Music, building and film festivals

Olf's Sidekick, July 2019

Hasn't it been a long time? A long and quite tiring time, but mostly a good time.

I have been to a music festival of psy-trance, techno, glitch-hop, drum 'n bass and other impenetrable genres of music mainly featuring repetitive beats. Except the dubstep, which we wandered into at random, and my friend 'whispered' (i.e. shouted over the volume of music) in my ear "We have accidentally entered the Dubstep Zone." At which point we wandered away again - the first time I have encountered modern music that I physically could not dance to. And there was camping, and it only rained a tiny little bit, and I enjoyed it.

In LTRP news, Ilf spent a couple of weeks making good, priming and painting the freshly plastered walls, leaving the door and window frames and skirting still to do. This week Olf and his Sidekick have started to replace what I call the 'veranda', for want of a better term. Dictionary definition: "A platform with an open front and a roof, built onto the side of a house on the ground floor." So not far off, except it isn't really a platform, just the path along the side of the house with a covering roof. Anyway, they are replacing it, along with doing a few other external maintenance jobs while they're here. The LTRP is going really well. I don't know what I'll do when it's finished (except it will NEVER BE FINISHED).

And (cue trumpet fanfare) - the inaugural Gulloebl Film Festival (Random Chairs in a Darkened Room) in Leamington has taken place! The Lola Towers Auditorium performed spectacularly well despite the lack of preparation, and Lola II and Mr M seemed impressed enough to allow the franchise to continue. To be fair, they played a key part in the event going well, as I literally couldn't have done it without them. It was actually very poorly attended, which took much of the pressure off and gave me time to have much needed power naps which I might not have managed if we'd been running at full capacity. Highlight for me: the opening night and the film Marvellous which is uplifting and funny and tragic and I strongly encourage everyone to see it.

Ilf, July 2019

Wimbledon

Centre Court, July 2019

A form arrived through the post out of the blue a few years ago. It was an entry form for the ballot to go to the tennis at Wimbledon, and with a bit of detective work I found out that it had been 'arranged' for me by my badminton friend A. I'd never been to the tennis at Wimbledon, but I filled it in and sent it off and heard nothing. I repeated the exercise in the subsequent years, and this year I was offered two tickets for Court One on Day 2. Of course I asked A if she wanted to join me.

I was waiting at Leamington station when Sister D phoned to say that mum had got up that morning when the doorbell rang, fallen over, subsequently got up and answered the door, but was now waiting for an ambulance because she couldn't get out of the chair. Lola II and Mr M were on their way there, and for the rest of the day I had one eye on the tennis and the other on my phone.

My Wimbledon experience was obviously somewhat overshadowed by this event, but I enjoyed seeing in reality what I was so familiar with from the TV, and saw matches including the Ladies World number 1 (A Barty), the British number 1 (J Konta) and Rafa Nadal - all of whom won their matches, as they should with this being Day 2. Sitting on the Hill towards the end of the day we were offered tickets to Centre Court by someone who didn't need them any more, so we went and had a look there too - it's surprisingly small compared with Court One.

The whole site is manicured without a petal out of place, and everything is organised with military precision, making the experience a pleasant one. But I don't think I will bother going again, because although the live experience is a bit more exciting than the televised version, it isn't enough to make up for the cost and time for the trip. And it's nowhere near as much fun as world class badminton, which is also nice and local in Birmingham.

Mum is home and improving slowly, and we have experienced the 'Reablement' service, which I believe is the latest word for rehabilitation. It seems to be a service that occupies the ground between not providing anything and providing something that actually helps people who can't cope on their own - a clear exemplar of 'better than nothing'. It is also a demonstration of the wisdom and foresight of having a husband and three children.