Moving swiftly on, as they say, we did enjoy meeting up with an old friend of ours and his new partner, as his wife and he had divorced. It seems to me that quite a few of the couples we used to know are no longer together, that's modern life I suppose. He was as hilarious as usual especially when we swopped anecdotes from the past like the time we were kept waiting for a meal in an Italian Restaurant in Folkestone for well over an hour for our soup course.....Then when it came (despite the fact that the place had filled up with starving expectant customers) the only waiter insisted on ladling each portion out 'silver service style' from a tureen brought to the table. Of course the joke was that by this stage of the proceedings we had drunk all the wine and ordered more so were beyond caring what the soup came in or tasted like. The main course was just a blur in our minds too......But we roared with laughter once we left the place especially as so many customers were still sans dinner!
We also managed to make some new acquaintances of a different culture, namely from Singapore. What an interesting set of people they were with so much to teach us about their lifestyle and habits. I was unaware that they kept the English in such esteem but it was once our colony. Our few days in their company were thought provoking and made me realise how lucky we are to have produced some great Lakeland poets who are admired around the globe. We also saw something of the new Wordsworth Museum at Grasmere and have vowed to go back and spend some more time there. Is it only when someone else enthuses about our locality that we realise how much we take for granted?
I also found some time to read my latest book acquisition, 'Jane Austen's Letters' edited by R.W. Chapman and published by the Oxford University Press. Some fascinating details about her life are revealed by her letters mainly to her elder sister Cassandra. I have been reading this book for about 3 weeks now but not rushing it as it has to be studied to make sense. I am about half way through it so far. I have been intrigued by her continuous references to fashion and dress of the time and cannot fathom out what she means when she refers to "pink persian". Does anyone know what that was? She mentions that she has just spent all of her money on some as well as some new white gloves.
2 comments:
love the hat!
Interesting to read your comment about going back to the W. museum. Management and I have said that this summer we must get back in the habit of visiting so many of the places which we loved when we only came here on holiday and haven't been back to since we moved.
I am thankful the camera does not show the dust on the spider. My best friend from schooldays says that pink persian is a kind of silk, that would make sense, but I wonder if anyone knows why its called persian?
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