Tuesday 21 November 2006

The substitutes' bench, home of much talent

yes, well, I may have said I was going to wear flats, but how many of you believed me? Nah, 7cm heeled boots, which were much better for me. I admit to being dumpily short, but why should I accept it? The cautious teeter up on to the M@dderm@rket Theatre's stage notwithstanding, I prefer not, in conversation, to be looked down upon from everyone over the age of 11. Just everyone over 5'7".

Today's lecturer substituted at short notice for one who was taken ill, and needed an emergency operation, when on a lecture tour of Australia, poor lady. This chap was a fabulous replacement, however. He was so good that many of us were taken aback when he concluded. We had no idea that an hour had passed and would have relished a bit longer - as many of our members are very conscious of car parking charges, we can't allow for much overrrunning. When I tottered back to the stage to give the vote of thanks, I was stopped twice mid-enthuse by audience applause. They were not clapping me, simply showing their appreciation. He had already booked a ticket to see the Vel@squez exhibition at the Nat. G@llery today, and gave it up* to help us out. And earn a fee of course, but he was extremely knowledgeable, interesting and entertaining and certainly deserved it.

I checked emails this morning and there was one from the chairman of governors at the high school saying she hoped the altered time of the meeting to 10 am was all right for me. Um, no, it wasn't. I rang her. It turned out that the other committee members couldn't do it either and it could not be postponed for another day as the external advisor was already on his way. I had to leave her with the options of changing the time back to 2 pm or finding a substitute. Luckily, she rang back ten minutes later, having gone for the second option. So I had a free afternoon. Marvellous.

Gardening Club tonight. All about pruning, apparently.


*well, he didn't really, he was able to change it to next week

4 comments:

y.Wendy.y said...

Geez Z - what a busy cultural bee you are this week.

So how tall are you? Dumpily short is rather vague, you see. And I wouls have said cozily petite anyway.

Don't sell youself short.

ha ha.

Rog said...

...and if it was Mad@er Market did you notice Alice in Wonderland?

The Boy said...

Pruning! If you can get me directions on the best way to prune red and black currents I'd be most grateful. I have the m-i-l and the gardener disagreeing and last year they both had a go. Curiously we had a bumper crop this year.

Z said...

Wendz, spades are called bloody shovels in this house and words are not minced. Unless they are tasty enough to be mixed with onions.

Five foot two and a half. Unless I have reached the sad age of diminishing in height, which I hope I haven't. I've been told that I sound taller though....

Murph, I am Alice. Or at least, I was all through my winsome blonde childhood (except when my school did the play, when I was, of course, the Walrus) so i am vastly suited to the Moremadmarket.

Dear Boy, I will not intercede between a m-i-l and a gardener and neither, I suspect, will you. In any case, you can't go far wrong as long as you know (as I am sure they both do and probably you too) that blackcurrant bears fruit on young wood, so needs most of the branches that have fruited cut down to near ground level each year - there is no need to cut back the young growth; whereas redcurrants fruit on mature shoots so you only need to prune to keep a good shape and to take out weak, damaged, diseased or dead wood.

Mind you, my soft fruit garden is currently (haha) a wilderness as I don't have time to look after it. No gardener, he's too old and I didn't trust him with pruning anyway. He never did know when to stop and I used to find myself left with a stump that took two or three years to recover.