News from Nowhere

I'd rather assumed that our Friday lunch date would be cancelled, but A. wanted to go ahead, despite her husband's recent death, and it was excellent to have a chance to spend time with her. durham_rambler and I got there as soon as we could - not as early as we'd have liked, but as early as we could, after we'd arranged a wine delivery to our satisfaction - and the Bears joined us maybe an hour later, after their morning class. It wasn't a happy occasion, exactly: we were very conscious that a member of our party was missing. But I think we were all pleased to be there, together, despite everything. We lunched at the pub ten minutes walk from the house, where pleasant pub food was brought to us with more charm than efficiency by a succession of young people. We pulled our crackers, told our jokes, played our charades, and some of us even wore our hats. Then A. went back to her house, and the rest of us came home by train and by the bus which stops at the door (always a pleasant option, and one we were well ready for).

We might then have gone out again, to what might or might not have been Islington Folk Club's Christmas party - but we had a number of busy evenings scheduled, and decided we could do without this one. So we sat around, and talked - and since A. always saves the crossword from the Oldie magazine for the boybear, we attacked that.

Yesterday morning, GirlBear, durham_rambler and I walked up to Kentish Town and did some errands. The weather could have been a whole lot pleasanter: there was a cold wind carrying something from the sky, which might have been rain or might have been snow, but was too fine-grained to identify. So we didn't hang about, but I bought some presents from the Greek bookshop (which was fun) and from the French café / deli (expensive, but good, and real French people!) and bread and viennoiseries for lunch from the fancy bakery. durham_rambler was less successful, and managed to break a bottle of beer (which also wrote off a cloth bag, which was not only sopping wet but full of glass splinters - but these things happen, and two bottles survived).

Dorten Yonder had a gig last night, at a fundraiser for an Irish support group for Palestine. They had been hesitant about this, but trusted the friend who had recommended them that there would not be political problems; organisationally was another matter. boybear was not reassured to discover that the promise "There will be PA," actually meant "Please supply amplification for the entire evening." durham_rambler and I stopped on the way for something to eat (the pub on Euston Station, which is called The Signal Box) so we couldn't get seats with the band, and found ourselves next to the bar, which was very boisterous. I'd have liked to stay on to hear Dorten Yonder, and I was ready to buy tickets to do this, as advertised, but this turned out not to be the style. Instead, the Master of Ceremonies, Pete the Poet this one, shook his collecting tin through the first band's set, which was annoying. Next up was a young woman called Cat Black (spelling by guesswork) who got me on her side by starting her set with Last Night I had the strangest dream - it's a while since I heard that! I found the rest of the set a bit samey, but the goodwill remained, and I wish I could have heard her more easily. Next up was Pete the Poet, and I'm afraid durham_rambler and I did a runner.

This morning we learned that there had just been time for Dorten Yonder to do a half hour set at 10.30 - and that they felt it had gone well. So I'm sorry we missed it, but not sorry we didn't wait!

And tonight is the carol evening - time to get ready...