High lights and low lights

What were the most memorable parts of this trip?

• Seeing Don Giovanni at the Met in New York.
• Hearing the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra at Carnegie Hall.
• Seeing Manhattan Island from the upper deck of the Queen Mary II. 
• Doing a "Behind the scenes" tour on the Queen Mary II. 
• Playing duplicate bridge every day on the QMII
• Attending the Canterbury Choral Society concert in the nave of Canterbury Cathedral. 
• Spending time with three nephews and nieces and meeting up with four nephews and nieces. 
• Attending other talks and concerts as part of the Canterbury Festival.
• Meeting up with brother law Nick and his wife Sue for lunch.
• A performance of Les Miserables.

Were there any low lights?

• Elevator not working at the Reform Club and no food available on a Sunday evening. 
• It seems increasingly hard work to lug around ones carry on suitcase and backpack! Therefore I tended to take taxis or Uber rather than the Underground in London.

Last day in London

 Brother in law Nick (a retired priest) and his wife Sue (retired physiotherapist) came down from Hardwick (near Cambridge) so that we could have lunch together at the Reform Club.

That evening it was fifteen minutes walk to the Sondheim Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue. I was able to get a last minute ticket for Les Miserables. Having seen the performance many times on PBS including the 25th anniversary at the "O" in London I was keen to see this new production. The tunes were all the same but the staging, scenery and costumes all different. Much enjoyed. Les Mis has now been performed for 40 years in London!

The next morning I had to get up at 6 am. I took an Uber (a Tesla) to Paddington Station and the Heathrow Express. From there it was a ten hour flight to Seattle, then a three hour layover before the flight to Victoria. It was good to be home. 

London and the Reform Club

 When you live somewhere where there are no trains (on Vancouver Island) it is always part of the adventure to ride a fast train to London.

After checking in to the Reform Club on Pall Mall and finding that the lift was broken (I had to walk up three floors but was helped with my bags) and being Sunday night I took a walk to Leister Square and Picadilly circus. All the shops were getting ready for Christmas. I found a very nice Italian Restauraunt called "San Carlo" on Regent Street for dinner.

The ice needs a Zamboni!

The Reform Club (reciprocal with the Union Club of BC) started construction in 1832 and is a magnificent remnant of the British Empire.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reform_Club

More Canterbury Festival

Having bought two tickets for several events I have been very lucky to find nephews or nieces to accompany me to several events.

Robert and I went to hear “The King’s Singers: Close harmony.” This group originated in 1978 where the original group were all Choral Scholars at King’s College Cambridge.

They sang in the Great Hall at Kent College. The acoustics were perfect for hearing the voice of each individual member of the six singers. Their repertoire was a mixture of many genres from Disney to the Beatles, to classical music to the Lords Prayer. A very enjoyable evening being able to hear the group live instead of on YouTube.

Helen and I went to hear a lecture by “Dan Cruickshank:The English House”. He gave an entertaining but somewhat jumbled account of several houses in England tracing their history of who was involved in building - government rules, bricklayers, stonemasons, the wives of owners and in later years architects. He talked about the influence of successful businesses lead by Huguenots from France and Jews escaping Programs. Entertaining but somewhat jumbled. 

The last concert was “The Tallis Scholars” in the Nave of Canterbury Cathedral accompanied by Helen. The remarkable group has been lead by Peter Phillips since 1973. He has dedicated  his career to the research and performance of Renaissance polyphony, and the perfecting of choral sound. There were 13 singers and they performed works by Thomas Tomkins, Thomas Tallis, Orlando Gibbons and Thomas Weelkes. For me some of the most pure and beautiful choral singing I have ever heard. All a Capella, with no vibrato (particularly in the Soprano voices). It was a wonderful last concert for me at this 2025 Canterbury Festival. 

 

All Saints Day

 My mother was born on All Saints Day, November 1st 1912. She would have been 113 this year. She died at aged 97 (17 years ago). To remember her Helen and I went to Evensong again in Canterbury Cathedral. We thought of the fact that she was a frequent worshipper, she was a Cathedral guide for 55 years and also was a stitcher who made some of the seat cushions.

More on the farm

 On Saturday I went to St Vincent’s church with Lil to pick up the village newsletter for distribution.I was then the chauffeur for delivery around the farm cottages.

The cows had been separated from their calves and were making a lot of noise (this lasts about three days). On Monday the cows will be pregnancy tested to ensure they are in calf.

One of the farm workers, Tim, has a side business sawing and splitting wood on the farm. He provides wood for Garrington and Lee Priory and sells to customers in the area.

This is Bandit the much loved dog that belonged to my sister and is now cared for by Helen and Robert.

These are Guinea Fowl which have been imported onto the farm just to see if they would survive and reproduce (which they have).

Saturday November 1st

 I am fascinated with the technology and equipment of the farms keeps changing. My nephew Robert now farms 1100 hectares on six different farms. One farm (Garrington) belongs to Robert and his wife Lil.

He manages thanks to increasingly large equipment. This spray machine which covers an area of (I think he said) 24 meters with the arms out can deliver fertilizer and herbicides (after washing out its tanks).

On his IPhone Robert can see where the machine is and what land it has covered that day. He can of course easily text or speak to the driver at any time. One day the driver’s wife had to go to the hospital for an ultrasound as she is expecting a baby and the machine was parked while he went with her and then he knew that he was back on the machine by checking his phone!

All the fields in the six farms are geomapped so that the  rotation of crops can be planned each year. 

All this is managed with 2 1/2 full time workers. In the summer from July to November he is able to employ a trainee who has finished an agricultural degree and whose family has been friends for years as Molly was this year. It amazed me to see this “girl” driving the huge tractors and the JCB but not the sprayer which needs about a week of training to know how to work it.

Lil (Robert’s wife) who has an MSc in agricultural pesticides and herbicides was a science teacher at a local Grammar School. She now plays a big part in helping on the farm and managing some of the complicated financing and records.