Well I have to say that London was 'interesting'. Work was work and ok, but my mother was in a foul mood and I escaped whenever I could manage it when not working so I could spend as short an amount of time with her as possible.
On Monday night I went out to dinner with my niece and her fiance. We had a lovely evening but the restaurant made us wait an hour for our table and our annoyance (and hunger) was slightly ameliorated by the fact that we bumped into Harrison Ford who held the door for us. It's always a bit sad when you meet your heroes and they don't quite match up to expectation. I wasn't so phased by the fact that he was a whole lot shorter than I'd ever imagined, but more that he was wearing an earring in his left ear which looked incongruous and just didn't fit my perceptions at all. Ah well... the company was good and the food, although average was, palatable.
Last night I went out with my cousin from the US. We spent a lot of our time together when we were young and I adored his parents and grandmother (his grandfather died before I was born) and it's always great when we get together. We went to Langan's to spend my £100 voucher (easy peasy) and had a delicious meal accompanied by some good live jazz. If you ever go there do try the spinach souffle, which is just fantastic. I left a good review on Trip Advisor this time.
One of the interesting things about getting together with people who you grew up with is that they have things to tell that you never realised... and in my case it was that Michael, who's a few years younger than me, was intimidated by me when we were in our teens. I never used to wear shoes - well I was a bit of a hippy - and apparently Michael, who's always been a bit of a geek (in a lovely way) couldn't quite get over that. It was an unexpected turn of conversation that opened up some very fond memories.
The stuff with my mother had some hysterical moments, like when I was getting ready to go out and she wanted me to post her 2nd class letters before 6.30 pm. I couldn't work out why she needed them posted that evening as I was sure one day for a 2nd class letter would make little difference but she was having none of it and, just as I was going to capitulate and not have that bath I was hoping for, she snatched them out of my hand and went off to post them herself. She didn't take her keys and when she returned I didn't hear the doorbell, so she enlisted the help of members of the Met who stand outside the Egyptian embassy almost opposite her house who rang me to ask me to let her in. Sadly I thought it was very funny... my mother, needless to say, wasn't amused!
I spent some of my non-mother time at the Veronese exhibition at the National Gallery, which happily inspired a poem for my poetry course. I was struggling to write anything for this week's assignment so it's a relief that something is in writing.
After a few days with a bit of culture, a bit of hysterics and some work it's lovely to be home again in the damp greyness that seems to be the summer so far in the Borders, relaxing in my pj's and having a happy puppy to spread good cheer and a man who cooked me my dinner. Definitely good to be home.
No comments:
Post a Comment