a long and winding road

Tuesday 10th May I set off for Thornton and for a couple of days took my 95 yr old aunt and 92 yr old mother around the countryside (the best bit was when they sat admiring the North Bay, Scarborough, eating Mr Whippy ice creams!) Unfortunately I didn't take a photograph. Thence down to Film Farm via a Piper/Reyntiens stained glass window in Misterton (below). Wrote some voice overs for Patrick.
Charles has decided it would be better if we visited Patrick together (probably doesn't trust me with his high-faluting sound system - and I don't blame him!) so we set off for Somerset Friday, staying near Beaminster and having dinner at the Wild Garlic run by Matt Follas (of Masterchef fame) and excellent it was too until the next day's meal!
Saturday off to Patrick's and he performed the voice-overs brilliantly, then answered some of my interminable questions about previous commissions until it was obvious he'd had enough, at which point he retired to the kitchen to provide us with a splendid meal of chicken Kiev and 'peasyrice' followed by a choice of ice cream and yog or apple pie. For someone who rarely bothers about lunch, apart from a lettuce leaf on the fly, this was a huge undertaking for me, a gargantuan meal. Unfortunately I couldn't partake of the alcoholic beverages since I'm the chauffeur on these expeditions, but Charles had a very liquid lunch - sherry, much wine and then the local Temperley apple brandy which he considered EXCELLENT! I showed Patrick my catalogue to date and he appeared to be more than somewhat impressed - which makes everything worthwhile! Photos of Patrick and me in the kitchen, and part of Patrick's amazing selection of art materials in the kitchen.
In fact the brandy was so excellent that when Patrick had got rid of us we drove round there and bought some brandy, cider and Hix cherries for Film Farm's cellar and larder. With the afternoon free we drove to Lyme Regis but failed to spot any ammonites and then on to Axminster and another visit to Hugh F-W's Canteen, which was just great. Simple fare, simple surroundings, but just fabulous food (shame the wine prices are so high). Needless to say, these gastronomic delights are not part of the budget but funded from our own pockets since we enjoy good food and one has to have some fun in life! A slightly manic looking filmmaker below!Sunday drove back to FF but I insisted on bagging more churches en route so first it was East Knoyle (wonderful plasterwork by Sir Christopher Wren no less - his old man was Rector there at one point - and an amazing mosaic reredos). One Patrick window.

Then to Tewin where there were 4 Patrick windows, one very like the Annunciation at Ampleforth, the other 3 purely abstract (so I rather liked them!)
The remainder of the week was spent adding Patrick's voice-overs and painstakingly going through the 7 pages of changes desired by the clients.
Friday I visited Lowesby to see the Reyntiens window and drove back to Kent on Saturday 21st via Cambridge for another look at the Robinson College windows. My poor old car really is getting a bit of a flogging - she's done a mere 148,000 miles!