I should start with writing about a so-called men’s shed meeting that took place in conjunction with my sometimes church in Paulton. The meeting was destined to start at 8 p.m. in the Red Lion Pub which is the local pub and as I had not been for some time so I decided to give it a go. When I arrived there were three people there and eventually we found our corner in which to speak . The problem was there was a very high level of noise. There was six people who had come to play snooker and there was a loud group by the bar . our group was eventually 7.
Most pubs are not quiet at the best of times but this one was so noisy that I could barely hear what anyone else was saying . The vicar tried to introduce a biblical theme in preparation for his sermon the following Sunday and he was talking about or trying to talk about good and evil . During his talk someone came along talking about tuna fish of all things and spent 10 minutes describing how rare they are becoming in English waters and the results of European legislation and so on and he asked the vicar to send a message to someone saying that he was not going to be there as a certain meeting.
I don’t mind background noise but this was more like foreground noise where I could hardly hear what anyone else would say let alone follow a train of thought. I do not like having to shout to make my point . At the half-time after about an hour I gave up and left the meeting . I think talking about important things is a sacred activity and there are some limits to my adaptability when environment is concerned and this meeting had exceeded my limit so later on that evening I wrote to the Vicar a three-word note saying ‘too much noise’. I remember feeling intensely lonely as I left the meeting was just the opposite of what I hoped would be achieved this evening that was last night Wednesday .
And now today Thursday.
Prior to leaving I talked with my friend about my visit to a Bristol spice emporium knowing that he likes curries and spices. Before that we spoke about my mindset in general and I wondered why the mind tends to construct worse case scenario more easily than best case ones and asked him if it’s cultural. He said it was an English trait which contrasts with the more optimistic national traits of those in other countries. I mentioned that destruction by politics of the West seems inevitable and all we can do is to watch the fire burn.
I think evil has to work itself out. I found it helpful to compare myself to a violin that easily gets out of tune and these few words of conversation can help re tune. i feel that as a researcher I had strayed too close to the flame as in the case of the details of covid and my friend commented that backing off does not detract from your gained knowledge and in any event much of the material is just repetition.
I returned to the theme of spices and said I regarded them as healing agents and I was looking forward to finding out more during the course of the day
The Journey – This is a day for ourselves and with fair weather taking a precedent over clouds, wind and showers, mostly the latter, we decided to take off to Bristol and so jumped on our 172 bus and alighted at Temple Meads station. We had been recommended a place called The Spicery, 77 feeder road Bristol and open nine to five Monday to Friday. It was about 18 minutes away (thank you google maps)
On the way we could not help noticing the plethora of electric bikes that had been left either on their own on in bike ranks such as this. I am currently trying an electric bike which at 31kg I find too heavy to man handle when it is to be parked.This one looks more like the job.
After wandering up and down the road we found the establishment but were told by someone who met us at the door that it was internet only sales. I did point out the website did not make this very clear. The website itself is a very jolly affair, please see https://www.thespicery.com/. The chap turned out to be a member of the staff and he took pity on us and took our order which was quite substantial. 40 grams of spice is only a couple of pounds or so we came away with about 10 varieties.
Evidently you should keep your spices fresh because they deteriorate after about 18 months. We were shown round the works and it was very much like being shown around and alchemical laboratory. There are hundreds if not thousands of combination of basic spices which can be attuned according to public taste. We had a peep into the office upstairs which also contained a kitchen where chefs experimented on spices to see what was the most delicate in taste. I would have taken photographs but I felt it was a bit intrusive.
I feel intuitively that spices can be used to heal. There is a great website by someone called Doctor Axe, the co-founder of ancient nutrition who lists 101 herbs in spices for healing the body. What a wonderful World coming back to nature https://draxe.com/nutrition/top-herbs-spices-healing/ We left to the store with light hearts and quite a heavy bag of the product.
part of our collection….
Back to the station and from here we decided to walk directly to Zaza, the largest restaurant in Europe run in a buffet style. It has to be seen to be believed. On the way, two synchronistic things happened. I was not sure of my bearings so I talked into my phone to direct me to Zaza. A very nice bearded man who was passing overheard me and immediately volunteered the information. Had I been one second earlier or later the connection would not have happened.
The second bit of synchronicity was remarkable as well we passed St. Mary Redcliffe church which is a very well known evangelical open church. Although nothing appeared to be going on and I wanted to get to the restaurant for my lunch I felt we should go in and low and behold there was a wonderful organ recital going on, Paul Walton of Bristol Cathedral was the organist.
The programme text reads ‘we are delighted to welcome Paul Walton from across the harbor at the cathedral to come and give an organ recital here‘ the program included Charles Villiers Stanford, William Henry Harris and DobrinkaTibakova (winner of an Ivor Novello award) who is an Bulgarian born London-based composer of remarkable originality.
the organist is the man in the suit and tie. the organiser is wearing a horizontal striped jersey.
When the lunchtime event had finished I had the honor of meeting the organiser who was positively effervescent, I think he’s called Joe Cryan. I teased him and said I would describe him as indefatigable, which means incapable of being tired out, or untiring. It can also mean to be able to work or continue for a very long time without becoming tired. He was amused and said he would add that to his CV.
As regards the synchronicity when I passed the building I had no idea that anything was taking place but was ‘vacuumed’ into going in. When approaching the door I heard the sound of organ music I rejoiced. My intuition does it again!
We arrived in ZAZA at about 2:pm which means that most of the lunch crowd had disappeared. The background music was fairly loud but it was possible to find a quiet corner. The deal is this that you give your name and phone number – don’t ask me why – when you come in and everyone gets two hours to eat.
The cost of weekday lunches is £12.99; it does go up during the evenings where the menu is larger and also Saturday and Sunday. You pay when you finish your meal. With seating for up to 1,000 people I don’t know how they keep tabs on everyone and make sure they don’t walk out with out paying but it seems to work fairly well.
I admit that I had far too much food. You are faced with European, Mexican, Korean, Indian choices, all fresh and yummy, so whats a girl supposed to do? All my choices pretty much went down except the sweet course which I suspect had too many unhealthy sweet things which my body rejected in its own sweet way.
We only had the energy to go back to the bus station by which time Francoise’s left knee was giving her problems so her mobility was limited. We took the 522 bus which goes around the houses a bit via Keynsham and we arrived home just after six pm.
I have to add something else. I came across this most remarkable interview with Nadia Boulanger who was a great music teacher in France in the early 20th Century. We all have to teach at some part of our lives even if it’s the children, work colleagues, associates. I Invite people to watch this film. It’s about 55 minutes.
I invite you to look at it carefully and pick out how many principles of good teaching you can spot. It is called, interview with nadier boulanger and remember that the woman you see speaking is 90 years of age. She died in 1957. Honestly I don’t think they make people like this anymore
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLlHtCttSE8
I read your piece about Bristol. I like your style of writing. You have the ability to make what many would call a mundane journey into the equivalent of Conan Doyle’s Professor Challenger climbing through Amazonian jungle to tackle dinosaurs on the Mato Grosso. Really good stuff.