Phew, well yesterday was a packed day. I finished off the prep for the WI lunch, loaded it all into the car, limping up and down the steps to and from the car, and took it all over to the hall in Waldron.

I have developed a bit of mild arthritis in both hips and base of spine – have I mentioned that? Can’t remember. I have found that it hurts more if I don’t exercise and I haven’t been to the gym as often as I would like recently

It was fine in the hall as I was moving about enough. It all went down well, which is nice. Afterwards, I topped it all off with a big plate of the lovely handmade chocolates we can get here in Heathfield. Lots of oohs and aahs for those 🙂

Then straight after lunch and before the meeting proper, I had to shoot off back home again, ready to drive up to Tunbridge Wells to catch the train to London. I was off to see a New Scientist lecture Susan Jebb, professor of diet and population health, University of Oxford and Bruce Griffin, professor of nutritional metabolism, University of Surrey

Confusion reigns about what foods we should eat to stay healthy. Meat, fat, sugar and salt have all been the subject of conflicting news stories. Preserved meats and “low fat” foods seem to have been added to the danger list. Two leading researchers will discuss what science has to say about our food and how best to stave off disorders such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer.[/box]

We arrived at Charing Cross in the rush hour and had to battle our way out of the station. There was a positive tsunami of people hell bent on getting in, and getting in now. We used a map to find the venue, walking up The Strand, past all the theatres and Christmas lights. I didn’t exactly feel like a country bumpkin, but I was very aware of how different life is there compared to provincial little Heathfield.

Looked in a couple of estate agent windows on the way past, as you do. They were full of 2 and 3 bedroom flats to rent, at £500-£600 a week. I have no idea how people can afford to live there. You can get a house for two or three hundred more than that in Kent and East Sussex for a month, not a week. The doorways were full of people sleeping rough, but I suppose The Strand is a good place to get people to give some money. I prefer to give to organisations rather than individuals. In fact, the train station had a couple of posters up saying ‘ please don’t support a lifestyle’.

The whole area was alive and buzzing long after Heathfield is shut.

We were early arriving at the venue, so I had time to browse their book stall and bought a few of their publications, and their new book, Chance. It’s cheaper on Amazon, so I didn’t need to lug it home, oh well.

Read some of one of them on the train back home. We didn’t get back indoors until gone 11, so a long day.

Both speakers were trying to compress a great deal into their allotted time, and as a consequence showed a lot of very detailed slides of charts and tables and didn’t really give enough time to assimilate. Very interesting tho. I was particularly interested in Susan Jebb’s talk as it was at a country level and talked about what happens when fat is reduced or lifestyles change at that level. The hall was packed, and the questions and answers afterwards were even more interesting. It put into perspective the claims in the papers that they make about this or that being good or bad for us.

Right, I must away. I’m off out with a friend to see a live transmission of Four Ballets from the Royal Opera House, but this time, I don’t have to haul myself all the way up to London, gorgeous as the Opera House and Covent Garden is. A bite to eat in the restaurant opposite first

Enjoy four short ballets in one evening with this quadruple programme:

Liam Scarlett has used Lowell Liebermann’s thrilling Piano Concerto No.1 as the inspiration for his similarly audacious choreography in Viscera.

Jerome Robbins’s uses Debussy’s evocative score in Afternoon of a Faun, where two dancers are absorbed by their own reflections & each other.

George Balanchine’s Tchaikovsky pas de deux uses a fragment of music from Swan Lake for an 8 minute display of ballet bravura & technique.

Carlos Acosta choreographs & dances the lead role in his new production of Carmen which focuses on love, jealousy & revenge.

Hope I don’t fall asleep after my late nights lately!!