mardi 20 août 2019

OLD BLOG

I have just discovered posts from an old blog which I had posted on my other blog "Living and Gardening in Brittany". As they seem to me to belong to this, my writing blog so I have copied and pasted the passages. Maybe they are not of  interest to others but I was delighted to read them. I find that I have often forgotten about things I did in the past and it is really pleasing to read them.
  

Old Blog

Monday, 21 May 2007
Update 
First of all I want to record the last few weeks. I went to London at the beginning of May. I went partly to see my Granddaughter's new flat and new cats. (cat talk may become boring to people who don't like cats) I went also to attend the AGM of an organisation called NPN (Natural Parents Network) and I will write more of that later. Lastly I went to bring back this laptop which I bought from my son. If you ever read my old blog then you will know the effect that computers have on me and indeed what happened to my old laptop

Monday, 21 May 2007

To continue     --   I posted that to check that I hadn't lost it because on my last blog often when I wrote a post it disappeared which is quite annoying and contributes to the madness making effect of computers. Anyway back to London.
The weather was superb but the pollution was horrendous. I did not stop coughing the whole time, almost choking on occasions. I loved Greenwich market in fact I could live in Greenwich if it wasn't for the pollution.
The AGM was enlightening and traumatic as always. The organisation is made up of women who had their babies taken away from them for adoption. I think there may be a few fathers but very few. Five women told their stories which were all tragic and heart rending, the whole audience of course empathising and sobbing. NPN has to change because adoption and attitudes to adoption are changing. We were shown what it is like today for women who lose their children. We also heard about the difficulties for people wishing to adopt. Anyone interested to find out more about NPN or indeed NORCAP(who support adults affected by adoption) can check out these websites


Monday, 21 May 2007to continue

My granddaughter's flat is great. she can see the Cutty Sark from her window. I am so proud of her. She and her partener have done well through hard work. what a great place to live for young people. I think tyhe things I miss most here in Brittany are the theatre and cinema.
Which brings me to what else I did in London. We (my boyfriend of 25 years who still lives in England came for a few days) went to see Menopause the Musical which was great fun. No in answer to the crits in the daily papers it wasn't top West End standard but it was trul uplifting for me and judging by the response of the rest of the audience for them too. More importantly and to quote Jenny Linders the shows creater it was not just about entertainment (but I thought it was emensly entertaining) it was about women. Secondly it makes links to charities and organisations which endeavour to help and inform women. For more info. log onto www.menopausethemusical.com

Monday, 21 May 2007

still continuing  

We went to see Benjamin Brittain's opera Owen Wingrave which couldn't have been more different to Menopause the Musical. The opera's message was peace as was discussed in the pre-perfomance discussion. I enjoyed the discussion more than the opera. So two subjects close to my heart women and peace. I wonder which was more successful in delivering its message.
I forgot to mention that another reason for going to London was to do research for a short story that I am writing which will also possibly be the last chapter of my auto-biography. I wanted to visit the Royal Opera House so this killed to birds with one stone so to speak. Their must be a better way of saying that. I would never want to kill one bird never mind two at once. Anyway, I really wanted to see the main theatre but as Owen Wingrave was being performed in the small theatre I had to make do with buting a fold-out card board model. What I really want to do is to reserve a box. Someday maybe one can dream.

Monday, 21 May 2007

still in London   

Two of my best friends came down for the day to see me and to see the photo exhibition in the National Portrait Gallery of women writers. It was a little disappointing in one respect as it was so small. I imagined that it would have been much, much bigger. We had to walk through a labyrinth of other exhibits. I was annoyed a little at this because I had so little time but also fascinated by much of what I saw and resolved to go back next time I am in London.
The women writers all wrote so much and so well. I felt dwarfed. How does one continue to write when confronted by great ability and success.
 I bought four postcards. One of Beatrice Potter who looks like the detective Miss Marple as played by Margaret Rutherford. One of Dorothy Hoskins of whom I know nothing but guess from the portrait that she was a writer as she is surrounded by books and papers. She looks like someone I would have liked to have known. One of Oscar Wild because I admire his wit and writing ability and anyone who dares to be different. The last of the four is of Sinead O'Connor who was adored by my best friend who died aged 42. She is incredibly beautiful. How many faces would survive without hair. Being completely bald seems to emphasise her beauty. She sits on my music stand on my piano and only noticed yesterday that she has her hands over her ears. Perhaps she moved them there when I began to play. It was lovely meeting my friends in the flesh as we usually have to make do with texts, e-mailsand phone calls. And guess what we sometimes write letters.