Neville’s Island September 2013

I was alone

Because my husband

Was working away from home

I bought a ticket by phone

An evening in my own company

At The Theatre in the Park

I was so late booking

And so lucky when

At the seat plan looking

Found a single seat

In the front row

Available on the evening

For Neville’s Island

Was the show

Entering the theatre

Into the auditorium

Brought the first smile

Bursting on my face

That moment alone

Made my night worthwhile

I nearly burst with pleasure

To see that stunning set

That moment alone

Set sight on that set

Was a rare treasure

It was an island

In the Lake District

I have been there

It was raining.

It rained when I was there

It was raining too

In the theatre

On the set where

Real trees and rocky shale

And the waters edge

All came to meet

Just three feet

In front of my seat

I was wearing pale lavender

Linen shirt and pants.

The performance

Was a huge treat

Even though

I got soaked to the skin

When Adrian Edmondson

Made his entrance in and

Up through the waters edge

I should have known.

Just his from his name on the poster

That the evening might be

A bit of roller coaster

All four stars were great

Great tale well told

Made me sit up straight

I wished at the end

That I had been bold

Enough to stand up

And say thank you

Thank you for

Breaking the mould.

Neville’s Island

Theatre in the Park

Chichester Festival

Monday–grrrrr-Morning-grrrr,

 

 

AHHH-TISHHH-CCHH-OOOOOO

Monday–grrrrr-Morning-grrrr, is turning quickly into a total nightmare swim session for me. The Monday Sneezing had got to the point where it was either better to stop trying to swim Monday morning or try everything I could think of the beat the allergy to the pool that is a purely a Monday occurrence. Since all the staff at the pool swear to me that there is nothing different about Mondays and say that I am the only one claiming to be affected by it; it is a question of battling head-on trying overcome my problems or quit the Monday swim.

 Action taken so far is:

To try to use a nose clip.That sounds easy enough I’m sure but keeping a nose clip in place 

is also proving to be difficult and disruptive. Measures taken to get along with the clip include making sure that my skin is completely clear of any skin products. This is something that is also hard for me because I suffer with dry skin and obviously that is not improving

So on Monday morning I wash my face thoroughly; which is something I have never done in my life before and I have always advised friends and family to take very good care of their skin and NEVER wash your face, very bad idea for us girls, especially if they swim in chlorine regularly; it’s a killer of pretty skin.

So that much alone is hard, but I have been making sure my face is completely and utterly cream free. Even taking that careful precaution I can only keep a nose clip on for a maximum of two lengths before it pops off. I have bought four different nose clips so far. My nose is not very big and they only come in one size.

This morning it was impossible to stick to my schedule, since I was constantly re- rubbing my nose and the clip to clean them both before getting another 50 metres into my swim.

 

I have been taking a one a day allergy tablet every day and an extra one on Monday. I hear my next door neighbour sneezing through the dividing wall, but not as badly as I have been affected. At least I have stopped the all day long sneezing fit with the help of some nose clip use.

However this morning, having got through the first half hour, my nose was feeling sore on the outside from the constant harsh rubbing to keep the skin clear and non slippery. So at 7am I began to continue the rest of my schedule  doing back crawl and since I do quite a bit of backstroke anyway; I always do my swim down back stroke and I was able the swim the stroke for a full half hour at a steady pace, my back stroke is quite presentable.

After yesterdays hilly off road run, in the soaking rain; on top off hardy turbo sessions of late, I was a bit achy around my hips especially the right hip and when we got home. I had a good soak in hot water and taking my coaches advice did little else but rest. Keeping somebody like me still is like asking a bluebottle to take it easy!

My ever thoughtful husband carefully selected a suitable movie for me to watch in the afternoon. He had found one he thought I would like in a list of award winning films. It was Birdman that won a number of golden statues at the 2015 Academy Awards including Best Film, Best director, Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu (Who also won in 2016), Best Screenplay was Alejandro again, and Best Cinematography and all three of the stars were nominated.

I have no idea how I missed seeing that film in 2015 especially when you take into consideration that it has two of my favourite actors in it Michael Keaton ( Loved him ever since Beetlejuice) and Edward Norton are both strong influences on my movie going activity normally. Anyway I had not seen it, it was an escapee to me, a mistake. When Steve suggested it I jumped at the thought.

                                         
Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu

We both loved every moment of Birdman and even Steve accepted without turning a hair, the fact that the fading movie star did have a persistent invisible influence from the character that had make him famous in the person of the very interesting beaky feathery Birdman. It was utterly brilliantly directed and superbly acted by Michael Keaton who had me smiling in an idiotically drop jawed way through much of the film. Fabulously outrageous and sadly funny even though it was infuriatingly tragic, yes, still funny though you felt really bad for smiling and the laugh out loud moments that should not have been funny and would not have been for that character. Marvelous stuff and just made for Daphne Belt’s quirky little mind. 

Sunday Soaking

                                        Englands Newest National Park, The South Downs

There may well be Daffodils bursting into bloom wherever you look at the moment but it was hardly spring like weather at 8.30 am this morning. It was drizzling as we got into the car dressed in winter running gear and heading up to Blakehurst for our Sunday run today. The few days of warm weather was obviously blown away by Storm Doris as she tore branches away from trees and completely uprooted a number of them.

The little Robin, that I am now carrying a bag of bird seed for under the passenger seat of our car for, was again not in the correct spot but I left a sprinkle of seed anyway. On the other hand, the bright and beautiful Yellowhammer had come out of hiding again and sat boldly on top of the hedge where we had seen him many times before but not since December.

We got completely drenched on our run this morning and that was hard enough anyway since were both paying the price for the hard turbo session we have put it during that last few weeks the last of which was only yesterday. It was horrendously muddy in parts and because of that also very slippery. 

Of course the weather was starting to improve just as we ran the last few hundred metres. We all bowled into Arundel and graced Osteria in High Street with our presence and loud chatter. Steve had stupidly left his money at home and so poor Birgit was lumbered with the bill for our coffees for the second week running. So we are in the chair for next few weeks.

Earlier this week we had watched the quite delightful BBC Four programme about Englands newest National Park; The South Downs, the programme was titled ‘Englands Mountains Green’. It was presented in a very special way by Peter Owen Jones and you can still see it online at BBC Four and I am sure it will be repeated many times. Our only slight disappointment with the show was that Peter Owen Jones dwelt largely with his own beloved East Sussex home area and the far western area and there was very little of our most beautiful expanse of these green rolling hills and woodlands in West Sussex apart from a brief peek at Cissbury.

The club swim session last evening was most enjoyable even though a few people were missing for various reasons. Both lanes had roughly the same schedule but with very different timings.

10 minutes Warm Up

1 x 400 metres

1.x 300

1 x 200

6 x 100

6 x   50

6 x   25

Swim down

 

CFT Friends Online Booking: Computer Skills Test.

 

This is the day that I have been preparing for, and even done a bit of training for as well. This morning at 9 am online booking opened for the Festival 2017 at the CFT. This opening slot if for ‘Friends’ of the Chichester Festival Theatre. That means that they are the one who are such uncontrollable luvvies that they have fallen for the Friends Scheme. This means that they have without the use of The Rack or Thumbscrews, they have already coughed up £ 35 to be called a Friend and more than likely given in to the additional request for a donation to the CFT. By becoming a friend the biggest perk that a simple mind like mine can make out, is that you are given a few days ahead of the rest of the theatre going public to buy your tickets for the year in the priority booking period that opened at 9am this morning.

 

So a number of times this last week I have had practice runs at how quickly I can Log In. And, yes I did change my password to something that I did not have to look up in my secret places, this has to one that you can just bang out without thinking.

So our usual early Saturday morning turbo session was put on hold because my husband knew that I would be desperate to join the rush to get your preferred seats. Steve and I have had a number of sessions working out preferred dates in the diary for our preferred productions this season.

We made a plan earlier this week and I printed it out in great big letters to have to hand when the big moment came. Steve gave me my first call at 8.30 am to make sure that I had everything right by the computer in readiness. Further calls came at 8.40 am and then 8.50 am. From that moment I had one minute calls as I sat in wait.

There have been several letters from the CFT to prepare Friends for this day advising them to practice logging in and telling them that once logged in they would have twenty minutes to book the their fist choice of tickets and when they were in the basket, they would have a further twenty minutes for the next and the next choices.

 

I think it would be fair to say that most of the ticket buyers at Chichester have grey of white hair, unless coloured like mine. So these same set of older people are expected to have computer skills. OOHHH!

Some of them it seems are a bloody sight better than me at that lark because even though I was backed up by my husband so that I did not fall apart under pressure; by the time I had logged on I was advised that I was number 134 in the queue and that it would update every 10 seconds which it did not. The palms of my hands started to sweat at that stage!

I did not manage to get my favourite seats for the first production I tried for but did get three seats in the second row. That was for a new UK production of Caroline, Or Change, starring Sharon D Clarke in The Minerva Theatre, we will be celebrating our 38^th wedding anniversary on that night. Sharon D Clarke was also in Ghost, the musical and is a well know singer and actor.

Then I tried for the big summer musical production, Fiddler on the Roof starring Omid Djalili, and got three seats in the front row for August 14^th …. Whoopppeeee! That will be my 78^th birthday celebration taken care of. Omid Djalili will be superb I am quite sure, I am already looking forward to that.

Lastly for today, I booked a World Premier of a new play called Quiz written by James Graham that is on in November.  Second row again as all the centre front seats had gone. Yes, I booked for the World Premier of a play that I have no idea what so ever who will star in it, since they are as yet unnamed. This is an act of faith in the CFT, they have my trust, earned over many years of it being my best night out venue and that is only twenty minutes from my home. Many of the CFT productions travel straight up to Town for West End openings after Chichester.

I will make more bookings later no doubt since I seem to visit more in the winter than the summer; saying that when it is only just the earliest springtime as yet confirmed only by the Daffodils. 

So a big sigh of relief was sighed and Steve and I were free to carry on with a customary turbo training session upstairs. This morning was again the Saturday Musical session and we set up to watch, Joseph and his Amazing Technicolour Dream Coat. Steve enjoyed this more that last weeks DVD of Jesus Christ Super Star. Donny Osmond was delightful as Joseph and Maria Friedman was brilliant as the Narrator.

I do find it terribly annoying when as was the case with this 1999 film production, that they place the couple of big known names and do not add the person who is indeed the co star on the cover of the DVD. Joan Collins part was minute and David Attenborough only played Jacob, not really a singing part. Joseph took us almost all the way through our turbo session this morning before we had to switch to Saturday Kitchen for the last twenty minutes.

I realise that I missed off posting the Friday swim schedules yesterday, so here they are for anybody to try out on their own swim people.

Lane 1
Distance	Clock	Swim Rest
200	60	3.30
400	30	6.20
200	50	3.30
400	20	6.10
200	30	3.30
400	60	6.00
200	60	3.30
400	30	6.10
200	40	3.30
400	10	6.20
Swim Down	Swim Down	Swim Down
Total	3000mtrs

Lane 2	BX
10 min	Warm Up
Distance	Clock	Swim Rest
300	60	8.00
150	60	4.00
300	60	7.50
150	40	3.50
300	30	7.40
150	10	3.50
300	60	8.00
Swim down
Total mtrs	1650

  

Hearing; Noises off

Coping with Obstacles, Barriers, Racking and Noises Off

On my diary page yesterday I mentioned that I have a bit of a phobia about shopping. What I didn’t mention was why. It reason is, that I blame a bout of

Labyrinthitis that I suffered about seven years ago. Having just quickly looked it up online, it briefly says that it can be caused by a viral infection that affects the hearing and balance and that about covers what happened in my case. The bout came about quite suddenly when I got up in the night and immediately fell over and found it impossible to get up under my own steam. For a while I was only able to avoid feeling nauseous by staying still in a horizontal position and hardly moving since the slightest movement had me feeling sick and feeling as though I had taken a ghost like flight. For a few days I needed somebody to half carry me to even to the toilet. Steve stayed with me as much as possible and called in some help from my daughter when he absolutely had to go out for one reason or another. Thankfully the totally dire stage did not last too long and gradually I worked at gradually getting more movement.

It did leave me with impaired hearing and a permanent problem with light changes, which is where the fear of big stores comes in and of course the dreaded Tinnitus that is never ending. The first time Steve took me to a supermarket during my recovery was terrifying and I found myself clinging to the racks like a mad woman, to even stay in a standing position. For the most part I am recovered and can manage to go in a supermarket now, but with a list and a good deal of concentration to make the visit as fast as possible. Steve will not let me come with him if he is just looking around for inspiration for the weekend meals. I have a pair of NHS hearing aids that I use for TV but do not use ordinarily when I go out. I can talk with a person one to one but if there is other background noise I lose it completely e.g. Talking with the car radio on and of course at the pool where I have the added problem of not hearing a word once I have water in my ears, as well as the water noise.

The other area where I still have a slight problem is coming out of the cinema or theatre when the lights come on at the end and there is a lot of movement as people rush to get out. I can get in perfectly well but the lights and movement throw me a bit on the exit. Steve and I move slowly and he stands directly in front of me so that I have a steady shoulder to hold as we go down the steps. I hold on to him with one hand and pass from seat to seat with the other. When we go out with our friend Anthony, he darts out at the speed of light and is quickly lost to us as he gallops to the car ready for a hasty exit from the theatre car park. We are always some way behind but it does give me some focus to keep moving. 

There is a woman I know at the pool who has M.S. who I was talking to in the shower at the pool this morning. Her problem is much more severe but she copes extremely well with the balance problem and people who know her generally move out of her way when they can. She is very determined to push on and not let herself give in to the balance problems she has. She has been in my world for many years and was a swimming teacher too, in fact she mentioned today that she was teaching as long ago as when we were both employed to take some adult swim classes at the centre some twenty five years ago.

When we do triathlon events I always rehearse at length for the event making sure that I know exactly where my bike is racked and where the Bike Out/ Bike In is, and the Run Out and the Run In are. There are very long rows of bikes and those lines can feel quite swimmy, so total concentration is required for me. An orderly transition area is a blessing and below this very smart indoor area, below that I have added one from a children's triathlon transition that is a nightmare.

 

Still at least if you know your weaknesses you can take measures to cope with them. The tinnitus is unrelenting; sometimes when I wake up in the night I cannot believe how loud it is, but one gets to cope with it and music I find is a great help.

Gun Wharf Quays: Compulsory Shopping in Pompy.

Doris Day; Que Sera Sera.......

Here as Calamity Jane,
donkeys years ago
When I was a teenager.

Even when I try my hardest, I am not very good at hiding my feelings. I am your classic open book. It will be quite plain when I am feeling top of the world and equally clear when I am as happy as a pig in a squashy mess. You will be able to tell if I’m tired and I will be pretty vocal if I get hungry and run out or steam. I am completely unguarded with my friends and can take their jibes and jokes and welcome their honesty. If anybody castes criticism of any depth my way I will accept what they say without any return fire and I will keep that filed within me so that I don’t make the same mistake again. I don’t mind a healthy discussion, God knows there is enough in the world right now to exchange views on but will not dig in and engage in a row. 

I will not take my deepest concerns to anybody other than my husband, in fact for the most part I wouldn’t have to because he knows me through and through and inside out and is anyway, spookily psychic, so I don’t even need to tell him what I am thinking because he will already know. His way of showing me that is, that he will be more caring than ever. He is so kind and understanding to me that it is utterly daft.

One of my areas of madness is that I hate shopping, to the level that I find it almost scary to go inside big store to look for what I need and I should point out that I would NEVER, EVER, just wander around the shops idly. I had been having a bit of a personal low of late and at the same time, Steve knew that I needed to go to do a little bit of town centre shopping. He used the fact that we had kindly been given a voucher for Vue Cinemas as a Christmas present, but the closest one to us is in Portsmouth in The Gun Wharf Quays shopping centre. The idea he put forward was that we could go there in the afternoon pick up my couple of bits from the shops there and then slide into the Vue Cinema there and use our gift voucher. The only other time we go to Gun Wharf Quays is on the way home from a day out on the Isle of Wight for the Sandown to Shanklin Sea swim with all the gang. When we generally hit ‘Fire and Stone’ for Pizza.

Steve knows that if I go shopping, and what I need does not jump up off the racks to greet me as I walk in the store entrance, I will quickly crack and want to go home.

So having driven to Portsmouth and parked beneath the massive Shopping mall, he held on to me whilst he looked at the plan, he chose four stores. Walked into each and asked where I would find the items I wanted. Then he frog marched me to the correct rack in four different stores, then back to the first, where he gave me four items to try on. I came out and gave him two that I did not like. He knows how to play this part of the game well. He said, he liked this one and I chose the other one. We walked to the cash desk and were free. He suggested coffee to calm down.

I told him that I was done shopping. That left us two hours until the either of the films that I suggested began again. There are very few times when I let Steve choose the movie because he has rubbish taste basically; but since he had been so kind and thoughtful (yet again) that I left him to chose an earlier movie than the ones we planned. He chose John Wick: Chapter 2! Our voucher worked well and we got drinks and munchies too and sat in the VIP seats. 

As we walked thought the vast halls of cinemas that make up the Vue Centre. Steve said that even though we both knew it was a comic book action film, that he could enjoy the action, I could sit and count how many bad guys John Wick killed, and that I had the added plus if being able to sit in the dark and drool over Keanu Reeves. I have to say that he looks good with the extra muscle weight, though if I am completely truthful, I have not yet got over Sandra Bullock and him in, The Lake House, years ago, what a beautiful film that was.

The drive from Littlehampton to Gun Wharf Quays in Portsmouth was 31 miles and took 50 minutes there and 45 minutes home in the evening.

This morning, we did an hour and ten minutes on the turbo doing a speed intervals set that worked well for us both, getting the sweaty part of the day over and done with before getting some work done.

I cannot take credit for the post I placed on FB this morning because it was one of the radio voices on my default station of Classic FM who said that because of the weather and another named storm hitting, that today must be Doris Day, Que Sera Sera, what will be will be. It is still blowing a hell of a hooley outside. I am staying put.