Skip to main content

Messing about in Boats

Wind we have in plenty, willows we lack and technically we have been messing about in ships rather than boats.

Dear Reader, I was just settling down to write this on the bus in Portsmouth as we headed to Chichester when the bus failed to start. So my Kenneth Grahame reference was lost in the activities which occurred over the intervening hours between then and now.

Short summary, to be expanded upon later...
  • Very informative tour of HMS Victory. Peter Mercuri is now taking notes on his iPod in an attempt to win a quiz. Spent time in the Action Stations building and other nautical places. Thanks to the Director of Fun for arranging, with the encoragement of Colin Jackson, I believe.
  • Extra time in Portsmouth following the bus failure while we waited for another to arrive. Some went up the Spinnaker Tour, me included. Others went bowling. Apparently bowling is not The Boss's strong suit.
  • Decamped into another, smaller coach for the ride to Chichester about 2 hours later. 
  • Noted that a box of music was missing. Then realised there were two boxes missing.  Finally tracked them down in Fareham at the second bus company's home base; thanks to the wonderful Kevin for his work in locating them on his "day off". Thanks Nick Iles for taking me to retrieve them. Thanks also to Nicholas' GPS Pamela for guidance on finding the place.
  • Cathedral this morning for a Masterclass with Sarah Baldock. Was great fun. I will always remember the bus analogy of how to start singing.
  • Lunch with Hemptons and now back to retrieve one small piece of music I left behind at the hotel this morning.  Lunch was interesting. Coronation Chicken Baguette. I had no idea what it was, but now I can tell you. Pieces of chicken mixed with sultanas and Keens Curry Powder. Does anyone know why it was called Coronation Chicken? Was it served at the Coronation as an attempt to pay tribute to the Colonials?
Must away, Evensong rehearsal soon and I want to go back and spend some more time with the Marc Chagall stained glass window in the Cathedral. More later.

Cxxx

Comments

  1. BruceJanuary 8, 2011 at 12:05 PM

    Coronation Chicken is a cold chicken dish that that is able to be prepared beforehand so that everybody including the cook would watch the Queen's coronation in 1953 and still be fed. The coronation took hours and hours. It was on TV for the first time, and certainly people standing and watching in The Mall leading down from Buckingham Palace were on their feet from about 4 am till the carriages returned to the palace well after lunch.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownJanuary 8, 2011 at 2:44 PM

    The accompanying adults are very useful! Nicholas and his GPS ... John Campbell and his attentiveness to Alison and her technology ... the Thomases and looking after Annabel's gorgeous girls ... others I don't know about and everything they do.All in all we get the message that the whole journey is working well with travel (apart from 1 bus misadventure), singing and relationships between everyone. Any news on Nareen Nichingham's RSCM exam?

    ReplyDelete
  3. KevinJanuary 9, 2011 at 4:34 AM

    Bruce's account may well be right, but the generally accepted history is that the receipt was invented by Constance Spry for the real coronation banquet (for the posh people) in 1953. Aside from curry powder (whose quality and contents can obviously vary greatly), apricots in some preserved form are a key ingredient (and sultanas are definitely not). It can be surprisingly delicious: who knows, I may be inspired by this post to restore it to restore it to my culinary repertoire.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Coffee, Cath's, Guildford, Jamie's, Cocktails and "Tidying Up"

So now you know from the title, Dear Reader, what occurred today. Perhaps I need not write more. Perhaps I should not write more. But, Dear Reader, I will. Perhaps I will start with the end and end with the beginning... The Young Ones have just left Room 112 (my room) where they very kindly offered to help Alice and me finish off the duty free vodka and gin we bought in KL some 9 days ago. Slack work, Team. There are remnants, so the Young Ones are cordially invited back to whatever room I am allocated in Chichester tomorrow to continue their assistance in Tidying Up the duty free. What was said in Tidy Up remains in Tidy Up, and you, Dear Reader, should be grateful for this. As well as those whose reputations might be sullied by Tidy Up. Continuing our journey back in time, I will take you, Dear Reader, back to TGIF Guildford*. It stands for Thank God Its Friday. Except on their wall it says TGI FRiDAYS, with the plural marker. (Note to self: Turn off inner Grammar Pedant af...
3 comments
Read more

Shiny, Shiny Girl

Nareen Nitchingham received word today that she has passed her exam that she sat for in Guildford last week. She has been awarded her RSCM Gold Medal. Congratulations Nareen from all on tour, with special congratulations from me; I've known her since she was 8 months old, peering over the side of the pram while her brother came to Speech Therapy. I described her then as being a large pair of brown eyes with a little girl wrapped around the outside. She has achieved so much since then. Well done, Princess. Love, Auntie Chrissie PS Dear Reader, feel free to post your congratulations here, I will let her know...
1 comment
Read more

Intrepid Blogging

Dear Reader I have ventured out of the Premier Inn and into the heart of Coventry. A quick purchase of a black jumper at Marks and Spencer (a habit of mine when in the UK) and a bath bomb from Lush for later tonight, along with lots of walking on my own led me here to the Golden Cross, a beautiful old pub which specialises in catering for coeliacs. Everything on the menu is suitable. It was the outside that drew me in. While I was hoping for a wood fire I have had to settle for an armchair next to the heater. I’m imbibing of a wine which has travelled further than me, from New Zealand, and waiting for my plum and apple oat crumble, also gluten free.  Which just arrived. You see, Dear Reader, we have been fed so well that I thought today I would follow up breakfast with dinner. However, coming in here for a libation meant I read their menu, and the crumble spoke to me. Very loudly. In about an hour the Lay Clerks will gather at the liturgical West Door (like us...
Post a Comment
Read more