ith the distance counter on my new pedometer. Sure it can’t really be that complicated, but am struggling at the moment. En route, took in the new True Food Co-op Community Shop on Grove Road. The True Food Co-op hold weekly markets in different venues across Reading, which, typically, I have occasionally thought about going to, but never actually been to. They have recently – as of three weeks ago – opened a ‘community shop’ in Emmer Green, which is tucked away in an obscure little parade of shops near St Barnabas Church and I would have remained unaware of it had my boss Paul, one suspects a bit of a wholefoody type, not alerted me to its presence. A worthy endeavour though not sure how it will do. I had a bit of a wander around, giving some strangely-shaped carrots a wide berth. Decided I was OK for spelt and flax products, but to show support bought a packet of coffee, some organic corn cakes and some nettle tea, which apparently has a cleansing and purifying effect. Bring it on.Small and exclusive Book Group gathering at Claire’s house last Wednesday to eat a very nice pasta salad (and a few other bits) and discuss Keith Ridgway’s novella Horses. For a short book it had sparked a variety of interpretations, one involving the ‘village idiot’-type character Mathew really being Jesus, which I can’t say had occurred to me as a possibility, unless Jesus was really stupid and wore ill-fitting trousers.
Ruth and I spent a pleasant couple of days on a mini ‘city break’ in Bristol for the first part of the Easter weekend. I had booked us in to the Premier Inn on King Street which turned out to be rather fabulously positioned right on the harbourside. We started off with a stroll across Castle Park and a couple of hours shopping in the new Cabot Circus shopping centre, triggered by Ruth’s quest for a pair of well-fitting jeans.
We drew a blank on those, but did buy a few tops between us. Next up was a visit to the Blue Reef Aquarium - by the time we arrived we had missed the last showing in the IMAX 3D cinema, but the upside was that we got a relatively uncrowded walk around to look at the fishies and some other intriguingly weird creatures. It was pouring with rain when we emerged so we nipped into the Watershed for a drink and ended up staying to see a movie, Jessica Hausner’s Lourdes. We ended the day with dinner at the rather super half-afloat Spyglass.We started Saturday by hopping onto a sightseeing bus intending to have a bit of a walk to the Clifton Suspension Bridge, but the inclement weather put us off that idea (the tour bus was largely empty except for us and a group of over-enthusiastic German tourists). We got off the bus in Clifton and had a hearty breakfast at the Clifton Bistro and a bit of a poke around the Clifton Arcade. The rain eased off sufficiently for us to have a bit of a walk around Clifton and a visit to Clifton Cathedral before tea and cake at the lovely Primrose Café and then heading back into the city. I paid a brief visit to the Imogen Stidworthy exhibition, part of the Arnolfini’s 'Lingua Franca' series: interesting in parts, though I’d dispute that the phrase ‘Get here!’ (as uttered by ill-bred harpies to their children) is unique to Liverpool. We dined at Loch Fyne before going to see another movie, Tom Ford's A Single Man (Ruth's payback for having to sit through Lourdes). Actually it was good and Colin Firth does at least seem to have stopped playing Mr Darcy. That lad from
About A Boy has certainly grown into a bit of a hottie, if you like that kind of thing.NB Premier Inns aren’t bad value for money and I do like their
extra-large beds and flat screen TVs, but I’ve yet to find one that costs £29 a night, despite the advertising campaign. Maybe in Hull or similar.Easter Sunday began with the discovery that my Easter display of colourful chicks had produced a large Lindt golden egg between them. This was followed by an exciting hunt for Lindt gold bunnies that Ruth had cunningly hidden around the house for me (see this one on top of the marmalade). Then went over to Ashbury for Sunday lunch at Ruth's aunt's house, via The Bear at Hungerford for tea while waiting for our lift. Quite nice; never been there before. After a sustaining lunch of roast lamb and sherry trifle we took the customary walk to see the ponies - I tend to steer clear of horses/ponies and their
ilk so left Ruth to pet them while I tried, again unsuccessfully, to befriend Mona the farm cat.Had a slightly bizarre but enjoyable picnic breakfast with Ray by the Thames in Pangbourne early on Easter Monday, before he went off to a job and I went for a walk. Tried to make good use of the Closure Day on Tuesday by going to the gym for the first time this year. Even went for a swim as well afterwards. That's me done for the next couple of months.
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