Woke up a bit earlier than usual and we both went up for breakfast. Then to art. I painted a painting of an Indian man in a turban. It was quite hard and I’m very pleased with it. Viv said it was brilliant which is high praise coming from her. Normally, she says absolutely nothing at all to me, she spends much more time with Bob. Bob worked on his Japanese lady and it is easily the best painting he’s done. I think we’ve come on a long way with her. She’s taught us some good things and of course we have benefitted from the sustained, daily practice. You can’t spend 2 hours a day doing something and not get a bit better….. well…. Some things you can. I could spend all day trying to play golf or ice skate and I highly doubt I’d get any better at those activities!!!!
We are still in the middle of nowhere, a very long way from any land. Tomorrow we will start to near Fremantle but will still be about 450 miles off. The weather today has been patchy sun and cloud, not quite as hot and with a fresh breeze. After lunch I lay out on the back deck but it was right on the edge of being too chilly at times. Certainly didn’t want to swim.
Bob went off to watch/possibly play in a Texas Hold’em tournament. He also went to a lecture on the North Atlantic convoys. So, I stuck it out on deck till about 4pm and then called it a day and went and had a bit of tea in one of the lounges, finishing a book I was reading. Got back to the cabin at about 430 just as Bob returned.
OOhh… some other news from the day. We found ourselves eating lunch next to Lord and Lady Lympne, ie Michael Howard and Sandra Howard, his model/author wife. Always a bit embarrassing at first, that sort of situation, but he immediately started chatting and we had a nice little exchange about Kent, Folkestone, Hawkinge, Brexit etc. Not as exciting as the time Lucy and I found ourselves sharing a table with Ralph Fiennes and Francesca Annis but not far off!
And that Captain announced at lunchtime that they had managed to garner enough blood last night and that the person who needed the transfusion was stable and doing well. So that’s a good result.
Tonight we had an early show before dinner: Virtuosity, the group of 3 women singers who do a mix of opera, musical theatre and popular music. They were very good when we saw them a couple of nights ago and again very good tonight. Then, dinner which was fun. We have had really good tables on both legs. It really pays to go for a big table where you meet a group of people.
After dinner we went to the cinema to see the film “About Time” which is one of our favourites. We’ve seen it about 6 times now and still love everything about it. If you haven’t seen this film, then I beg—-beg—-beg you to see it. Just a lovely, lovely film with a terrific ensemble cast, bitter sweet, funny and poignant, great musical soundtrack, uplifting message. What more can I say??? Get it out on dvd.