men you sit with” There are lots of little poems and it seems you just couldn’t have enough matches in those days. There are menu suggestions for visits from wealthy relatives, American visitors (it’s important to Be British), breakfast in bed for the bright young person and so on.