An Addendum

 

The queued pictures finally arrived several days after the despatch of the last blog, and the much debated caricature turned up as well, so here they are. You must surely conclude that by showing this caricature I have at least demonstrated that I have no illusions about myself ! And I can’t think they meant it nastily as I was very well treated by my hosts indeed. The wrinkled throat was particularly perceptive I thought

They couldn’t of course have done anything about the weather at the monsoon time of the year when my visit took place. Continuous and dramatically high winds, bending the palm trees over, and churning the sea white. So I didn’t spend much time on my balcony sun lounger. All the Churches were all shut too. Was taken to a very special local restaurant under one arch of the main river bridge.  After dark, it seemed in the middle of a rubbish dump in the jungle - but the food was excellent.

Before that I had visited Newport, Rhode Island, the first of two 'naval war colleges' this month. Completely different experience. Much of this glorious 18th Century port comprises whole sections of weatherboarded houses of the period, now commanding fantastic prices, and some of the being elevated to cope with rising sea-levels. All charm and graciousness. one of favourite places is the Redwood Library founded in the 1730s and free to enter - real elegance. Nice collection of leather-bound books of the period, survivors after we raided the town during the War of American Independence and liberated a lot of them. Its churches are much the same. This one especially with an unusual  central pulpit for an Anglican church. Went to a service there with a friend It has a Washington pew; I don't know what he would have thought had he seen Queen Elizabeth using it 180 years or so later.

Later, in Singapore,  I attended a very jolly evening at the British high commission with a couple of friends. I only record this as evidence that these things can be fun but that I was very lucky. It was a very naval occasion, with ceremonial flag lowering and all the trimmings. The canapes were supplied by the crew of a small visiting warship. In retrospect – maybe not so good as both my companions went down almost immediately with really ferocious food poisoning, not hospitalisation but doctors called. Even though I went out of my way to wolf the canapés down ( as I didn’t want to bother getting a late supper afterwards) I got away with it. Really lucky there I think.

The luck held when I got back, because as I reached the house I found a message from my cleaning lady saying she had got word of a new gardener setting up business. There and then, suitcase in hand, I phoned him up, he came for a look round that afternoon, pursed his lips at the state of things, and I hired him straightaway. This, plus the onset of a few showers and some things I have been able to get on with, have improved prospects for the garden immensely. In fact improvements are already evident, though there’s still a huge amount to do. At least I managed to mow the paddock, reducing the fire-risk somewhat. Getting the potato crop up was instructive. The drought meant no pest damage at all but a small yield of small but perfectly dry potatoes needing no washing. So not all is gloom and doom !

This time I also spent a jolly family weekend away at Cross-in-Hand for No 2 grandaughter’s 8^th. How she is growing up ! Gandaughter No 1 just got her results, excellent as expected,  so off to Oxford to do archaeology and anthropology. Nice to see the historical genes surviving ! More hopeful vibes were also reinforced by a visit to the absolutely charming Ightham Mote, in Kent.

One of those extraordinary buildings that have been made use of instead of converted into contemporary living. Full of ancient quirks and oddities. An inspiration, although I think granddaughter number 2 was more interested in the archery and table tennis in the play area. Not only did she hit the target with her arrow, it was with such force that she knocked the board over. Great stuff !  She had already demonstrated her athletic prowess by successively knocking two coconuts out of their holders at a local coconut shy, to the amazement of her parents who had signally failed to hit anything. A future Olympian maybe.

So, this much delayed quiet draw down period is finally off to a good start. Hopefully a calmer time will reduce some of the lines noted by my Indian caricaturist, though it's not likely to much for the ears.