What a busy week we’ve had! Sunday to the airport to throw Greg the Younger on a plane back to Sweden, Monday the first lawn-mow of the season (ridiculously early compared to previous years), Tuesday an expedition to King’s Lynn in Norfolk, Wednesday another Silver Matinee while much of the rest of the week has been spent watching Penny work. Marvellous.
We had a great time with my nephew this past week, also tragically named Greg Stragnell, on his short visit from studying in Sweden. He is an excellent house guest, totally amenable to the many indignities we exposed him to, and a lot of fun to spend time with. After London, Oxford and Birmingham, on Saturday last week we met up in Stratford with Nick, Lucy and Annabelle for a lovely lunch at Carluccio’s and then a visit to the MAD Museum (a museum of mechanical art and design) which was outstanding. Think elaborate marble runs and you won’t be far off. Greg flew back to Copenhagen on Sunday afternoon to recuperate a bit before exams this week, I think. If only we could persuade some other members of his family to pay us a visit.
On Monday and Wednesday, both of which were glorious days, I gave the back lawn and the orchard their first trim of the year. It took two days because there’s too much lawn to mow in one session! (Not really – the orchard, in particular, was quite heavy going as it had been allowed to get overgrown last summer. Of course, I should have mowed it at the end of last season but somehow “forgot” to do so). It’s also worth noting that this is absurdly early – I don’t think I’ve ever had to do the first mow of the season before mid to late April, but an extraordinarily mild winter and a very warm February means it’s time. It turns out that February was frighteningly warm compared to past years – the Guardian article called the rise in global temperatures “shocking.”
February breaks global temperature records by ‘shocking’ amount
Not good.
On Tuesday we made our way to the charming village of Terrington St Clement just west of King’s Lynn in Norfolk to collect the latest materials for one of Penelope’s Projects. The two paths she created at the front of the house have lain incomplete over the winter as Penelope tried to source the Victorian edging tiles she was after to finish them off. We visited our local reclamation yard last Autumn but were horrified at the price they wanted for the appropriate tiles – £5 each! (And, we need close to 100). I tell you, I was mightily relieved when Pen walked away from that negotiation when the chap at the reclamation yard refused to budge downwards in his price. So, for the past couple of months Pen has been scouring the web and she recently found 100 tiles on eBay. After a tension-taut evening her final bid was successful and we ended up paying about £1.50 per tile. But, we did have to drive to Norfolk to collect them. Still, a bargain!
Knowing Penny as you all do, you would not be the least bit surprised to hear that the paths were finished on Wednesday. Unfortunately, they’re not – I can’t think what else she’s been doing other than stripping the forty-seven layers of wallpaper in the lounge, some of which has clearly been secured with the Victorian equivalent of Gorilla glue. The plasterer is coming next Wednesday and Thursday to board and skim the lounge and snug ceilings and the section of the wall above the picture rail, hence the stripping. Of course I would offer to help but my neck and shoulders just won’t take it, I’m afraid. All I can do is lend moral support and try to remember to provide the occasional cup of coffee.
On Wednesday we attended another Old People’s Silver Matinee at the Banbury Odeon. This time the feature was Carol with Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara and we enjoyed it very much. It tells the story of “two women from very different backgrounds who find themselves in an unexpected love affair in 1950s New York.” Both Blanchett and Mara were nominated for Oscars and the film has picked up a handful of awards in other competitions. Worth seeing, certainly, but we didn’t find it quite as outstanding as many seem to have done.
We had the latest budget from Osborne the Tit on Wednesday which was the shambles we have come to expect from this government. Normally, budgets unravel over the next few days as journalists and economists pick over the fine print to spot the errors, omissions or straight-forward dodgy maths. This time the journalists were all over the budget almost as soon as he sat down after delivering his statement. Essentially, his latest plan to dig the UK out of the massive hole he has excavated involves shuffling money that he has not yet received (based on utterly optimistic projections that not even his friends, of which he has few, believe) into current plans. He’s also managed to antagonise a raft of Conservative MPs who spotted, along with everyone else, that he is hoping to cut billions from disability budgets while, at the same time, providing more large tax break for his friends, the wealthy. This is, it seems, too much for the one or two Tories who have a conscience.
Thursday morning Osborne trotted around the news outlets granting interviews on why his budget was so marvellous. John Humphries of the BBC gave him a fairly rough ride particularly on his three cast iron rules of financial probity, two of which he has already broken and the third of which it looks increasingly likely he will also fail to achieve. If you can stand it, there’s a cracking question from Humphries at about 3:19 into the clip.
Indeed, what does one have to do to get the sack from this Government? Martin Rowson’s cartoon in the Guardian sums it up pretty well.
Love to you all,
Greg