Fait Accompli
So our Fun Day came and went in a flash and whirl of activity; cakes were made, a superb Treasure Island and ‘Bat-the-Rat’ was built, the local shopkeepers provided very generous gifts for the tombola and raffle, tea-urns, tables and chairs were collected – and now it’s all over. Thanks again to the Organising Committee, who performed spectacularly well, and provided a very high level of fun. We had an excellent range of live music, with MOBO-Award winner Yolanda Brown topping the bill of various guitarists – Pete the Street, Al ‘n’ Dave and Jason. Top prize for humour was unintentional – eight chaps erecting the pint-sized marquee and ensuring it was secure without being able to peg it into the tarmac carpark! We had a lovely time, and there’s even a few cakes and other goodies to last us over the no-cooking holiday – when we’ve finished the Easter Egg which arrived at everyone’s door this morning!
The day was preceded by a new arrival on Wednesday – a new Companion with six wheels (including steering wheel and spare!) and a tail-lift, in the shape of a new Luton van. It has a very sensitive alarm system, as we found out when it went off intermittently on first being left alone! Fortunately we mastered the trick quite quickly.
It was also overshadowed by accident-prone Mike jarring his arm so badly cutting pizza crust on Thursday (cooked by Yours Truly, I regret to say) that he ended up going to hospital. It turned out he had chipped a piece of his elbow and I was relieved to learn that it was an ‘old’ injury merely triggered by the jolt – probably acquired when he slid on the carpet in a hurry to attend to the fire alarm 2 or 3 weeks ago. Alas he was a Wounded Soldier for the festivity, and will remain plastered for another couple of weeks. Those who know him will not be surprised to learn that even that did not prevent him from getting into a pink Easter Bunny costume and wandering the streets to drum up attendance!
To return to the subject of tents, Kye (a Companion visiting from Colchester) and I made two wig-wams for the beans to climb up at the allotment in due course. We will be hiving a couple of Companions to work at Vale Street from next week, so it is possible we may not be able to spare anyone for allotment duty for a while, so this was the ideal opportunity whilst there were other bodies there. Philip, meanwhile, ensured that the fruit cage was thoroughly shorn of weeds, which has made a marvellous difference to the view there. The peas I sowed about 4 weeks ago finally appeared (almost within minutes of my deciding to give them up as a bad job and plough the area over when next I got the chance) and they are now all of an inch high. Strawberries are chasing raspberries in the newest plot as to which fruit first – and we’re running out of oxygen for the amount of seedlings down at the house awaiting transplantation ‘ooup t’allotment’! Next week we are heading for our first crop of the year from our huge rhubarb bed.
I will end on a warm fuzzy-furry story of Easter Goodwill. We overlook a carpark which is shared with parkers from 20 or so flats; some drivers park their Chelsea Tractors in a manner to make the exit of our van(s) awkward; others rev or idle their engines, or arrive and leave with loud music late at night, to disturb people going to sleep; other residents call for taxis which idle for 40 minutes plus before their client arrives. Yet others – the few – lead blameless lives and bring the family down on Easter morning to visit Granny and – find their battery is flat.
So it was on Easter Sunday; fortunately, Emmaus is at hand, and I go to Community Leader Mike, fetch the van keys, the Companion driver takes the van across, the flat battery is jump-started, and the family is able to have their Easter lunch with the elders – thanks to Emmaus Companions being their companionable selves…
Next week’s blog-time will see me travelling the country, so look out for a bumper bundle at the end of April.
Hope you have a good time in my absence, Elizabeth.
