Take a look at this. A wonderful burst of joy in the temple of materialism. I love the idea of random acts of culture.
We are supposed to be working on the village newsletter but keep getting distracted by interesting emails etc. I do wonder if a modern day equivalent of a spiritual fast might be a day of total quiet, a day without the computer, rather than going without food. Makes me think of Jesus saying 'I have food to eat you know not of'. We seem to eat a lot of 'alternative' food.

3x21

Happy Birthday, Me

HoF's choice, the cheeseboard! No he didn't get to eat all of this but he had three choices, plus dainty little jars with various chutneys and a fan of unusual crackers. Fantastic.

Birthday treat

For my birthday treat, and because Miss P is with us and would appreciate the experience, we went out for lunch at a renowned restaurant in Ludlow. It is not just a good food experience but a drama and piece of art. Excellent waiters with Peter Sellers style French accents (I think they really are French, but you know what I mean: 'do you 'ave a rrrroom?') who are very attentive and even delicately refold your napkin if you leave the room.
There are three courses but also in between courses, for example, Chef's pre-dessert. Each course thus is dinky but still results in a happy tummy by the end. The bread accompaniment consists of six dainty rolls baked together, of three different flavours. The pre-starter nearly made me laugh out loud. A huge bowl with three teeny slices of pepper and a fragment of basil leaf (the waitress puts her hands together and carefully describes what is before you even though you can barely understand what she says). It reminded me of an Alan Ayckbourn play where one actor is presented with a single lettuce leaf and says 'is this all for me?' Then from a jug she pours on crab bisque and the flavours are heavenly. The list of ingredients for each course occupies two lines, and even though the waiter says 'and for you madam.........' you still aren't sure what you're eating because the menus have been whipped away. All great fun and such things as one would never cook at home. I think Swiss Son would love it.

My starter: salmon, something with celery and celeriac, a sorbet........

Main course: lamb shank, with pearl barley, salsa verde, winter veg

Dessert: apple and blackberry, and something with honeycomb crust.
All good value, but beware the wine prices unless you're a wine buff who appreciates what your getting. We had a 'glass of wine, which was like an egg cupful in a large glass.

Swiss trip

We have had eight nights ('I like you stay eight nights, Grandma') in Switzerland visiting Ben and family. The day we arrived, the children were given two kittens. We felt like we became the Cats Protection League overnight! Youngest granddaughter found that when squeezed her kitty gave a surprising squeal, just like a dolly!
We looked after them (the girls, not the cats) on several occasions, sometimes in a lakeside play area without any other children, and also once at an enormous play barn with loads.
We were also treated by our three children to anniversary celebrations of our 40th. One was to see Silo8, an amazing outdoor spectacle, rather like a pantomime for adults, but that understates it. It was a comedy with pathos, an engineering feat with floating carousels and airborne boats, music and fire. Quite amazing. And we also had a meal for two one evening in a swish hotel with champagne on the house.



Help with the luggage

Now we are back home, and enjoying the company of Miss P who is currently signed off work.

Africa United

This film was given quite a lot of publicity in the press before it was released, with mention made of the director's missionary roots. We went to see it on Tuesday in the scruffiest cinema I've been in, but then I don't go often. Maybe because it was a late afternoon showing, we had to find a seat that wasn't littered with popcorn and discarded drinks cartons. To think that many years ago my school had used this venue for its annual Speech Day. However, in spite of this and a flickery screen, we enjoyed the film. It's unusual but then Africa isn't Europe, so you'd expect a few shocks and reality checks with child soldiers and child sex workers, and Aids also featuring largely.
Sadly the film is being pulled from some cinemas today as it wasn't a box office success. You'll see some reviews on this link. Perhaps it's problem is the mixed audience it's aimed at. It's billed as a '12', a family film, but I guess not everyone would appreciate such things as the opening shot for their children, of a condom being inflated for use as a football. To me it seemed funny and perfectly plausible, given the African ingenuity for recycling.
If you get the chance, go and see it, or rent the DVD. You may find subtitles useful. The title is well chosen, a bunch of kids, pulling together as a team in spite of their varied backgrounds, and achieving their goal, literally and figuratively. A metaphor for something else, maybe...........

Southern stage

After Les Baux we visited Beaucaire, an interesting town which gave the feeling of being a ghost town or a stage set because the shuttered houses seemed empty.

And a mountain village called St Victor La Coste which was very picturesque and off the tourist track too. the sort of village which I'd choose if I lived in France.

And finally, after goodness knows how many years, we made a visit to these friends in their French home. They have a mad life style (don't we all when we're not on holiday) but we managed to spend a day with them and understand something of their life nowadays. Including the weekly visit to the market.

Les Baux

After Burgundy we drove straight down to Les Baux-de-Provence, a favourite spot from visits many years ago when we had holidays in Nimes. Nimes where denim comes from, Les Baux where bauxite comes from.

And it really was warm enough for summer clothes even though we arrived late in the afternoon, and I had to do a quick change behind the car.

The sunshine was what HoF travelled all this way for.

There were gizzards and trotters on the menu, but we weren't quite brave enough for that, in case it was a waste of money. We did both have rabbit on another day though, and you wouldn't find that on an English menu either. And just in case you should find the tip useful, you don't need to pay to park in Les Baux in the evening. It was very nice to be able to walk the streets unencumbered by other tourists.