Sandy Powell

This act probably seems rather 'old hat' these days, but in his day (Yorkshireman) Sandy Powell was one of the biggest stars of Music Hall. Some might remember his famous catch-phrase "Can you hear me Mother?".

I worked with him in a variety show. I was a student at the time, and had taken a holiday job as ASM (Assistant Stage Manager). Powell wasn't an easy man to work with, he was a cantankerous old codger, often sozzled, and didn't like being told what to do. I often had difficulty getting him on stage. 

On one occasion he was watching some Football match on TV in his dressing room, and refused to go on. I had to hurriedly reorganise the whole evening's running order to cope with his absence. He went on later (reluctantly).

Here he is performing what was probably his most well-known, and well-loved, sketch, as a ventriloquist. The long-suffering assistant was his lovely wife Kaye. How she put-up with him, I shall never know!

The shocking reality

Once all the leaves and water on the pool's winter cover were removed, and the cover itself taken away, this is what we were left with (below). YUK!

It's the same every year. The water level was low, the water itself a nasty green colour, and the flagstones in desperate need of the Karcher.

We need the water level to rise before we can turn on the pump, and start treating and cleaning the water. With just a garden hose (by Billy's feet) it takes a long time to reach the desired level.

Once the water is circulating, and the chemicals added, we can think about cleaning the flags. It'll be at least another couple of days until we can actually swim.

As it happens, we're having a short spell of cooler weather with some rain, then on Monday the heat returns, and we are to have 30-35 C for a couple of weeks; so it has worked out quite well.

I can hardly wait to get those flagstones clean. It always looks so grubby when we open up. The Karcher does a great job. I will clean the Lutyens chair at the same time, it's covered in lichens.

By Tuesday or Wednesday, it should all look like this (below). 

In fact, by late afternoon yesterday it was already a nice blue colour. All the muck has now gathered on the bottom; ready for me to vacuum tomorrow (today). 

Happy times ahead!

 

Back to the old routine.

First things first, so it was off to the woods at first-light (7 am). Amazingly, no-one seems to have visited my mushrooming spot.

This (below) is part of the view from the front of our house, and, in the distance, is where my mushrooms grow. As you can see, it is all very tranquil. The pale treetops are Chestnuts, which are all in flower; the aroma is all-invading.

As I said above, it seems as if no-one had been to my mushroom patch for a while; there were Girolles everywhere. In fact I picked far too many. Omelet tonight.

We had a good shopping trip to Leclerc, but for some odd reason there were already crowds of people there waiting for the 9 am opening time (My Sainsbury's in England opens at 7 am). I don't enjoy being jostled by crowds in a supermarket.

However, we did manage to buy a few essentials, including a magnum of Pétrus 1971 (ask no questions, and I shall tell no lies), and a couple of bottles of our favourite fizzy Saumur. I shall buy more Saumur on Tuesday; it's always good to have a ready supply. This stuff is as good as Champagne any day!!!

But, not everything goes smoothly. At midnight last night we had a small storm. Thunder, lightning, and rain. I suddenly remembered that I'd left the car windows open, so up I got, torch in hand, and walked through the rain to the car (about 50 yards), and closed them. Rain seems to be a thing of the past in Brighton, so I wasn't expecting any here either!

This morning, whilst it's still reasonably cool, we shall clean the pool cover of all its dead leaves, etc, and hopefully pump off all the water.

Lady M is becoming restless. SHE NEEDS TO SWIM.

Journey completed.

French roads are a real pleasure to drive on. They are comparatively quiet, without potholes, and extremely well sign-posted. Our two day drive south was without incident, and (amazingly) without getting lost. Our new little gadget for getting through the 'T' gates on the Péage roads worked perfectly, and unlike the old one, the new one 'pings' when you go through.

It was hot on leg 1 of our trip, and very hot on leg 2. Billy slept for most of the way, and was really excited when we reached home. Our gardener popped-in to see us with his Black Lab', and the two of them had a wonderful time playing together. I suspect, like us, Billy's very pleased to be back.

I gave the lawn a quick trim, looked at all the growth everywhere else, and decided to leave it for another day.

By early evening we were both EXHAUSTED, so, after a nice bottle of Pécharmant, and a slice of Lady M's Quiche, we sat outside enjoying the warm evening air, watching the Buzzards flying, and listening to the Crickets 'chirping'.

Tomorrow we might attack the pool. It's certainly swimming weather.

But before we do anything else, we'll go SHOPPING to Leclerc. I have a long list of delights to bring home!

 

Preparations

I've made a list of things to take to France; and also of a few things to bring back.

On the 'take' list are just a few food items. Essential Indian curry pastes, spices, and pickles have become harder to find since Brexit, so it's safer for me to take my own 'just in case'. Most other European foods are readily available, but it's the Indian ones I would miss.

On the 'bring back' list there are also a few food items. My favourite Spaghetti (Panzani) is top of the list and I shall return with at least 3 kilos. Otherwise a few favourite 'small' antiques, photos, books, and a few tins of Paté, Squid, and Octopus that I can't buy here. I shall also return with some DIY things; drill bits, a glue gun, and my soldering iron, that occasionally I need.

We try to travel as light as possible, but somehow it never happens. It always becomes a matter of reducing the excess weight to the minimum. That 'minimum' invariably remains too much.

At least we don't go, and return, with suitcases filled with clothes; we both run two sets of wardrobes; one for the UK and another for France, which makes life easier. 

The Compact Royce (Debi) has now had her Service and MOT, so she's all ready to go. My service garage also cleaned her inside and out, so she is spotless. The ferry and our 'half-way' hotel are both booked; we can hardly wait!!!

I probably won't be around for a day or two, but I'll be back. Toodle pip!

Audrey Hepburn Sings Moon River - BEST QUALITY

John (Going Gently) recently posted a beautiful video of a man playing 'Moon River' on the piano, for an Elephant (who was listening attentively).

I love that song, but for me it has to be sung by my boyhood crush, Audrey Hepburn.

Who sang your favourite version?

A view from the sidelines

For a non-church-goer, I probably seem strangely obsessed by churches. In fact churches have played an important part in my life since I was a wee choirboy in my Surrey village church.

I do love old churches. I love the architecture, the history, and the pivotal position they hold in a community. Regardless of whether or not I believe in their doctrine, I DO believe in their role as part of our traditional English society.

Above is our church here in Brighton, very close to where I live. In many ways it is not dis-similar to our village church in France, below, which still dominates life in certain respects.

Not only does everything of note take place around the eglise itself, in my French village, but it is the highest, and tallest building in the area, and can be seen from miles away. I think it's about 2 kms from our front door, and we can see the spire clearly; and hear the bells.

Two lovely old churches. Ours being very much alive with a full-time priest (Father D), a side-kick assistant curate priest (Father P), a choir, and several very keen acolytes who really enjoy doing all the organising (in what they call 'the catholic tradition'). A nice bunch of people, and all very friendly; we'll miss the annual Dog Show this year. It's on 21st June, and we'll be elsewhere.

The other (in France) has no regular priest (they do occasionally have a Polish one), just the occasional service, and the only regular activity being poorly-attended funerals.

It seems that France has fallen out-of-love with religion; they can't even find trainee priests. The church itself is slowly becoming simply an assembly point, or village hall; but at least they do look after the structure. 

These days, the main 'church' event of the year is the annual Brocante (boot sale), this year on 27th July, with hundreds of stalls sited all around the perimeter of the church itself. It's always a wonderful day, and I never fail to buy a few bargain antiques. I'm looking forward to it (see below).