The Garden in February

 

The first half of February was extremely cold, on days the temperature did not rise above freezing. It was not until the 15th that I was able to lift a block of ice from the pot below.

But now we are in the middle of a much milder spell with lots of sunshine. The crocus and daffodils are splendid.

I was able to give the lawns their first cut yesterday.

What I thought were mini tulips that I included on a previous post must be something else, being so early. But they obviously like it where I stuck them in the border.

My perennial wallflower below (Erysimum "Bowle's Mauve)  has done really well over the years but now looks dead to me. According to reports they do not last more than a couple of years so it did OK. It was actually never in the right place so will look for something different at the front of the border under the Corylus Contorta. 

In the far bed I used the hedge trimmer to cut down all the lower Hypericum and this has now exposed the daffodils there.

The lawn edges were perhaps too soft and muddy to cut, but they do look better.

 

Lambeth Palace Library and Archives

 

Sky Arts have started a new series on The Art of Architecture. The latest episode (Series 2 Episode 3) was the new library and archives for the Church of England at Lambeth Palace. The building is situated right on Lambeth Palace Road at the far end of Archbishop's Park, so far away from the the the residence of the Archbishop at the old Lambeth Palace itself.

The first thing that you see is the red brick of the new library. Somehow it respects that of the Palace but also the building across the road that is Evelina London Children's Hospital.

So that is how they gained planning for the library, even though it is much taller.

The result for the London skyscape is, in my humble opinion, a carbuncle. The next photo is the best I could find but it does not properly reveal it's dramatic colour in relation to other London buildings viewed from across the river. I will do that when I visit in the summer.

However, the brickwork itself is spectacular. The programme spent some time with husband and wife architects Wright and Wright as they explained the choice and making of the bricks. Stunning.

Overall this is modern architecture at it's expensive best. Especially the inside. More later. I was actually more interested in the construction, there is a brilliant time lapse video at Knight Harwood, Lambeth Palace Library, time lapse on Vimeo or https://vimeo.com/410669548. I loved the part when the concrete frame of the tall central section of the library was being built using slip form. It was just like constructing the concrete core of an office block. 

The Entrance Hall (in the photo above) is very impressive. The steel chandelier is a wonderful piece of utility modern art. Never seen anything like it.

At the back the glazing looks out to the gardens and the pond. What this photo does not show is the complicated ends of ceilings arriving at an eaves above the brickwork. Goodness knows how they detailed that on the drawings. Below is one of the reading rooms, replicating those in the old library and again with views to the garden. This is a public library that is closed at the moment. It will be interesting to see what the access is like in the future.

Movies at Home - The League of Gentlemen (1960), Citizen Kane and Stan and Ollie

 

A fun movie from 1960 with a great British cast was fine for both of us. This team of ex-servicemen is brought together by Colonel Hyde played by Jack Hawkins. The planning of the robbery is meticulous and cunning. The best part was the raid on an arms depot the involved hilarious distractions of those in charge..

I found Citizen Kane free to view. If I ever watched in the past I cannot remember. I was less than impressed, the script and acting were fairly ordinary. However the visuals were something else. The black and white photography, the sets, the framing of each shot (some I remember from floor level), the lighting, the fades in and out and the shadows were all amazing. Unfortunately they don't make up for the story or the dialogue.

I had seen Stan and Ollie at the cinema but it was well worth a second viewing. We both enjoyed the performances. I had forgotten that Stan Laurel was English. Steve Coogan was perfect casting. This is what I said at the time:

Steve Coogan and John C Reilly have career highs as the elderly double act struggling around the UK on tour. They are fortunate to have Jeff Pope to write the screenplay, although I felt the imput of Coogan would have been important, mirroring Stan Laurel for ever writing new stuff for their act. Along with director John S Baird, they have perfected the line between impersonation and impression. So good, you totally believe they are Stan and Ollie. Their bickering wives who join the tour later in London are a double act in their own right. The contrast between the early tour empty theatres and horrible boarding house with the successful later shows and the plush London Adelphi Hotel is a little heavy handed, but this is nothing compared to an overall brilliant movie.

Tring Book Club - Girl by Edna O'Brien

 

After I read "The Little Red Chairs", my first attempt at an Edna O'Brien novel, I added this comment:

"My first Edna O'Brien and if this is the best she can do, it will be my last. OK, it was a very powerful novel, shocking even. Something to endure rather than enjoy. It should really come with a warning."

The same could be said of our latest choice for book club. Knowing the subject matter, I started to read with some trepidation, especially as this was too close to reality for comfort. It should have been advertised as dramatised non-fiction. My first impressions were "let's write a story about the most awful events imaginable". There is no lead-in to the horrors of the book, just straight in with a bang.

The fact that it is written in the first person by "Girl" makes it even more disturbing. The first part is remorseless in it's violence. The rest is the aftermath and the traumatic effects it has on Maryam. I'm not sure about much of the prose, is it lazy or trying to mimic our narrator? I also become tired of the various diversions, stories and anecdotes from characters who had nothing to do with the main narrative.

But I guess this is an important story to tell, albeit in a fictionalised format. Edna O'Brien has been brave to tell it, it does have heart. In a way, the men are worse off than the women, they face horrible injury and death. We are back to the Middle Ages. Thank goodness I had something light on my bookshelf to start next, hurrah for Deborah Moggach and Buffy's Ex-Wives.

The Valhalla Murders, DNA, The Nordic Murders, Monster, Rebecka Martinsson: Arctic Murders and Spiral

 The Valhalla Murders

Some of these foreign police series are from way back. First from BBC 4 comes The Valhalla Murders, set in Iceland and notable for the parachuting in of a detective from Norway, the tall guy at the back. Not my favourite of these recent series, I found it hard to keep up with the plot.

DNA

Much better was this mystery detective series, this time from Denmark. And again on BBC 4. Set in Copenhagen, Northern Jutland and Poland, Yet again it does have yet another specialist drafted in, this time Charlotte Rampling as French detective Claire Bobin. And as well as the French Connection, there is also a link to a convent in Poland. And of course DNA. There were eight episodes, although it should have been less, it was too slow at times. But the last two episodes were exciting even if the conclusion was identical to a thousand thrillers that have gone before.

The Nordic Murders

On Channel 4 comes Nordic Murders, and we are off to Germany. Actually the action is set on the Island (peninsular?) of Usedom in what was the north of East Germany on the Baltic Sea. Just over the border is Poland (again) where we visit on occasions.  This location is therefore one of the best things about the series, great photography and visually stunning. Each episode is a separate story so that was good. Not a lot of plot, more a character study of investigator Julia and her ex-con mother Karin who was the district prosecutor. Yes! However, the series soon disappeared from Channel 4 so will wait for it's return?

Monster

Channel 4 again and we are in Arctic Norway near the Russian border. Once more it's isolation leads to a detective arriving to help. But he doesn't. Poor Hedda, (the most unglamorous and unlikely female tv detective ever) out of her depth and with boss Ed soon to retire (both above) she finds it hard to communicate with the new Dreyer. It takes the difficulties of new partners to a whole new, violent level! A complicated plot, not a lot of dialogue but it's all about the scenery. I didn't have a clue of what was going on half the time, but it was curiously addictive. 

Rebecka Martinsson: Arctic Murders

This was weird. I came across the second series of this Channel 4 series (it is also on Sky so will be there for ever) , and having watched the first episode, I found that Series 1 was on catch-up. So back to it's first episode. But the lead detective (Rebecka) seemed different, very weird. But investigating on Google, I found that the actress had changed for Series 2.  The setting is the far north of Sweden, is everybody trying to get more north that the other? So we have snow and ice in the depths of winter as lawyer Rebecka returns to her home town of Kiruna. And murders. Currently watching in tandem with Spiral.

Spiral

I think I must have watched all the series of Spiral, the French crime series on BBC 4 set in the dark side of Paris. We have now reached the final series and the team is in trouble after the disasters of the previous episodes. It seems a long time since we last saw Laure and Gilou. But the photography of Paris is as great as ever especially the chase sequences with a hand held camera. Watch this space.

Aylesbury parkrun - the flood

 

This is a photo of the start of the alternative course at Aylesbury parkrun that is used when the main route is flooded. There is a video on Aylesbury parkrun's facebook page for the 22nd January. I'm not sure if you could actually run through the flood it seems so deep. Except there are now some not-parkrun results for Aylesbury last week. So it may already be better. Will have to give it a go.

A Week of Ice

These are pictures, above and below, that were in the news last week of the Thames frozen over at Teddington Lock. The first time for many years.

At the same time, the Weston Turville Reservoir was also frozen around the edges when I visited on one of my walks. I wish I had taken my camera.

A Frozen Garden

 

The last few days have been the coldest for years. Although there was not much in the way of snow, what we had is sticking around despite the sunshine. 

 So the crocus are not very happy. 

They were much better over a week ago.

Before the frosts I did find the mini tulips in flower under some shrubs where I must have stuck them last spring after they died down in their pots.

I found the following photo from last March, so they have appeared quite early this year.

The container with the fountain has been frozen for over a week.

Today (Monday) it has thawed so I could lift the 50mm ice off the pot.

The crocus are also much happier this morning.

New Running Shoes

 

As my old running shoes had developed a hole near the toe, I went online for a new pair of Asics GT 1000 that I always wear. The latest Series 9 were far too expensive, most were well over £100 on Amazon.

However, I did find a pair of Series 8 which I found to be just as as good. And at £54.95 including postage, that was cheaper than I have paid for the last few pairs. Not the colour I would have chosen, but who cares. Especially as they are for the spring and summer. Thank you Seaton Sports.

A Single Thread, The Understudy and A Stranger City

Despite the many positive reviews, I found this very disappointing especially as I had enjoyed Tracy Chevalier's "Remarkable Creatures", "New Boy" and, of course, "The Girl with the Pearl Earring". To me it felt like a lightweight story of single woman in her thirties, after the first world war, built around Winchester Cathedral, the embroidery of it's cushions and kneelers and bell-ringing.

Violet Speedwell is resigned to spinsterhood now the male population has been decimated by the war. She has the obligatory dominating mother and brother with a growing family. It is her new found friends who are broderers who bring her joy. It's not a bad book. There is the occasional warm sentence: "Of course the vergers complained because the collection took twice as long since everyone wanted to inspect the (new embroidered) alms bags and that rather threw out the timing of the service" positive reviews, I found this very disappointing especially as I had enjoyed Tracy Chevalier's "Remarkable Creatures", "New Boy" and, of course, "The Girl with the Pearl Earring". To me it felt like a lightweight story of single woman in her thirties, after the first world war, built around Winchester Cathedral, the embroidery of it's cushions and kneelers and bell-ringing.

Not the best of David Nicholls' novels. Unfortunately the main character, failing actor Stephen C McQueen, is such a pathetic person. As a vehicle for humour, this just didn't work. Which was unfortunate as a comedy about an understudy had huge potential. That is not to say there were no funny moments. When Stephen is talking to Nora, wife of star actor Josh, and explains he is his understudy, she replies "Want me to push him downstairs for you .... make it look like an accident?" But it is this relationship that is the best thing about the book, as were those in "One Day", "Us" and "Sweet Sorrow".

Having read all of Linda Grant's novels, I was not sure what to expect. Some are excellent, some less so. This book falls somewhere between the two. I found it a mostly depressing picture of London, maybe because this is possibly set in a near future. Post Brexit haunts the story. It is certainly not the city I knew in the fifties and sixties. Horrible things happened then as they do now, well this is London. The author sees an even worse time here. "Our London is coming to an end, what we knew is disintegrating soon we wont recognise the place. You've got to go with the change, Marco (son of a Lebanese immigrant). It's not our fault, we didn't initiate it, but you need to prepare, make plans, have your exit route arranged".

The multiculturalism of London is of course on show. A cast of many characters, their narratives slipping in and out . Alan, the documentary film maker and his Persian wife Francesca seem an odd pair. But the book, for me, seems held together by Chrissie, the single Irish nurse. An unexpected social media sensation for those five minutes of fame. Vic and his Afghan hounds. Retired policeman Pete Dutton, whose quest to find the identity of the dead woman from the river which is at the heart of the story. But the book is really about the city. The writing sometimes seems as elusive as London itself. This is a book that needs to be read again. So although it is not a comfortable read, it is unforgettable.