It has barely stopped raining today, some of it really hard. After taking Beano to the vet's first thing to check on how he is after last week's dental, I went to the river to feed the ducks. The river was very high, and the ducks' favourite bank was under water. By the time my loaf of bread had gone, I was as wet as they were. So I trundled along to the shopping centre to dry out. I ended up in the cafe in Marks and Spencer for my lunch. It was getting busy, so I shared a table with an elderly lady. We got talking, and didn't stop for an hour and a half! She was fascinating. She was German, and came to England in 1948 after marrying a British serviceman. She had worked for Robert Maxwell when he was a new immigrant and starting his first business, importing German-language scientific magazines using an old banana warehouse in central London. The smell was terrible, and the staff thought that there must be dead rats under the floorboards, but it turned out just to be rotten fruit!
At 4pm there was a party at school to celebrate the impending retirement of the school administrator. Lots of colleagues past and present were there, the food was fantastic (Jane, the science teacher is a great cook) and though she doesn't leave till next week, Mary had a wonderful send-off. She has been a tower of strength for so many for so long.
Oh, and horror of horrors - her replacement doesn't start till January!
Sometimes meeting strangers can lead to the most wonderful conversations. My mother has a talent for starting up detailed conversations with total strangers. Good luck on surviving without an administrator for a month and a half. I don't envy you in that respect!
ReplyDeleteDiane said the weather in her part of England is terrible. They're supposed to have heavy rain and 70mph winds. You all stay safe out there!
ReplyDeleteThe ducks would have liked it yesterday..today (so far) it's just very windy.
ReplyDeleteMy gran had a talent for talking to people she only just met, I wish I had it too :-)
i love talking to strangers - makes for some very interesting conversations and lessons in life
ReplyDeletei was with american friends at the tate modern and was chatting to another couple of women; my friends said you know people everywhere and i told 'em i didn't have a clue who they were
a couple of weeks ago waiting in a restaurant line with my bro and sil i was chatting to a couple of men and my sil asked me who they were - erm... i dunno, just a couple of friendly guys!
one ride on the central line and i got someone's life history
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weather is yuck yuck yuck - just got delivery of THE DVD - perfect day for it
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have a great wet and windy weekend
According to our paper this morning, some lady was with her little daughter, feeding bread to some duckssomewhere. Her 'reward' was an £85 fine!
ReplyDeleteI hope everyone in the UK still has a roof and some dry clothes.