Laugh Land, the happiest kingdom of them all

Peter Vaughn died today. He was 93 and was the brilliant Tom Franklin in Chancer, a TV series that Nicktor and I watched a few years ago. He has also been in Game of Thrones as Maester Aemon, a blind character at Castle Black. Interestingly his eyesight had been failing for quite a few years. When asked to what he owed his success in the industry he said good wine, beer and having a lot of fun. What a guy.

After posting the photo of the Marlborough Head yesterday, I realised that I haven’t included an image of the old greengrocer shop in Downing Street. It’s where I would occasionally buy my fruit and veg. It closed because the sons of the owner didn’t want to continue the business after their father retired. He sold the shop.

The shop is almost at the end of Downing Street so I rarely see it but I made a special trip this morning so I could get a photo.

It’s the shop in the middle with the black trim. It is an interior design shop for Claire Laughland. There’s a sign and small shop called Claire Laughland at the Bourne (I see it every time we drive back from Frensham and think it’s ‘Laugh Land’ rather than ‘Lachland’). I have no idea if it’s still there or whether Claire has decided to open another branch in town. I’ll have to pay attention next time we return from Frensham.

Anyway, I walked Mirinda to the station this morning…actually that should read I walked Mirinda ALMOST to the station this morning. By the time we reached South Street, my knee felt leaden, as if it weighed more than the rest of my body. It was very difficult and weird. I later attributed it to all the up and down ladder stuff I’d been doing with the lights.

I stress that my knee is not in pain and it’s not a return to the Cloud Machine induced injury.

Still, I couldn’t continue to the station because my speed had been drastically reduced so I dragged myself off to Starbucks while Mirinda walked the rest of the way on her own.

After a good sit down with a latte, I was fine again. I went to the post office, managing to dodge the crowds, slotting into a trough between the peaks, and posted the calendars for this year without fuss or flutter. Then, at home, I Skyped with mum for over an hour and a half.

The rest of the day I sort of pottered around the house (going easy on my knee). This included the very risky business of washing the new tablecloth. Okay, the guy who sold it to us said it was easy to wash but you can never believe these sole traders who you’re never going to see again. It’s no skin off their nose if the tablecloth shrinks or fades or turns grey. It’s not like you’re going back to demand a refund.

As it turns out, he was right. I washed it on a very gentle cycle with not a skerrick of hot water and I didn’t tumble dry it, draping it over the furniture instead for the drying. And it looks as good as new apart from a few wrinkles (if I ignore the drops of candle wax). I suppose if I was a crazy person I’d iron the whole thing but it’s not that bad so probably not.

While I was resting my knee, I did take the girls to the very foggy park for a bit of chasing the ball action but I didn’t over-do it. (By the way, the fog didn’t lift all day.)

I’m not going to the gym tomorrow, just in case but I reckon my knee is fine now.