Self-Winding · A Sort of Progression

John Sumrow's photo "The Reading Lamp" is satisfyingly surreal. As my aunt used to say "Anna, you're straining your eyes with that book, you must have direct light when you're reading."

Busy week. Loads of passengers to ferry around - everyone wants to go for flu jabs. I had one myself for the first time - a decision that made me feel generationally categorised. On one pick-up, as I approached the front door of a large, isolated house, I felt that I was being watched; glancing at a window, I saw sixteen blue eyes fixed on me. The house pets were 8 Siberian Huskies of stunning beauty. I have secured an invitation to take G to meet them next week - he will be bowled over, literally probably.

The last apples are down, we must have harvested several hundredweight. Back-breaking work to pick them all up. I have frozen apple sauce, made a load of jelly that walked off the table as people caught sight of it, so had to make some more. Tomorrow I start the chutney after buying some mustard seed. A friend went gleaning the onion harvest and brought me two big bags, so the main ingredients are free. It will be a tearful afternoon.

We had light snow today that vanished quickly, the kids were trying vainly to build a snowman which we christened 'the big drip'. Went out to lunch at a small, new local place; "Let's just have a couple of Ryvitas for breakfast," I said at 8 a.m. Seated at 1.30, our meal took 50 minutes to arrive at table, by which time we were rumbling loudly and grumbling. But it was the best roast lunch I've ever had at a restaurant - five veg' perfectly cooked, cheese sauce on the cauliflower, two tureens of winey gravy, crisp roasties, melting chicken. Sometimes it pays to rumble for a bit.

For G, subtitles are permanently switched on on the TV, a lot of the realtime captioning errors are hilarious - the West Norfolk weather forecast for Tuesday is 'Dahl and Chile'. Yum.

I've bought a laptop so as not to be doing what I'm doing now, sitting for hours at the PC with my legs down. I shall have an over-bed table and will be retiring early to recline, legs supported. From whence great writing shall emerge. More likely I'll doze off early watching the i-Player. Whch is not a bad thing. G says he'll never see me now, like the Second Life widowers. I had a look at that, by the way, finished up as a bald avatar called Elysia, with a tattoo and large bosom, I don't think it's me somehow..

Went to see "Quantum of Solace", I don't know what all the carping is about, it was a pretty good piece of Bondery, apart from the song. Loads of good action, plot-appropriate minimal love interest (sadly), terrific locations, frenetic cutting à la Bourne, good craftsmanship from Craig who looked utterly mmmmm. What the critics lose sight of is that in his tenure he is playing out an evolving story that will develop over several films. This episode tidies up the loose ends of Casino Royale, gives Bond a bit of catharsis and moves him on to the threshold of the next. Where, no doubt, he will become less loutish and the lighter stuff of the franchise will reappear. I thoroughly enjoyed it and jumped out of my skin in the stupendous aeroplane chase.


Tonight watched a simply marvellous film "Venus", with Peter O'Toole and Leslie Phillips; acting of such high calibre that it takes your breath away, funny and moving by turns, a typically Hanif Kureishi screenplay full of insight and compassionate wit.

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Tavik Frantisek Simon (1877-1942) b. Czechoslovakia. Tavik, working in a variety of mediums, produced a huge body of work that demonstrated myriad styles....and competencies. When he's good he's very good, when he's bad he could work for Cadbury's. All in all, that makes for a bit of interesting browsing?

There is absolutely nothing original left to be written about Barack Obama, still it seems important to write something. A lifetime of observing the theatricals of world politics leaves me finally unable to suspend my disbelief in any new performance.

I want to allow myself the same surge of hope that I felt with the advent of Kennedy, Mitterand, Walesa, Gorbachev, Mandela, Blair; they brought, briefly, the expectation that a brave modern leader with ideas, integrity, intellect, humanity and common sense might have emerged and been allowed to break strangleholds of corruption, bureaucracy and cynicism. It didn't happen then; as ever the old ways and systems were entrenched or the individual proved too flawed to sustain his promise. Each one of these men made impressive initial impact and achieved change, but all finally compromised. Only one eventually stood tall in the integrity parade.

I clamp down on my joyful feelings at the success of Obama for they will inevitably lead to false expectations. There are no messiahs, the bringing down of good men is routine international practice. The most that I will allow myself is a surge of relief that power now falls to a thinker, and one, moreover, with an apparently well-developed moral sensibility. After what we have had in the last decade, those are qualities not to be sniffed at.

I loved Sade for her elegant performance and for her backing musicians - especially Stuart Matthewman on saxophone. Her last album came out right back in 2000. I have been giving her a revival today, playing Diamond Life a couple of times while peeling a barrowload of apples for the freezer.