Homeopathy, EEWI and Palm Tree

Last night was the EEWI's July meeting - homeopathy with my friend Tracy Karkut-Law. Mother came along and I think really enjoyed it. It was pretty well attended and as usual there were a few highlights.

A guy called Oliver King came along to talk to us about his climate change charity which I think is called Campaign Against Climate Change and the website is www.campaigncc.org. He seemed a little nervous and who could blame him really when faced with our group but he managed to get through it and I was rather taken to him. He seemed to like that fact that in my introduction I referred to him as an attraction...

Later in the evening one of our longstanding members was chatting to a newbie and suddenly there was a large gasp of astonishment from their corner of the room. Turns out they have been neighbours - literally next door neighbours - for years but had never actually met. One of them ended up giving the other a lift home - it is those sorts of things I love about the east end WI.

Tracy's talk was great and even though the room was stiflingly hot everyone seemed to enjoy it.



I drank way too much and ended up going to the pub with TKL and mother. I had a few sips of beer and suddenly felt extremely drunk but managed to muddle through - was very strange being in the Palm Tree on a Tuesday night with mother. Also saw a guy called Scott who I met in the PT after Sorella's concert earlier in the year - we were all very drunk but him particularly and last night he seemed to be on a date so was a little bit embarrassed and somewhat worried about seeing me and what I might say!! Ah the joys of inebriation.

meeting you, with a view to a kill

Yes I know it's not the best picture in the world but you can't zoom in with the iPhone and anyway it's the thought that counts. The man on the big screen to the right is Simon Le Bon, who I brushed past when I was backstage earlier on in the day. Backstage Niki? Why was that? Were you performing as Duran Duran's support act? Had you in fact organised the whole of the Lovebox Weekender? No. However the reason I was there and had an access all areas status was down to the real headliner of the weekend which was of course Dynamo's Rhythm Aces

For some reason Lovebox never quite get their name right and according to the programme they were playing on Sunday but who cares - I caught their set, drank their pear cider, used their meal vouchers, hugged them and took one of their CDs and in return they got a batch of raspberry topped cupcakes and a sort of saddo obsessive fan in the form of me. Anyway very much looking forward to seeing them again at some point over the summer.

As for Duran Duran, it was good to see them and hearing all the hits was fab but there was something lacking - there wasn't much energy on stage. The boys looked pretty good but they didn't grab me really- musically or literally. Their version of White Lies was excellent but I could have done without Mark 'Emporer's New Clothes' Ronson being on stage with them. Although, having said that, A View To A Kill was pretty exciting. Yasmin Le Bon was in the crowd a few people away from me and she looked phenomenal.

Being backstage, especially on my own was a strange experience. There were times in my youth that I did a lot of blagging (not blogging) to get backstage at various things and in recent years I have had more opportunities to be involved in these things but of course on Saturday, after the Dynamos had gone back to Bristol and once I had realised that I was never going to catch up with my mates due to the fact that none of our phones worked (that's what they said anyway) I had time to wander and take in the goings on of the VIP areas. Like many things, as a very good friend said to me only yesterday, anticipation is often the most exciting part. At the end of the day backstage is just the other side of a fence where the only real exciting thing is that the loos have no queue and they flush. Not there a golden paved trackway to musical heroes, sparkling champagne and continual partying, instead a catering tent full of wilted baguettes, a bar full of wannabes, crew and council staff. Nearby a buggy waits to rush anyone resembling a pop or rock star as far away from E9 as is possible.....

Other highlights were Florence and the Machine - always good to see a redhead on stage and she was amazing. It was chucking it down during their set and it was a trifle tricky to see the stage through the sea of umbrellas but all in all a lovely free day in the park

if you sew then shall you reap..

My very first harvest this year. A runner bean which in fact would have grown a fair bit more if I hadn't been so impatient. Very very exciting!!!

Other stuff doing very well too.....

My little sign of hope

My courgettes are coming on a treat as are my runner beans. I do have the tiniest tomatoes known to man but apparently size doesn't matter. No chillies yet and I have no idea when to start pulling the carrots up but it is all very exciting.

As an added extra today. Tahsin is in charge at work today and has declared we must all work like this.... great for a hangover - I may doze off!!

Picnic in the (Car) Park

Yesterday it rained. Mile End Park, as I passed by in Nic's car, looked lusher than ever and there was a feeling of expectation in the air - maybe the coming storm, I'm not sure but there was definitely something coming. After a couple of errands we returned to our little block and set about creating our contributions to the house picnic. It was clear at that stage that we were not going to be going to Victoria Park so instead we erected the gazebo in the car park and waited to see if anyone else would turn up. The gazebo is amazing - absolutely massive and even though the instructions said you have to have four people to put it up myself and Nic - as she says one and a half people - managed to do it in a matter of minutes. Although I was convinced that the others wouldn't fancy an afternoon in the rain they proved me wrong and a few hours later there were 10 of us huddled beneath the gazebo as it tipped down. Red wine, beer, home made quiche and pizza, tofu salad, pear loaf, lemon cupcakes, tangy rolls the list goes on. Much alcohol was consumed and we managed to stick it out til about 7pm when we staggered indoors, soggy with drizzle but warm with booze.

I've been reading my friend Colleen's blog http://www.rusinurbis.com/ and in it she talks about walking through Stepney and passing the Ocean estate. Quite rightly she talks about the fact that it has been left to rack and ruin
'Bits of it are run down and waiting improvement, even so, people have made little gardens and grown tomatoes on back balconies. And leave little signs of hope.'
I like to think that she has inadvertently referred to my balcony but need to check with her - either way the idea that those of us who garden on balconies leave signs of hope fills me with warmth.

The picnic in the car park was so important to me because we have, as residents, experienced so many awful things in the past four years that you can feel isolated and a little lost especially if, like me, the problems have stopped you from sleeping over long periods of time. I have always felt that life is all about balance. I'm not a religious person but I do believe that balance is key. We have faced some pretty unacceptable things but the pay off is that there are some pretty amazing people living in my block - had I not moved there I would maybe not have had as many bad times but I also would not have met my lovely neighbours. And yesterday re-affirmed how lucky I am to have them