clocks went forward

Well, for the first time ever, I forgot to change the clocks. Threw my day out a bit, because we were going to go to church and then to the Mac store in Regent Street. Plans changed, as we realised at what we thought was nine o'clock, that it was in fact ten o'clock. Too late for St Paul's, so we went to worship at the church of Apple instead. We got some nice new toys, and hopefully will be able to produce a shiny new blog, and Phil will be able to create shiny new music, too. I will post the new blog address here when it's all set up. Will be much easier to post photos online instead of peering at invisible thumbnail pictures and trying to guess which photo is which.

Other things this week... I said goodbye to my dad's flat in Putney in it's previous incarnation; mainly 70s pale green everything, with multitudinous nicotine stains...Barney's builder's have moved in and are gutting it before transforming it into the lucrative des res that will pay for Dad's care. The bathroom looked particularly strange with a great cavity in the wall where the tap end of the bath had been. Then We were going to meet Jake at Putney station and go for lunch, but there had been a signal failure and Jake got off the train at Barnes and walked to Putney. In the meantime, I went to look at stone for our new patio. It was cols and rainy, but good to see what colours the different types of stone became when wet.

Went to tap on Friday - I'm really getting back into it now, after months of minimal exercise, I am walking to work again, and dancing twice a week...hopefully the pounds around my middle, laid down during the stay in Putney will budge soon.

Thinking of being back home, and about the yummy mummies and daddies of our neighbourhood, I've begun to regret introducing them to Darren! They have stolen him away from us, and he now has no time at all to do even the tiniest job for us. Darren, we need legs for our table!!!

home again

Well, we're back at home again, it's great. The shower works, we have central heating and we have a washing machine and tumble dryer. No more visits to the laundrette. Hooray! We still have no kitchen though, although it's built and the units are in place, nothing is plumbed in, so no fridge, no sink, no oven. They have promised these today. I have put on so much weight from eating sandwiches and takeaways, oh, and not going to my dance classes or walking 45 minutes to work. It has all added up to several pounds of lard around my middle. Ok, more than several...maybe several kilos.
There is dust everywhere. It's never ending, but fairly satisfying thinking that each time you hoover, there's a bit less of it. It's been exciting walking along our familiar streets again, a bit of a rediscovery. Athough Putney was my home for about 12 years as a child, it didn't feel at all like home going back there for about six months. The road my dad's flat is in is long and dark. It doesn't feel like a community, it is composed almost entirely of flats, mainly privately owned. The only exception being a wonderful gothic style house, I think calles Rosslyn Heights. My and my friends used to fantasise about living there. One friend said that his grandmother lived there, but I never quite believed him. Our house is in a street where I know most of my neighbours, and you always see someone you know when you walk down the road. It's wonderful to be home.

going home soon

Back to blogging after spending far too much time playing Scrabulous on Facebook over the past few months. Our house is almost ready to move back to, but not quite. When I say not quite, I mean that there is still no bathroom, and still no kitchen, In fact the rooms are there, but no actual appliances eg no shower, no oven. 

So today was the official  completion date and it's not ready. My brother is over from the States, and we are all staying at Dad's. Me, Phil, Rob, Charles and William. 

Dad of course is down the road at the nursing home, which is another story altogether, although a large part of today - when Phil and I should be going back home, will be spent being with my brothers and making some big decisions about Dad and his flat.

So we are sort of packing to go home, and also hesitant. Although not super comfortable at Dad's, it's more comfortable than living in a building site. 

So it will be goodbye to Putney. Very bizarre actually living here again. Putney is great, but wealthy and alien compared to how it was when I was growing up. The house my parents saved up for and bought for 9,000, is now worth millions. In a strange circular coincidence, my dad has moved to a nursing home only a few houses further down the road from our old house.

Putney is lovely to walk around, and full of memories for me, but I'm glad I'm going home to Brentford and all our friends any day now.

whirlwind

An exciting couple of weeks, not all good, not all bad...

Saw Katy, Donna and Penny on the 23rd, a sort of mini school reunion. Quite special, because they all came to say hello to Dad at one point or other during the afternoon. Katy in particular, had a lovely long chat to him, possibly one of his last long lucid chats before the recent madness started.
Anyway we had a great afternoon, Katy had to go back in the evening, so Donna and I met up with Penny at Dad's, and went to the Spotted Horse for dinner which was great. Phil and Robin, who was over from America for a few days joined us there. Later Penny, Donna and I went for a walk down by the river - it was very cold. Walked Penny back to near to Dad's, and then Donna and I stayed in a local hotel for the night. A blissful uninterrupted night of sleep, well approximately 5 hours by the time we'd stopped chatting and giggling and gone to sleep. Dad got iller recently and I got ill too. The third time since the end of August. I was so ill, I couldn't even go out to a folk thing at the Festival Hall on Tuesday. The biggest stress in the new Putney situation has been trying to get help from Wandsworth social services for my dad. It has been extremely difficult to get anywhere with them. Impossible to know what is available, and how to get it. When I have phoned to ask how the delivery of one or other promised service is progressing, I have been told it's up to me to chase it....It took one dedicated district nurse to pull out all the stops on Friday, and organise something in one day that social services have taken 3 months to sort out. Dianne, you are an angel. Anyway...Dad's in hospital now, and won't come home until everything's in place for him, so a result all round.
Very strange (and relaxing) being at Dad's flat without him in it.

The weekend's here

Oh how I love the weekend; as the week rolls by, I think this weekend, I'm going to really make the weekend really excellent and extract every last drop of life from it. A great start- just come back from tap, relaxing with 3/4 of my immediate family, glass of nice dry rose to hand - tomorrow's looking good, a visit to Putney to see Dad and just spend some time there, and have a nice time having lunch...where? decisions decisions.
A friend's birthday celebrations in the evening. A very yummy mummy of Brentford as it happens. Celebrating at Grounds coffee/wine bar in Brentford. Happy birthday yummy Jenny x
But what shall I wear?
Lots to look forward to, a work conference in Scarborough...aah, so close to Whitby. It will be very bracing by then, waves crashing against the sea wall, lovely crisp cold air. The following week, off to Dublin; here we come everybody, Sean (Dr Millar) and Phil might be doing some music together, it will be fantastic.

update

It's been a couple of weeks since I wrote, a bit of a whirlwind. Dad is getting frail and needs people around him a lot. This has had an upside in that my brothers have all rallied round to help. It's been weird and good. My three brothers are younger than me, and the only one I see with any regularity is my youngest brother, who lives in America. My next brother down is Barney of No Hit Records/Sounds that Swing - he lives in London and we may see each other once a year or so, and the middle one is Matt, the concert pianist, who I almost never saw. So strange seeing Barn and Matt, and looking for similarities and differences between me and them. So great to have a ready familiarity between us. Such a project to work on together, such complex arrangements. It takes all our energy, and work is just an unfocused blur at present, nothing getting done. Nice all meeting up in Putney together.
Phil and I made the pilgrimage to Pete Cooper again last week, and he said I could play something with Phil at his fiddle party at Cecil Sharp House at Christmasstime. Wow! Nervewracking. My new violin is very beautiful though and I am pushing myself to work hard at things I find difficult. It's very hard though, but will be worth it. If I look back to this time last year, or even December, and how I've moved on, there has clearly been some progress. A long way to go, but I may well be session-ready by the time we go to Whitby next year.

Saturday and Sunday

A good weekend again; a little more relaxed after a hectic couple of weeks, Went to on the regular Saturday jaunt to Putney, saw my dad and did a few bits and pieces for him...Phil joined me there, and sat with my dad while I shopped. We had lunch at Wagamama, which is always good; not sure why people are against it, is it because it's a chain? Phil and I have tried loads of noodle bars in London, and think Wagamama packs more of an interesting punch than many of the others, our absolute favourite is number 37 chicken itame mmmmmmmmm chilli and lemongrass! Coco Noodle in Ealing does the best raw juice though. In the evening, I spent about an hour and a half preparing a letter for Phil and son for their visit to Wembley. They went to see Metallica but their seats had been upgraded due to the booked ones being unavailable due to some sort of production issues, however they needed to take a letter from me plus id for both of us. Goodness it stressed me out quite a lot getting it right. Anyway all done and packed. Then Phil went out to meet Di and Paul at the now smokeless Globe to watch the Surfing Brides. I needed a quiet night in, practicing the fiddle and chatting to Jake. So I did that for a bit and then Di and Paul knocked at the door...after resisting for less than two seconds, I went with them to the Globe. So pleased I did though, I hadn't seen them before, but really enjoyed their mix of cover versions and clever original songs. Liked the theatricality of each band member and the way the lead singer reminded me of boys I knew when I was a teenager who sang/played in bands. Only managed just over half a pint of some sort of Fullers beer, (as part of my educational foray into the world of beer)but it was very nice.
Sunday- Phil and son set off early to sort out Metallica tickets and see Metallica; a whole day's adventure. I went off to Church and planned a leisurely day after that. Church was good and I enjoyed playing the violin there and chatting to people...so wierd that Ceri has materialised there. He is someone who I only vaguely knew through my Chiswick Village friends and he just arrived at St Paul's one Sunday, keyboard ready. His presence has given a lovely focus to the music group, and what's more has given Marjorie the chance to play the flute, her first instrument! He's a record producer and will record Phil and Paul's (Talismen)album, soon as they all get it together! Ceri knows loads of other people I know, and his sister lived at the notorious co-op house in Hanger Lane. (will write about that another day). Anyway after Church we had quite a chat and possibly a not very charitable one, about why Brentford is a better place to live than Chiswick, yes it is, yes it so is!!! Anyway after that, walked round the long way to home, hoping that the coffee shop in the High St would be open, but it wasn't...up through the Butts, admiring the sunlight on the trees. Home to a peaceful house. Spent the day doing bits of housework, violin practice and blog, as well as cooking two days worth of food. 8.30 came around very quickly and off I went to call for Di and Paul for further beer education at the Magpie. First half was pretty sickly called Frulli. I do like a fruity taste, but this was fruity beyond the bounds of decency. Can't remember what was next, but they were nice. Also the Magpie was nice...all the upholstery had been replaced or cleaned, woodwork had been painted it was very pleasant. Yasmin and Jim came too, and we had a bet on when the 2000 real ale would be introduced. I reckon Feb 14 09. They all reckoned around summer 08. Pleasant walk home and then goodnight.

second homes

Been thinking about second homes for a while know, especially given the temptation at times to get a little place near the sea, in Whitby, or another favourite place, Walton on the Naze...not that we could really afford it, however we have rented other people's second homes. Ideally I don't think people should have second homes, because it creates problems for the year round community, especially when things are quiet out of season. Local people say they can no longer afford to buy properties in their own villages...

Although I'm not sure that I agree with people having second homes, I do believe people should be able to buy a home where they would like to live ie in a village or by the sea, but that they should make that their only home and become part of the community. Local people in small communities should maybe get some assistance to buy or fairly rent their homes and be able to stay and work in the areas where their families have lived, although I don't know how these things would be decided, In London, very few people can live in a part of London they would like to, eg I was born in Chelsea and grew up in Putney, but could I ever afford to live in either of those places now? I don't think so.