And Here It Is

On googling him, I saw some of his other images, but this remains my favourite.

Catalogue

with lots of good stuff in it. Among which I found a painting or two by an Armenian artist called Martiros Sarian, one of which I particularly liked.

Another Find

at the car boot sale. A funny ceramic shoe with the legend: " A Present From Hunstanton" on it. Apparently made in Thuringia which sounds like somewhere from a fairy tale, but googled it and it is somewhere in Germany.

I also purchased a catalogue of works in the Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, a continental silver card case and notepad, and a large collection of wooden spoons. Oh, and a Wedgewood type of green plate with a bunch of grapes and leaves on it in relief.

Queen Mother 100th Birthday Mug and Box

Couldn't resist these for £1 each at the boot fair at St. Peter's Church last Monday. I shall feel quite ladylike when I drink my Lapsang out of the mug. I may even extend my little finger, though I am assured this is quite vulgar. Not a good snap of it, but the Queen Mum looks very lovely in her pearls with a pretty flowered hat, all in delicate blues. I feel a painting coming on.

Hotel and Gardens

A snap of the hotel from the gardens.

They have just acquired a pair of peacocks: Ginger and Fred. I assume the staff will expect to see some dancing at a later stage. They are being kept in a large pen until they are more familiar with the place, but no doubt they will eventually be strutting their stuff and freely roaming the grounds.

Home Sweet Home With Kooky

Steam train.

Reading my 'full and frank' previous post it does seem rather hectic, but in fact the holiday was a great success. The hotel is very good indeed, catering excellently for people with disabilities. The food was fine and the entertainment pretty good too, with a full programme of activities during the day and evening. Sailing, archery, decoupage, watercolour painting were all on offer, there was a giant chess set outside, also croquet, bowling green and mini golf. The gardens were lovely and there was an outside and inside pool and jacuzzi and beauty salon. As it is a little isolated for those with mobility problems we kept the coach with us so that the punters could have shopping and other trips, as being Londoners, they are very enthusiastic shoppers.

Kooky has been very affectionate and has learned to come in through the catflap, though not yet able to get out. We shall see. I am so pleased to be back with him again.

Back to Kooky Again

Lovely view from my hotel window.

Julian kindly found me a larger suitcase and brought it around, which was a help.

On the day, there were two latecomers and two who didn't turn up for the coach - seems they couldn't find a cab and decided to drive down, but caused some anxiety and delay in our departure. At a comfort stop on the way, a diabetic remembered leaving her needles at home, so I rang the GP who arranged to fax a prescription to the hotel. On arrival I cabbed it to the chemist while Romy reallocated rooms - usual hotel mistakes - mother and son put in a double rather than twin - people needing showers given baths and vice versa. The chemists said they would need the GP to send a signed prescription by post, but had the needles and after ringing the GP finally handed them over. I shot back to the hotel and found my room.

On the second day, someone else had left her drugs at home. Romy stayed at the hotel to sort out this problem which eventually took all morning, while I accompanied the others to Chichester for a shopping trip. At the end, someone's portable oxygen supply had run out. We hurried back to the hotel where she had a piped supply in the room.

On the third day we went into Southampton, and the starter motor for the coach broke, so our return was delayed for an hour, but generally people enjoyed the trip. A message was passed on our return that the oxygen patient had been taken to hospital, but sent back later to the hotel.

On Monday, we went to a car boot sale which was good and there were no mishaps there. Later on our return, we had a message that someone had been ill with gastrointestinal symptoms and had been confined to her room by the visiting doctor and given some medication.

Romy and I were contacted by the son of the previous patient, who had decided that despite being sent back to us by the hospital, his mother was really ill and had not eaten or drunk anything for 24 hours and was very breathless and confused. We decided on consultation with the London GP to call an ambulance. She was then admitted to hospital. We received regular progress reports from her son: she was likely to stay in and later be transferred to a London Hospital. Meanwhile Romy contacted a private ambulance company for a quote, just in case she was discharged locally, as we knew there was not enough portable oxygen to bring her back on the coach.

Wednesday passed without too much trouble - in the afternoon we had a very pleasant rail trip on the Watercress railway, with tea and scones on the train. It was a great adventure despite the rather dull weather, but it started raining heavily just as we got back into the coach. That evening, someone tripped over and hurt herself, but called a nurse who dealt with a bruise and was fine later.

Thursday was the last day - we went shopping in Portsmouth. It was a lovely day and some people went on a boat trip around the harbour, while we looked for bargains. I had decided to take our former Treasurer, who lived on the island, to dinner with his wife and Romy. He had given us dinner the previous year. It was good to see them again. We returned to the hotel at about 11pm and all was well.

Back again today. Kooky was fine, and I settled back in to do the washing and unpack. Apart from the few hours 'off' on Thursday evening, I estimate that I have worked about 13 hours a day. Romy has worked even longer since she joined in all the social events after 9pm in the evening, after I had wimped out and gone to bed. It will take me some time to recover.