Today Lois and I are still wallowing in our post-family-visit euphoria, having finally broken out of our 15 months of isolation to visit our daughter Alison and her family in Headley, Hampshire. So we don't do very much today, other than invite our near-neighbour Frances round for a cup of tea on the patio in the afternoon, to thank her for looking after our garden, and to accept the souvenir gifts she brought us back from her own earlier visit to her daughter's in Eastbourne, Sussex. This is what grandparents do haha!
the house that Alison and Ed bought a few weeks ago
(left to right) Lois, Alison, Isaac (10) and Rosalind (12)
It's certainly an unusual house that Alison and family have bought. It was built in the 1870's or thereabouts by a retired Vice Admiral, John Parish, from the days when Britannia ruled the waves - during his career Parish served everywhere from the Western Atlantic to the China Seas: and I'm sure he would have been happy to send a gunboat to fire on any country that had incurred Queen Victoria's displeasure. What a crazy world they lived in in those days !!!!
During the 20th century the house was first divided into two, and then the second half was further divided into two: Alison and Ed have both of these last two parts. Their property is a real mess because many of the rooms have been divided into two by partition walls, walls that are going to have to be taken out again. The house is in need of massive updating and refurbishing - there are a lot of bare floorboards, windows that don't open, and an antiquated heating system, just for starters.
What madness !!!!!
the house's incomprehensible floor plan
Alison has inherited Lois's interest in tracing genealogies etc and during the weekend Lois introduces her to some of the genealogical websites she uses. It turns out that Alison and Ed are only the 4th couple to own the property they have bought.
We find out that the man who built the house, Vice Admiral John Parish (1822-1894), was buried in the local churchyard, so on the Saturday we all go for a walk there to see if we can find his grave.
All Saints, the local parish church
we search for John Parish's grave
when we are just about to give up,
at last we find Parish's grave, where his wife Williamina
is also buried
Also on the property are the remains of one of the oldest Scout Huts, reputedly visited by Robert Baden Powell, the founder of the Scout Movement, in the early days of the movement. Unfortunately there is little to be seen of the hut nowadays. Oh dear!
the remains of one of the world's earliest Scout Huts
Oh dear !!!!!! Not even an old discarded "woggle" to be seen - what madness!!!!
a typical scout's "woggle" (racoon class)
In the neighbourhood is the house "Benifold", once home to the pop group Fleetwood Mac. On Sunday we had a walk round to see the outside of it. It was recently put on the market for £4 million - my god!
my granddaughter Rosalind (12) and me
in front of Benifold, the former home of Fleetwood Mac
Alison says there's another house in the neighbourhood but a bit further off, that used to belong to Led Zeppelin. But we'll have to wait for a later visit to see that one.
Led Zeppelin at Headley Grange
13:00 We inspect the garden - our so-called "meadow" is coming along, it must be so comfortable that there are signs that something like a fox or similar animal was having a sunbathe on it - the grass has been flattened into a fox-size shape - what madness! Having a good time at our expense!!!
our "meadow": and signs that a fox or similar animal
has been having a jolly good time at our expense - huh!
It's sunny, so we have lunch on the patio.
we have lunch on the patio
19:30 Lois disappears into the dining-room to take part in her sect's weekly Bible Seminar on zoom. I settle down on the couch and watch another episode of the Danish crime series "The Killing", Episode 8.
I am fighting a losing battle with this series. I can only watch it when Lois is busy with something else, because she doesn't like it. I have finally fought my way to Episode 8 out of 20. After I finish the 20th episode there are several episodes of another Danish crime series, which I will need to get my head around - yikes!
I've worked out that it takes me 30 minutes to watch 20 minutes of this series, because of having to stop and pause it sometimes to try and remember who the characters are, or to turn up the brightness on the many scenes that are shot in darkened rooms - my god!
20:30 After I have seen about two thirds of Episode 8, Lois emerges from her zoom session, so I have to switch "The Killing" off.
We watch the last in the current series of "This Time with Alan Partridge", the early-evening chat-show.
Lois and I often find the behind-the-scenes sequences the most fascinating part of Alan's early-evening chat show. And it's nice to see that Alan has at last managed to go to bed with the show's make-up woman, after weeks of flirting. However, notice that, even after their night in Cornwall, she is still calling him "Mr Partridge", which suggests the couple have some way to go before they can claim to have a totally "equal" relationship. Still, there's plenty of time for that - we understand that the BBC have now definitely commissioned a further series, which is very good news!
We both think she'll be good for Alan, who's been single for many years, and we're looking forward to seeing how their relationship develops when the next series airs.
Fascinating stuff !!!
21:15 We watch an old episode of Fawlty Towers, the episode we call "The Rat Inspector".
The highlight of this episode is always, for me, to hear Manuel the Spanish waiter's haunting interpretation of the old Charles Aznavour weepie, "She".
A tantalizing glimpse of one of Manuel's lesser-known talents, all too brief, unfortunately, because interrupted by urgent hotel business, as Basil Fawlty, the hotel owner, explains (see above).
But what a talent Manuel is, and in so many different fields!
More please, BBC !!!
22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzzzzzz!!!!
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