I had lent Richard my copy of "Walking Home" by Simon Armitage and I am pleased to say that he has very much been enjoying it. So much so that he wanted to keep the book and asked me to sign it. I said it would be an 81st birthday present.
More and more, I discover that there were other parts of Richard in the iconic novel "Kes". Not just the boy who trained a kestrel. There were bits of the book that were lifted directly from Richard's experience of education in a secondary modern school. Barry himself went to a grammar school after passing his eleven plus examination.
Because I needed to pee - and I have never been upstairs to the Hines's bathroom - I made my apologies and departed just before five o'clock.
Shirley was down in London today - visiting Buckingham Palace with some other members of her Women's Institute. They had tickets to see an exhibition of our late queen's clothes.
Later I asked if Queen Elizabeth's bra and knickers were on show but apparently not - nor were her suspenders and fishnet stockings. Apparently Prince Philip liked that particular outfit.
Shirley was home by 7.15pm and very soon after that I presented her with a bowl of stir fried chicken with noodles and chopped vegetables which we ate together before I strode out. Down the road to watch the second leg of the Championship play-off semi-final at Frances and Stew's house.
It was an exciting game but Hull City came out on top as the deserved winners by two goals to nil. So beautiful that I am still smiling now. We are on our way to the Wembley final and who knows - who knows - we could end up in The Premier League once again! It's quite incredible really.
Good luck for your team.
ReplyDeleteOh, Simon Armitage is a favourite poet of mine! I had not heard of "Walking Home," his prose travelogue book (for lack of a better term), so thanks for that info. I went back and read your previous post about it as well.
ReplyDeleteI hope you are able to get a match ticket. I would love to see a display of Queen Elizabeth's clothes.
ReplyDeleteA nice full day.
ReplyDeleteIt is so nice that you have become acquainted with the Hines‘ and keep visiting them. It would have been perfectly natural to ask to use their toilet, but three hours is a long enough visit, I agree.
ReplyDeleteBetty Windsor's Knickers and Fishnets would have been quite the ticket, eh?
ReplyDeleteBarry Hines and Simon Armitage : An original novelist & a gifted poet.
ReplyDeleteAgree with Debra : Mr Armitage's prose is worth a walk to any bookshop.
I recall the surprise & wit of his poetry collection titled *A Book of Matches*.
My grandson scored a goal in his soccer game on Saturday so even though his team lost, we were smiling! :)
ReplyDeleteIt is good to remember that shorter visits are often preferred, especially when we are visiting those even older than ourselves. Better to leave them wanting more?
ReplyDeleteThe Tigers mauled Millwall!
ReplyDelete