It is odd when you see close friends who you haven’t seen for some time. Attitudes snap back in place and everything is almost as it was the last time you were together. Almost - not exactly. There is a whole history which has not been shared in the way that experiences in the past were common currency between us. And children are bigger. Much bigger!
The talk flowed as did the . . . yes, I’m sure that you have filled in the second part of that sentence: but you would be wrong. I took of bottle of alcohol-free Sainsbury red wine. Usually these things are immediately disgusting, but this one was subtler. There was a faint memory of what wine might have tasted like if all the active and interesting ingredients had been taken out. It didn’t, of course stop me drinking it. But it will be a long time until I drink more of it. Paying for a taxi at least preserves one’s dignity!
Today I go back to the optician to see how the new lenses are settling on my eyes. I think that there is an appreciable difference in the reading quality of the correction, but it is not the magic solution to my prescription. I have no idea how much the new toric lenses cost and I am preparing myself for a nasty shock – still, it’s always better than wearing glasses. Which I hate, have hated and will continue to hate.
Lunch is going to be with an old ex-colleague and then there is the packing. At least, thanks to Ceri’s demand that I turn up with background music for the dinner last Monday, I do have my newly downloaded Gretry so that I can, in part, re-live my musical experience of packing in University to the insanely jolly music. It is just a pity that I cannot find a download of the original Gluck/Gretry combination that was the actual music that I used to keep my sanity in times of departure! I will continue to look.
While waiting for my appointment in the optician’s reception area and old man hobbled into sight whom I immediately recognized as a colleague from the first Cardiff school in which I worked. He didn’t recognize me at first but we were soon chatting about mutual acquaintances. It took him no more than twenty seconds before he alluded to his age, and indeed that of his wife, who was also a colleague in the same school.
Each elderly person I have met has told me his age. But, there again, when trying to book a concert for the BBC National Orchestra of Wales I mentioned to Paul Squared that I had been following that orchestra for over forty years! I suppose that I have reached the penultimate stage just before I too start adding my age to all conversations!
My contact lens prescription has been changed yet again and I now have to wait until tomorrow for the next six months supply to come into the opticians. This could mean delaying my set off time for London, but the lenses will be worth it. I hope!
My restraint is legendary: it took me until today to down my first pint of SA! Brains Brewery must have looked askance at my continuing presence in Cardiff without my consumption of a single pint of the delectable liquid that is so foreign to the bar pumps of Spain, where the childish larger holds total sway over the degraded palettes of sodden Spanish tipplers.
I had only a very hazy idea of where The Cottage was. I knew of a bar in town with that name but this one was in the wilds of an affluent suburb of northern Cardiff. I refused to take the easy way out and look at Google Maps to give me direction and set off in a very determined manner to where I thought it might be.
I took the “back way” from Llanrumney to Lisvane and then made my way uncertainly towards the station and Cefn Onn Park. This park is justly famed for its overwhelming display of rhododendrons in season and the park entrance is next to a pub whose name is now emblazoned in incomprehensible Welsh. Luckily there was a roundabout within a few yards and a second pass of the place revealed that it was The Old Cottage (this time in English) and that seemed close enough for me to risk stopping.
The whole place has been done out and, as my colleague seemed to be nowhere in sight I decided to have a cold pint. SA or “Skull Attack” as it is affectionately known in the lower reaches of Cardiff is a delicious pint brewed locally and, sitting in the glorious sunshine (!) I was able to appreciate the sheer beauty of sitting outside and in the warm with a cold pint inside!
My trusty phone offered me my interminable book and when I looked up at the end of a chapter I saw two colleagues walking sedately towards me. A delight! The colleague I was originally expecting arrived shortly after and we got down to the serious business of catching up on any shreds of gossip that might serve to keep the conversation alive.
The menu was, to put it mildly, startling in its offer of haute cuisine delights and the daily menu at £12·95 for two courses looked delicious. Goats’ cheese on a bed of interesting salad with rustic bread, olives and oil and balsamic vinegar (the last bits were extra), followed by spiced fillet of pickled herring with new potatoes and salad augmented with fruit. It was all delicious and a chilled glass of white wine made it perfect.
The conversation flowed easily and it was pleasantly engaging to play a part in something which seemed organic, natural and stimulating. I was still smiling when I arrived home some time later after wistful goodbyes had been said.
I called into PC World with added Currys because it would have been churlish not to. The ex-colleague working there left two years ago I was informed so I looked at cameras – which have the same hypnotic effect on me as watches. There is a new Olympus camera with a x24 zoom, but it luckily does not give the operator manual override so my Canon is still a good buy and “this one would be a waste of money” the salesperson told me.
I have to say that this sort of sensible advice has not necessarily stopped me from spending in the past, but this time it did seem to strike a responsive chord in the non-spendthrift part of my brain and I was able to leave the store clutching only a new loudspeaker dock for my Nano. A lucky and relatively inexpensive escape!
Today is going to be the only day so far completely without rain. Sitting outdoors in the relative cool of the early evening would be perfect if it were not for the slightly too intrusive breeze – but as a rainless day I am prepared to forgive it.
This evening I plan to have a take-away Indian meal out of which I was cheated last night by the ridiculously early closing of the fast food restaurants in the area!
And packing!
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