Saturday, May 30, 2009
Dream time
Two interesting dreams in the last couple of days. First, I was staying in a small stately home which had been converted to a hotel. For some reason I took a violent dislike to the owner and a bunch of us decided to bash his front door in, using something like a very large and heavy door as a battering ram. Having bashed his front door in, we discover an open fire in front of us, at the back of the hall. Push the battering ram into the fire and retire. Major conflagration starts, then oddly peters out. A lot of mess and a fair amount of damage but the small stately home has not burnt down. I retire to my bedroom in the right wing. In the morning I am a bit coy about coming down to breakfast where the owner will be supervising. Second, a dream in which, for once the BH has a role. She is to do the warm up numbers - in the form of piano accompanied lieder, after the fashion of Schubert - at a concert in a church where the main business is something choral and ecclesiastical. Location Cambridge. Rehearsal goes OK. Then, despite not having much time to spare, we decide to go shopping in a neighbouring department store and park in the basement. Do our shopping, that is to say buy a large leatherette holdall, and try to find the car. Fail. Get separated. I start to explore this rather odd basement on several levels which does not contain many cars. The floor of one level is a lot of loose planks, more or less suspended in mid air. One chamber contains some rather odd generators strapped to the wall. Very dark. Another has a sloping floor. Eventually emerge to find BH, who in the meantime has acquired a baby to put into the holdall, and we just about pack into the back of a very crowded, back-loading bus. Location Norwich. All very uncomfortable. The concert has started and we are still on the bus. Perhaps they will do the ecclesiastical bits first and BH can do her lieder afterwards.
Yesterday, being a hot day, to Worthing to take a peek at the Oxfam bookshop there. On the way, had the bright idea to stop for our picnic at Cissbury Ring, the highest point, it seems, of this part of the south downs. FIL very pleased with himself for making it more or less to the top. Double sticks rather than Rollator. On the west, views down to Selsey Bill. On the east, views down to the Seven Sisters and Beachy Head. Must have been a major effort to build the thing, back in the days of jaw bones of donkeys. Not now clear what all the hussocks and tussocks littering the summit might have been or might have been caused by. Removed, in flagrant contravention to the Removal of Geological Materials from Heritage Sites Restaining Order (as amended July 2006), one modest sized flint to decorate one of the ponds back in suburbia. Various unknown small birds, put up the odd skylark and noted several spotted woodpeckers, precise variety (there seem to be several) unknown. But certainly not the green woodpecker that we get in said suburbia. Various ramblers and other humans, two rabbit burrows but no cows, despite the poster announcing presence of same. Grass worn very thin so by high summer it might be a bit bare.
Then down to Worthing where we parked up in the High Street. Much bigger town than I remember with a right of mixture of ages and sizes of buildings. Lots of people smoking in the streets and in the various cafes and bars sporting outside seating; rather more than would be the case in Epsom these days. Down to the prom. and walked along, along with lots of other folk out taking the sun. Plenty of people on the beach, some even swimming. Some tinnies visible and some transistors audible. One rather bossy beach patrol person charging about on a rather noisy quad bike. Not at all clear why he could not have walked or used a bicycle. Eventually found the Oxfam book shop, which proved to carry a lower grade stock than the one in Kingston. Still, having recently been reminded of Fielding, the father of the English novel, acquired two of him in the Oxford Classics series at £1.99 a pop. Good series and look, at first sight, to be an entertaining read. Further report in due course. Came across a branch of 'The Works' where I have done well in the past, nothing on this occasion.
On the way back attempted to visit Findon church, said to be ancient and had certainly got itself stranded, well away from the village. Next to the rather grand but deserted looking Findon Place. Presumably the owner of the place had the gift of the living in times past. Present for deserving impoverished cousins sort of thing. Failed to get into the church, although it looked as if there had been a wedding earlier in the day. A pity as it did indeed appear to be quite old, though heavily restored by the Victorians. Flashy raised pointing to the the flint facings.
Yesterday, being a hot day, to Worthing to take a peek at the Oxfam bookshop there. On the way, had the bright idea to stop for our picnic at Cissbury Ring, the highest point, it seems, of this part of the south downs. FIL very pleased with himself for making it more or less to the top. Double sticks rather than Rollator. On the west, views down to Selsey Bill. On the east, views down to the Seven Sisters and Beachy Head. Must have been a major effort to build the thing, back in the days of jaw bones of donkeys. Not now clear what all the hussocks and tussocks littering the summit might have been or might have been caused by. Removed, in flagrant contravention to the Removal of Geological Materials from Heritage Sites Restaining Order (as amended July 2006), one modest sized flint to decorate one of the ponds back in suburbia. Various unknown small birds, put up the odd skylark and noted several spotted woodpeckers, precise variety (there seem to be several) unknown. But certainly not the green woodpecker that we get in said suburbia. Various ramblers and other humans, two rabbit burrows but no cows, despite the poster announcing presence of same. Grass worn very thin so by high summer it might be a bit bare.
Then down to Worthing where we parked up in the High Street. Much bigger town than I remember with a right of mixture of ages and sizes of buildings. Lots of people smoking in the streets and in the various cafes and bars sporting outside seating; rather more than would be the case in Epsom these days. Down to the prom. and walked along, along with lots of other folk out taking the sun. Plenty of people on the beach, some even swimming. Some tinnies visible and some transistors audible. One rather bossy beach patrol person charging about on a rather noisy quad bike. Not at all clear why he could not have walked or used a bicycle. Eventually found the Oxfam book shop, which proved to carry a lower grade stock than the one in Kingston. Still, having recently been reminded of Fielding, the father of the English novel, acquired two of him in the Oxford Classics series at £1.99 a pop. Good series and look, at first sight, to be an entertaining read. Further report in due course. Came across a branch of 'The Works' where I have done well in the past, nothing on this occasion.
On the way back attempted to visit Findon church, said to be ancient and had certainly got itself stranded, well away from the village. Next to the rather grand but deserted looking Findon Place. Presumably the owner of the place had the gift of the living in times past. Present for deserving impoverished cousins sort of thing. Failed to get into the church, although it looked as if there had been a wedding earlier in the day. A pity as it did indeed appear to be quite old, though heavily restored by the Victorians. Flashy raised pointing to the the flint facings.
# posted by Jim @ 11:38 PM 
