the summer of one thousand umbrellas

after last summer I thought the English were a whiney bunch always complaining about their weather. In the midst of this ‘summer’ I know exactly what they mean - it has rained about five days a week for the past three months. Today I was supposed to go to Brighton for work but was turned back three-quarters of the way there due to flooding on the line. And there’s another thing I don’t understand - for a country that experiences so much rain its odd that at the first bit of wet weather the whole system shuts down. Okay, enough of that before I turn into a whinger myself.

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So, some recent happenings… on Saturday night we went to hear B’s friend Ron play a set at London pub The Wilmington. At first we weren’t sure we were at the right place, as the front bar is very much an ‘old man’s pub’. But at the back its a great venue for live, original music and although we were there to hear Ron (mild mannered accountant by day, soulful singer-songwriter by night) we stayed to hear all four acts and were most impressed.

You can check out Ron's music at www.myspace.com/thesevenns

The photos are B and Ron’s wife Bo, Ron on stage and with fellow artist Matt Fitch and Bo with some Wayne’s World-esque cool dudes.

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This week we had Melbourne friends Margaret and Magnus staying with us on the tail end of their month-long European tour. They spent their days around London then at night we all went out for dinner - which made the four days seem like a bit of a holiday for us too. On their last night by some miracle it was not cold and/or rainy and we had a picnic at the top of Hampstead Heath.

Another night Michelle came out with us and we spent time reminiscing about the old days and I think that back in our days in the ‘hood (i.e Bentleigh) if someone had said one day we’d all be hanging out together in London I wouldn’t have understood what they were talking about, although I doubt that back then I could have even imagined being over 30… but then again I think that’s something that I can’t quite believe even now.

Post Script:
Tuesday 24 July 2007

I feel guilty about what I described above as a bit of rain. When I wrote it I wasn’t aware of the extent of the problem, but each morning at work I receive a summary of the day’s newspapers and here is today’s:

‘Today's papers focus on what have now been described by the environment agency as the worst floods in modern British history.The news that thousands of people across Britain have been left without access to electricity and drinking water dominates this mornings newspapers.The Daily Telegraph - "The crisis deepens", the Times - "100, homes flooded, 50,000 without power, 150,000 have no water", the Independent - "A 21st Century Catastrophe".In this mornings tabloids, the Sun describes the "Rescue of the water babies", detailing the work of the emergency services in the crisis, the Daily Express offers "Flood panic" and the Daily Mail tells its readers "1m victims of the deluge".Taking a look at the reasons behind the flooding the Times offers "A catastrophe with mankind's footprints stamped on it", while the Guardian asserts "Ministers warned three years ago over flood defence failings".' !