A mixed bag of weather, food, Christmas, politicians and art.

What a hotchpotch of a day!

I woke up this morning and seriously considered rolling over and going back to sleep. But I was properly awake and it turned out to be a fine morning, so I donned my running gear and set off to run to Uppermill. The sky was blue, the sun was coming up and even though cold it was a crisp cold.

My timing was perfect: a run down the Donkey Line bridle path, a quick stop at the co-op, at the Italian fruit shop - Alimentari Alberti - and on to the market, via the bakers. The fish man had zamburiñas (scallops) and gave me a quick lesson on how to cook them. (That was tonight’s meal sorted:x scallops with garlic, then sea bass on a bed of potatoes, onions and peppers, green beans, a bit of salad and a nice glass of white wine. Fresh fruit for dessert.) Next stop was Oliviccio, another Italian-based place where I bought olives and sun-dried tomatoes. Back to the biscuit stall and then onto the bus home.

The sun was still shining and the sky was still blue at that point. By the time I had showered and organised a late breakfast (breakfast always comes after my run) the cloud had moved in.

Checking in the newspapers online I found a story of our prime minister out delivering milk. What was he doing delivering milk? Presumably this was intended to persuade us that he is a working man just like many others. Then it went pear-shaped on him as a journalist asked if he would be interviewed, one of his aides swore at the journalist and the prime minister took refuge in a refrigerated food storage unit. What is it with this man and his avoidance of interviews, not to mention other weird stunts? And why do people still take him seriously and suggest he should continue to run (or is that ruin?) the country?

Putting all this aside, I had arranged with my daughter to go and buy Christmas trees. By the time she arrived, it was raining. This continued for a good part of the day, except for a short interlude of blue sky towards the end of the afternoon. We really should have bitten the bullet and gone to Tesco or Sainsbury’s and bough one of their trees. But their trees are all bagged up and you can’t see the shape of them. And besides, we really were committed to “shopping local”, as they say.

Shopping local proved unsuccessful - unsatisfactory trees for exorbitant prices. So we ended up at B & Q. Then we needed a stand for my daughter’s tree, as she decided to go for a larger “cut” tree rather than a small rooted tree in a pot. Stands were more expensive than the tree! She has resorted to Amazon to find a cheaper alternative. So much for shopping local!

At the end of the day I have a small tree, decorated only with lights, a very tasteful look that will be maintained until the end of next week when my son and family arrive and his small daughter and my daughter’s small daughter help me “decorate it properly”, as my daughter’s three-year-old put it. Tasteful might give way to small children’s over-the-top. But it’s all part of the fun. Christmas has started and an election is not going to dampen the enthusiasm!

After consuming the meal planned this morning, which was very successfully executed, by the way,  I got back onto the papers online. I found this story about the discovery of a possible Klimt painting, stolen 20+ years ago. I was reminded of the novel “The Goldfinch”, which I reread recently. And I was struck by this fact:

“According to the most recent stolen artworks bulletin, issued by the carabinieri, 8,405 items have gone missing in Italy in the last year alone. These include archaeological artefacts, ancient weapons and medieval texts. Statues and paintings have been taken from churches, which often have no security systems. More than 1m works are still missing.”

Amazing!

Then there was the story of the expensive piece of  art work that consisted of a banana taped to a wall. That piece of artwork was followed by a piece of performance art when another artist ate the banana. Here’s an extract from the article:

 “The initial piece, Comedian by the Italian-born artist Maurizio Cattelan, and the subsequent performance/action, Hungry Artist by Georgian-born David Datuna, may seem too ludicrous to even parody, but all parties are making a good show of taking the matter seriously. In its pre-masticated form, Cattelan claimed that he worked on Comedian for a year, before deciding on exactly how to let the banana manifest itself. (In earlier conceptions, it was made of resin, before the sculptor realized “the banana is supposed to be a banana”.) Gallerist Emmanuel Perrotin explained that the angle of the tape and shape of the fruit were “carefully considered”.”

How odd to think for so long about how to achieve a task. And then not to achieve it. Now, why does this remind me of politicians?