Cambridge coughs

'Arf a larf', alias Libby catching flies!
Today we are scheduled to drive down to Cambridge to have another meeting with John and Charlotte and Charles had agreed to drive to give Libby a break. Unfortunately during the night he started developing the nasty cold which Jobear had introduced to the house last week. Undeterred we set off in relatively high spirits.
It's interesting that whenever Mike Goldmark gives us a commission, he just says 'I'd like a film about Piper' or whomsoever, pays the money and then leaves us to it. He knows he can trust us to do a good job and that we are a one-stop-shop! Charles is the Director and does all the tehnical stuff with aplomb (or sometimes without) - the filming, editing, sound, authoring of DVDs and he's also something of a connoisseur about music. Libby is in charge of organisation, research, transcription and formulating the film sequences and sits in on editing sessions. They are both dab hands at design and stills photgraphy. So a pretty talented duo really - and markedly modest with it!
However John remarked that all their friends and acquaintances were very liberal with advice about film-making, they all had tame directors under the second mushroom on the left, why choose Malachite, why not Lapis Lazuli, who's going to direct the work, must ensure the sound is good, who's going to write the script etc etc. Rather troubled by all this, and not having made a film previously, they arrived with a huge story board and a list of people to interview at various sites (which would have been a logistical nightmare and played merry whatsit with our carefully worked out budget which allowed one week to bag all the relevant stained glass windows). And they've wheeled in some celebs - Charlie Higson is going to inspire Patrick in the library - the other celeb still under wraps (watch this space).
Anyway I think by the end of the session we all understood where we were coming from or from whence we were coming (not round the mountain).
Sandwiches and soup in the Octagon room most enjoyable again - Charles and I definitely approve of the venue and think Kings should bestow upon Charlotte a permanent Fellowship!
John brought along some of the stained glass panels which Patrick has been working on, and they really are wonderful, every one completely different and just inspired, illustrating Patrick's wit and energy.
One of Patrick's panels - signed, leaded, unique and a snip at £90!
Charles' cold (or rather the one Jobear had graciously bestowed upon him) had developed exponentially during the afternoon and by the time we started our drive back home he was a very unhappy bunny, his lot not aided by the rain which was tanking down and the driving snow which hindered us for the last half hour. However the AGA-warm kitchen, a glass of red and Libby's buttered prawns with tomatoes, olives and Arak, together with doses of Beechams made him feel a little better.