The main border - February and June

 

The photo above is the only one I have of the main border in February. I just wanted to compare it with how it looks in June.

Campanula persicifolia and portenschlagiana

 

The Campanula persicifolia arrived in the wildflower border a couple of years ago. I cannot remember it flowering so well. Very different to the Campanula portenschlagiana around the conservatory that has been there years.

Philadelphus Dainty Lady and Belle Etoile

 

We have two Philadelphus shrubs in the garden. The one above is "Dainty Lady" and the one below is "Belle Etoile". My post of the 5th June 2020 said they had been planted some years before. Here they are still going strong. They will both need a major prune after flowering.

Penstemon Arctic White and Electric Blue

 

These two Penstemon are either side of the step in the dwarf wall. In fact I had to trim their edges as it was blocking the path through. I posted about them on 8th June last year (see photo below) but they have now grown far larger. The Arctic White is not the best shape due to the bulbs that grew there in the spring. These have now been extracted to be planted elsewhere. 

Mission Impossible - The Final Reckoning, The Phoenician Scheme and The Uninvited

 

All about Tom. Maybe he's got too old at 62 to be a believable hero. And why show off his bare upper body when, despite all the gym work, it cannot disguise it's age.  I thought this was the least successful of all the Mission Impossible films. You know it's all about Tom when he goes off on his own, leaving the rest of the team to do something different. Especially when the Hayley Atwell and Simon Pegg parts are the best. It's all a bit predictable, lots of fun, but the Pinewood under water sequence goes on far too long. Actually the whole film is too long, cutting out half an hour would have been much better. Especially the sequence on the plane. Did nobody tell Tom less is more. I did like Katy M O'Brian as Kodiak and Hannah Waddingham as the Admiral. Now that is good casting. See interview in June's Sight and Sound magazine and my post of 27th May.

I will always go to see a Wes Anderson movie. See post of 27th May 2025. This was, perhaps, even more bonkers than normal. He seems to have written it for the lead, Benecio del Toro. There is, as always, a huge amount of dialogue, it's sometimes hard to keep up. Maybe you have to see it more than once. But the production design is always glorious. Hard to say the same for the story. However, Anderson always surrounds himself with the cream of acting talent. I especially liked Alex Jennings in a small role as Broadcloth, a servant. Very little to say but conveys so much with his face. (We saw him in The Liar in 1990 at The Old Vic). Mia Threapleton (daughter of Kate Winslet) was great as Sister Liesel and Michael Cera never better. Even our very own Jason Watkins turns up. 

This is the first major film from Nadia Conners, her screenplay and direction promise much for the future. I was going to say that it felt more like a play when I then read in May's Sight and Sound magazine that it was "originally conceived as a stage play, the film is heavy on theatrical conceits". In the theatre it may not have been seen by many. Even my local cinema had it playing just one afternoon. However, on film we are close up withe the character's insecurities, whether high on drink or drugs or not. It all takes place one evening as Rose (an excellent Elizabeth Reaser) and her husband Sammy host a party in swanky Hollywood Hills. Attending are mostly all middle aged affluent residents of the city. These include the obnoxious Rufus Sewel. Not invited is ninety year old Helen (Lois Smith) who turns up, seemingly lost. She is rescued by Rose who maybe seems more interested in Lois than any of the invitees. Lois inhabits the film as a kind of ghost. But in the background are the old tensions between Rose and her husband who seems permanently angry. We find out more later. He only seems to relax when it's his turn to sit down with Lois. Then who should turn up but Lucien (Pedro Pascal) an old lover of Rose. Tensions rise. More drink is consumed. Adam Nayman in Sight and Sound calls it "a small but real achievement". There are just so few of these movies around.

Alan Yentob RIP

 

It was Alan Yentob, who died on the 24th May, who was partly instrumental in me starting this blog. This is what I said in my very first post on the 9th December 2006.  It was watching Alan Yentob's wonderful programme "Imagine" about the Internet that prompted me to start a blog. 

There are many obituaries online, especially about his series Imagine on the BBC. I have seen  some of these over the years, less so recently. There are posts here for his interviews with David Chipperfield and Tom Stoppard. 

Garden in early June

 

I cannot remember ever posting this view of garden, taken from the window at the end of the living room. Here it is from the other side.

The main border has lots of pink Astrantia. At the back is the honeysuckle.

The Philadelphus are in flower, the one in the side border gets terrible blackfly, but flowers better than the one in the main border.

The roses are all flowering at last.

The Dahlia Figaro Mixed arrived far too early. I had to plant them in pots and a tray before planting out. Even so, the first week in June meant they were still vulnerable to slugs and snails. At the moment, because they were more substantial having been grown on, they all seem fine. We shall see.

The Sunday Times Culture: June 8th 2025

 

I have been thinking about cancelling my subscription for The Sunday Times. The one section that I always go to first is the Culture supplement, and recently there has been hardly anything remotely of interest. That is until this week. Packed full of articles that made this edition so worthwhile. here they are:

My Picks of the Week by Laura Hackett. (The very first article). The first time for weeks (months?) there is something to note. A book called The Corrections by Jonathon Franzen.

All the Rage. Danny Boyle is interviewed by Jonathon Dean about his new film 28 Years Later.

We can be serious and funny. Jane Garvey and Fi Glover from Five Live to Times Radio and their podcasts.

Till the stars come down. Beth Steel on her play now at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket.

No Time to Die. Dominic Maxwell on new James Bond books.

(Nothing in the television section)

Ballerina and Dangerous Animals. Tom Shone reviews these two films.

Fidler on the Roof at The Barbican. Dominic Maxwell and his five star review.

A Visit to Friends. An opera that I would normally pass, except the writer is William Boyd.

Art. Again I would avoid, except this week, regular reviewer Waldemar Januszczak goes to the small church of Santo Stefano al Monte Celio, not far from the Colosseum in Rome. His title is Martyr art will leave you faint. I wished I had avoided his piece.

Books. Electric Spark - The Enigma of Muriel Spark by Frances Wilson reviewed by Peter Kemp. There are fifteen of her novels on my bookshelves so only a couple left to read. Her autobiography Curriculum Vitae sounds interesting.

Among other books reviewed is To Rest Our Minds and Bodies by Harriet Armstrong (How Campus Novels got weird).

Dead, alive and Underrated. This regular feature this week is hosted by none other than Elizabeth Strout. (Another of my favourite authors, that's three this week). She picks Mrs Dalloway (I'm not a Virginia Woolf fan), Brooklyn (a wonderful novel) and The Bad Seed by William March. Might try.

Avoiding the book section on thrillers, the paperback reviews include .... Intermezzo By Sally Rooney, currently waiting on my bookshelf.

What a week! I wonder what the next edition holds in store.

BBC Crime Dramas on iPlayer

 

The new series on the BBC called Death Valley reminded me of all the crime dramas that can be found on iPlayer. These are the ones we have watched:

New Tricks (We started watching from the fir)st episode some time ago, and now on series 5)

Shakespeare and Hathaway (Four series so far with Series 5 currently in production)

Sherlock (Four series so far)

Waking the Dead (Nine series)

Silent Witness (Would you believe twenty eight series)

Jonathon Creek (Five series)

Spooks (Ten series)

Luther (Five series)

Wallander (Four series)

Line of Duty (Six series - highly recommended)

Shetland (Nine series - we have just started watching again and now on series 2)

I think that's about it for crime dramas on iPlayer. Also recommended are Miranda and of course the brilliant Detectorists, each over three series. Should I mention Extras? Probably the best of Ricky Gervais, saved by the rest of the cast.

Rosaline and Anna of the North

 

I recorded this film as it sounded an interesting version of the relationships in Romeo and Juliet. However it's comedy seemed mostly aimed at the teenage market. As was the music by Drum & Lace! However early on there were two outstanding tracks by Anna of the North:

Dancing on my Own

Escape

It was such a shame that these were the only two such songs in the film. I hardly ever play popular music these days, nearly all my CD's are packed away. So what happened here? Maybe their inclusion in a movie? I will have to think about that. 

As for the film, only Minnie Driver as the nurse was memorable.

Classic Movies on Sky Arts - Series 3 Episode 3 - The Story of the Dam Busters

 

I was ten when this film was shown in cinemas in 1955. I'm fairly sure that we saw it at the Odeon Kensington. Filmed in black and white, it starred Richard Todd as Wing Commander Guy Gibson and Michael Redgrave as Barnes Wallis. Superb performances from both. Ian Nathan and Steven Armstrong discuss this "complex war movie". The film is in two halves. The first the preparation and the second the mission itself. Steven says "If you could destroy the dams (three or four in the Ruhr Valley) it would cripple German production".... "the film is about technical and engineering expertise". The bouncing bomb is now an iconic invention. 

Neil Norman was impressed that we see so much of the experiments and techniques that were developed to bounce that bomb, including at first many failures. We see footage of the Lancaster bombers (three were taken out of mothballs) practicing their runs over Lake Windermere in the Lake District. Apparently the height of approach that was actually employed did not seem exciting enough and the director got them to go even lower to the water.  Steven tells us about the history of inventor Barnes Wallis, working on airships and bombers. 

On to the mission and Ian describes that moonlit night of May 16th 1943. The Lancaster bombers taking off for Germany. I vividly remember that my favourite Airfix model that I made was that of the Lancaster. Steven asks how successful was the mission? In reality not hugely important, the dams were soon rebuilt. But it was a symbolic success.

Neil Norman goes on to tell us about Paul Brickhill who wrote the book The Dam Busters. This was after he wrote his memoir that became the blockbuster film The Great Escape and later the book about Douglas Bader that became Reach for the Sky. We hear about director Michael Anderson, how he went about the filming and using some real footage. We see the models made for the dams, and the cockpit constructed in the studio.

Michael Redgrave was already a big star when he was chosen to play Barnes Wallis. Richard Todd was perfect for Guy Gibson. In the co-pilot's seat is Robert Shaw. Steven says that the film is unlike any other and Neil says how they took a big story and personalised it. Even Eric Coate's music of the iconic Dam Busters March still resonates today. The film has a muted ending as many of the crews did not return. Barnes Wallis was devastated. But this was the biggest British film of 1955.

The Marching Band at the Rex Cinema, Berkhamsted

 

The Marching Band or En Fanfare as it is in French, is about two brothers. Only they don't know they are until Thibaut (Benjamin Lavernhe), an acclaimed classical conductor, finds he needs a bone marrow transplant to save his life. He discovers that he has a brother (they were both separately adopted) Jimmy (Pierre Lottin) a cook in a school canteen, whose initial reaction is not positive to say the least. But obviously things improve between them. Jimmy plays trombone in the works band (that was the only instrument left) and he has some equal qualities in ability as his brother. 

In the early part of the film with Thibaut conducting, some of the classical pieces were outstanding. On the big cinema speakers, the quality was fabulous. The contrast between the orchestra and the band was cleverly depicted. But the best part for me was when they both sit down together at the piano and end up playing some great boogie woogie. The second half is not quite so good as their relationship goes downhill and tensions start to boil over. And the music takes a back seat. The ending could have been better although I may be in the minority. 

Director and co-writer Emmanuel Courcol has made a thoroughly enjoyable piece of escapism that critic Mark Kermode said was "nice, enjoyable and well played". Peter Bradshaw called it "a good natured heart warmer". I'm glad that we have the Rex cinema not far away to see these good foreign movies. 

Waterbirds at the Weston Turville Reservoir

 Yesterday the swans were looking after their four cygnets close to the edge of the reservoir at Weston Turville. Then later resting on the bank.

Further away, moorhens were swimming with their new chicks. 

I spent ages waiting for the two cormorants to surface, but they spent nearly all their time under water.

Finally, I only had my mobile phone on Sunday when I found these graylag geese  on the bank with four new goslings. They had disappeared yesterday.

This is what they really look like.

Wednesday 4th June: the graylag geese are back. And the hungry goslings.

Sadler's Birthday, The Secret Hours and normal rules don't apply

 

Sadler's Birthday is the very first novel from Rose Tremain back in 1976. All alone is his big mansion, Jack Sadler is 76 and another birthday is on the horizon. The book is obviously full of his memories, particularly from when he first came to the house as a butler at the beginning of the second world war. Here are the elderly Colonel and his wife Madge, together with Vera the housemaid. But now they have all left or died. On his own, Jack is feeling his age: "he's been old it seemed for so long", a typical case of "senile decay"? "An awareness of your mediocrity".

But suddenly we are back to when his mother Annie was sixteen and living with her father Greg, a piano tuner. Annie is "far too timid and shy", but who would not be with her looks. But she does marry although all the family connections are sometimes vague. You have to work them out. Annie has been left with Jack, just a child then, and finds employment as a housekeeper. Jack leaves at fourteen to find his own path.

But it's Jack's memories of wartime in the big house that are the most interesting, especially when they take in a boy. Jack and Tom become close. Then watching the coronation on TV when a phone call is what makes the day memorable. But now Sadler has been on his own for twenty years with just visits from his housekeeper Vera. Feeling his age, thinking about his own mortality, he needed someone there but could not face another person living in that house. Rose Tremain gives us a poignant story for her first novel, one I was glad I found. Especially an old hardback from 1989 in such great condition.

Having mostly enjoyed eight of Mick Herron's novels, I cannot pretend that this was equally good. A story that revolves around a government enquiry with too many tedious interviews, is not what I expected. It starts off with familiar Herron action with Max Janacek escaping from his isolated cottage in the middle of the night following a home invasion. However we are then pitched into the Monochrome Enquiry Day 371 where civil servants Griselda Fleet and younger Malcolm Kyle have been installed to chair a bunch of oddballs (including an espionage novelist) who listen to various witnesses about the goings on in the security services. But with nothing special to say.

We soon know that this is actually a satire with all these nonsense interviews. The story backtracks to Day 279, but the witness is just a cleaner talking about malpractice at GCHQ when really it's just about the canteen! But the crux of these interviews makes up the main part of the book when who should appear as a witness but one "Alison North". We guess that is not her real name, and search our memories of previous books as to who this could be. She talks about her time in Berlin in 1994 where she has been posted by one David Cartwright (a familiar name) to spy on the service's team there. And to dig the dirt on one "Brinsley Miles" (head of station?) who could also be someone from other novels.

Now this could have been interesting, but somehow it isn't. It just seems to go on and on, going nowhere. The writer seems to indulge himself in long tedious goings on. All for the ending to be like one of those old Agatha Christie stories where everything comes thick and fast at the end where you fail to grasp who was who, what actually happened and who was to blame. So the book is about the investigation, not the realisation. And it was too long.

Not long into the first of these short stories we start to understand the nature of then title of the book. They veer into the realms of fantasy which is not my favourite genre.

The Void
It starts with "the old man" who we gather is Barbara's father and grandfather to Genevieve. It is the latter who takes up the story of a world wide apocalypse that is shown all over the TV. "The greatest disaster since the dinosaurs".

Dogs in Jeopardy
Now this is a really witty story about Franklin who is touring the race courses of the north. His mother's "racy" friends included the latest stepfather called Ted. ("Franklin's favourite by many lengths"). Now Franklin, despite being handsome and having lots of girlfriends, is now thirty eight and unlucky in love? We learn his father was "immolated" three weeks before he was born. (Think Grand Prix).

Blithe Spirit
Mandy is dead. There are actually some things she can still do, but others she cannot. Like being stuck in the North. She can remember her life but not her death. Her boss Jonathon had told her "paperwork never sleeps". It did when you are dead. Suddenly she is watching her own autopsy (that's different) and finds that she has been shot. It gets more and more surreal.

Spellbound
A queen in a fairytale is not really what this story is about. It's about Florence who has four sisters and one tiny brother. He father is a country vicar, services are mainly deserted except for weddings. The church is very beautiful.

The Indiscreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
We are back to Franklin. He meets Connie and they immediately are having an affair. This leads to him meeting her well to do family. (He is completely out of their league). Connie's sisters are Patience, Constance and Faith. The lunch is hilarious. He stays the night!

Shine Pamela, Shine
Pamela has retired from teaching at the local primary school. Divorced from Colin (no surprise there). Her son Nicholas is a waster and still living with her. Shocked when arriving home one evening to find a coven of book club women.

Existential Marginalisation
No, I have no odea what that means. The story is equally bonkers.

Classic Quest 17 - Crime and Punishment
Franklin and Connie are back, this time meeting the vicar prior to their wedding. But things go downhill for Franklin at yet another lunch.

Puppies and Rainbows
Skylar is a young American film star over here making a new movie. But a troubled person. This story just seems to be a description of a succession of different drugs. A little adventure during some time off has a sad ending.

Gene-sis
Kitty is single and a "creative" at an advertising agency. She likes lists, "Primogeniture: an evil word". "She liked bright, sparkling things. She had a bit of magpie in her. Also some Indian elephant, a morsel of bat, a scrap of sloth and a few strands of wolf. All useful on occasion". But who is she really, inventing the world? See title.

What If?
Of course it's Franklin in the last story, ferrying some mad woman to the studio. Will they ever get there? It's as surreal as the others. I was not impressed.

Garden at the end of May

So much has changed in the garden over the last month so just a few photos from the end of May. The one above is one of my favourites. The roses are coming into flower at last.

I cannot remember the honeysuckle at the back of the main border having flowered so well.

The poppy in the round border is doing fine.

These are the two penstemon either side of the step into the lawn.

And finally, the lawn has survived the long spell of dry weather, mainly because of the Pro Kleen Grass Green that I applied in the Spring. The bedding border has now been cleared ready for the Dahlias.