A day off
Well, almost a day off. I might decide not to work, but folks, god bless them, still buy books, and those books still need picking, packing and dispatching. But after my daily trip to the Post Office, that was it. Packed up and ready for fun. Bring it on.
Started out with a trip to Denmark Hill where we stocked up with so many plants for our empty garden that the car looked like a mobile florist even before we hit the Dulwich Pot and Plant Centre. We'd been there a couple of years ago and drooled over the most exoticly tempting selection of garden pots, rich and deep colours in classic shapes. The Pot Centre has, we discovered, changed hands since we'd last been and, although the selection of pots was still good, it wasn't the breath-taking abundance we'd remembered. The selection, and quality, of plants had however improved greatly and we scooped a handful of herbs together with a new strawberry pot - you really can't have too many strawberry pots.
Then a late lunch at the ever-delightful Dulwich Picture Gallery. They make the best fish-cakes south of the River. We toured the Gallery itself just a couple of weeks ago, so contented ourselves with lunch without pictures, but the visit reminded me that I must finish reading the books I bought on my last visit: a nice little local history book, and a treasure-trove of a catalogue for last year's exhibition of the works of William Heath Robinson (ok, so this post really is book related now). Then home for tea in garden, with scones from the restaurant brought home in silver foil.
After all that excitement, a couple of hours in front of a good film seemed in order. I read Beloved a couple of months ago, so was looking forward to seeing the film. If you think the book is weird, the film is more so. The emphasis is very much on the para-normal aspects of the novel, at the expense of the moving, heart-wrenching account of slavery in the American south. It's not a film I'll watch again.
