Hostess with the mostess

Waterperry Gardens, March 2023

Hello, Lola II here. Lola I declared at the start of her London visit that we should write the blog for our latest excitements and, since she writes sooo much of our adventures, I agreed that she should be given a break. So here I am.

The fun begun… The fan began… I went swimming first thing on Wednesday as the dedicated Olympic swimmer that I am. I won’t say any more about my swimming here since I’ve been invited to dedicate a post about the years that have led me to my near-Olympic achievements, so that will come another time.

Lola I arrived in Marylebone station ready for a full day of events. Along with Mr M, we had Indian chaats, starter-sized portions of Indian deliciousness. I can’t normally eat Indian food because of the allium content but chaats often just have diced onion added on top and so it can be easily removed.

Onwards to the Gielgud Theatre to see To Kill A Mockingbird. We love Harper Lee’s 1960’s book but the draw on this occasion was that it had been adapted for the stage by Aaron Sorkin, a master of the word, who wrote one of our favourite television series, The West Wing. The play did not disappoint and was entirely mesmerising from beginning to end. My eyes were certainly glued to the stage. I felt part of the performance, clearly as did those in the audience who gasped when [spoiler alert] Atticus received the call that Tom Robinson was dead.

The previous week Mr M and I had free tickets to be in the audience for a recording of the television show, QI. It was a big disappointment due to one of the panellists but we were happy to give it another go when Lola was enthusiastic about going after the theatre. What to do in the gap between cultural experiences? Cake of course. I led our happy band on an unnecessarily extended walk in the wrong direction until we finally arrived at a Swedish café I had recently experienced for market research purposes. Fact. Crucial cakes purchased, off we went to TV Centre. QI was great. We were compensated for last week’s disappointment with good guests and lots of fun.

Mr M worked on Thursday while Lola I and I played. We collected M&T’s car and then headed off to Ikea to return some items. M&T kindly allow us to use the car whenever we want and it is very handy indeed. We wandered around, with Lola I showing a surprising amount of interest in examining the kitchen-related items. Apart from the trolley having an unnatural tendency to steer left, we had all the fun of browsing exciting colourful items with almost none of the expenditure.

Friday, off we drove to Leamington. I cut Mr M’s hair and trimmed his beard until he looked gorgeous again. Random Cuts, my lockdown-prompted hairdressing service, has survived into these post-Covid times. I have a number of loyal clients, two and a half to be exact – Mr M, Lola II and Mum until she can get back to a real hairdresser (although you’ll always be welcome back, Mumsie!) BL2 & Mr MFX arrived and we created our own pizzas, along with UJ.

Saturday was my purpose for the timing of our weekend. I attended the Read Easy UK Conference with 200 attendees from 57 groups. The bottom line is that our work changes the life of adults who come to us unable to read, and leave being able to be part of the community around them. Gone is the incomprehension, isolation and disadvantage. Heart-warming stuff.

At the end of the day back home in Leamington there were (allium-free, thank you Lola) nibbles and a broccoli & cauliflower quiche with salad and one of my favourite desserts, a chocolate steamed pudding with apricots and chocolate sauce. Politeness prevented me from skipping the main course and jumping to dessert, but having it for breakfast too made up for it.

Sunday morning and the reason why we got BL2 & Mr MFX up there with us… Meccano! Dad had a set from the 1950’s and Lola has stored it for the last decade or so. The little screws and nuts and other bits’n’bobs are beautifully kept in individual gold (they’re yellow but I always remember them as GOLD) cigarette boxes. To think there was a time when people bought their cigarettes in these metal beauties and not in the cardboard packets with hideous pictures of rotting teeth on the front, warning against smoking.

We had a very happy three hours, each constructing an item of our choice. Mr MFX made a motor car, Lola a swing and I made a dentist chair in recognition of Lola’s bravery and ongoing dental exploits. The designs for these came with the Meccano set and are printed on 1950’s thin paper pamphlets that feel like they will disintegrate if you show too much enthusiasm around them. BL2 decided to go off-piste and construct a chicken of her own design. Keeping chickens herself, she was expert on how her end product would look and the only difference between her creation and the real thing was that hers had to have a third leg. With more time I feel sure she would have found a subtler way to balance the head with the bot-bot.

Lunch in the pub next door with Mr M and UJ was lovely. UJ hadn’t had a Sunday Roast before and Lola did an admirable job of preparing UJ for the eventuality of me distracting her in some way in order to steal her Yorkshire pudding. I would not have done that but I do understand the urgency with which Lola briefed her. I admit it is a risk, sitting near me during a Sunday Roast.

We then each went on our merry way after a lovely weekend. Lola was the hostess with the mostess.