Between the Woods and the Water

Patrick Leigh Fermour tells the story of his last few hours spent with his Romanian lover Angela.
They had been touring the Carpathian roads and stopping at old Saxon inns, admiring ancient churches. When all too soon they had to get Angela back on to the Budapest train.
Their friend and the driver of the old Bugatti was Count Istvan. and he had stopped and fixed a puncture when they all heard the whistle of the engine.
They shot through fields of Maize and Tobacco, clouds of dust billowing behind. As they ripped along a field of Sunflowers, They levelled with the train, the passengers staring wide eyed at them. Then, grinning like a cinder eyed demon Istvan pulled ahead....
They made it well ahead of the train.
Angela leaned out of the train window and threaded crimson button holes into their shirts. She kissed Paddy goodbye, and years later he could still feel the dust on her smooth cheek.
Its a true story, and one of the best books I have ever read.
Hence; Dustycheeks.

My ten greatest extravagances

No 10..
I do have a slightly vain weakness for nice sunglasses. Generally I am a bit shambolic, ungroomed, unironed and unkempt. But if it is sunny I will wack on my Police aviators.
On Friday I tried on a pair of £250 Tom Ford aviators while Frau went to the loo.
No 9..
Wetsuits. I currently own a nice full bodysuit. A bit battered and well used. But I have had some of the best times of my life innit.
No 8..
Years ago I was working near Frankfurt. When I came home me and Frau used to take a bottle of Henckel trocken up to the bathroom. We would chat about the week, in the bath. "Me at tap end".
Pretty rock n roll..
No 7..
A few years ago I bought a Tandem on a whim, cost £300. We occasionally whip off to the woods on it. It feels like we are in the nineteen twenty's.
No 6..
I buy a lot of books. Working my way through subjects. Travel, exploration. I got stuck on a huge spell of mountaineering disasters. Sci fi. Philosophy. I do however,wish I had a proper format. I intend to aim at some proper lingual skills next. starting with old Greek.
No 5..
In Two thousand ,I rented a villa with a pool in Beautiful Zakynthos. It over looked an olive grove and on to a misty mountain monastery. In the day the swallows would occasionally take swooping sips from the water. In the evening the bats did the same. We explored the island in a battered old Fiat multipla. We took all of our four children. It cost a fortune.
No 4..
On the beach at Alykes, I spent a lot of Drachma at Costas watersports. On all sorts of Ringo rides and what not.But mainly blatting across the Ionian on stupidly quick unregulated wet bikes..Frau would be screaming in my ear to slow down, but she actualy loved it.
No 3..
Road trips ,to New Zealand" with four kids, two at adult price." Drove all around South Island up to Abel Tasmen national park. Then on up to North Island. Then back home via Barrier reef.
Recent trip around middle Europe ,then up through Scandinavia.
Up through the Highlands then out to the Outer Hebrides, down through Skye back onto mainland and back to Edinburgh.
No 2..
Purchased a twelve and a half inch Newtonian reflector. I can see galaxies with it.As well as the planets in pretty good definition. The moon is enormous, crisp and very detailed. Also extremely bright. Needs a greenish filter.
N0 1..
Snowboarding costs a fortune anyway. when you bring your children along it costs even more.I would however feel terrible if I was on the mountains, knowing that my kids were stuck in a smelly old classroom in the midlands.
When you have been sliding down a mountain all day, and you stop. Meet up and sit at a mountain restaurant in the sunshine. Order an extortionately priced round of hot chocolates. And then start to swap anecdotes from the days exploits.All excited messy haired and red faced.
You cannot place a value on such moments. They truly are the times of ones life.

Everything in its right place

On the culture show last night,there was an item about a couple in Leeds who collect art.
They had previously been interviewed about their tastes. The woman had mentioned how much she admired Damien Hirsts butterflies.
Damien had called her after the programme to thank her for her praise. He later sent her an original work. It is on proud display, on a wall in their modest terrace house. Truly art for the people.
Today I have been visiting Cambridge. I was killing time while my son had an interview and ended up in, Kings college chapel.
What a masterpiece of architecture, light, and acoustics.
For ten quid, my wife and I were spellbound by an ancient piece of artifice. The organ nestles in the middle. Carved from oak amidst the choir stalls. I can only wonder at the resonance of a full choral service , cranked all the way up to eleven..
I didn't feel at all unwelcome and unwashed ,like the "other place" makes the visiting Hoi Poloi feel..

Mr Sting

Watched a bit of telly last night. George Galloway was on newsnight talking about the justification for the invasion of Iraq. As was Claire Short.
They were talking about how the British govt lied about W.O.M.D. as an excuse for the war as opposed to regime change.
The reason for the war was that Saddam was a jeopardy to the wests oil supply. And needed to be replaced. The hundreds of thousand dead were collateral damage. The leaders have secured there objectives and can now reap the rewards from their cooperate chums. Blair converted to Catholicism as soon as he left office so can even confess away the gore and war grime that his immortal soul must have been encrusted in.
Everybodys happy..
Watched a clip of Sting being savaged by Paxman. Sting was on about Global warming and Paxy asked him if he ever felt weird talking about this when he has homes all over and flies a lot? Sting said "Oh come on Jeremy, you can't blame celebrities for causing Global warming".
Paxman said; "I am not accusing celebrities of causing global warming.I am merely accusing you of hypocrisy".

Thermal underwear

On Saturday we were driving in Hampshire, near Stockbridge. So we had to have a quick dip in the River Test.
There was still frost in the hollows all around, yet we were undeterred.
We stripped off quick and were in ,in a flash. I swam hard as I could against the flow for about ten seconds. Then out and into the uberchill of a January afternoon..
My son even picked up a wee leech.
We only had our undies on, so that is pretty hard core innit.