The weekend kicked off with T playing the second of his thrice-weekly sessions with SAGs – his football (soccer) team, and thankfully his team won their Saturday morning match – a very respectable score of 7-2 Anyone who knows us understands just how important football is to my boys – a game is never very far away – be it in the garden practicing in the goal post, playing in a match, watching Stoke City on the television, or a nerve-wracking game, of say, Barcelona –v- Manchester City, on the DS.
Friday night J and I had been invited by friends, K and P, to participate in Quiz Night at the Muthaiga Country Club which did not resemble Pub Quiz @ The Red Lion in any way. It was our second visit to “The Club” and it certainly is a special place, and continues to be a place to be “seen at”. I have just finished reading White Mischief by James Fox, which tells the true story of Josslyn (Joss) Hay, the philandering Earl of Erroll, who was found dead in his Buick in Karen, a suburb of Nairobi, back in January 1941. He had a reputation for having affairs with married women, the most famous of whom was Diana Cholmondeley, Baroness Delamere, wife of Sir Jock Delves Broughton. Jock was put on trial for Joss’ murder, but was acquitted and later committed suicide. Joss’ death remains one of those unsolved mysteries, and now I am determined to visit as many places mentioned in the book. Diana and Joss were introduced at The Club, as were Karen Blixen and Dennis Finch Hatton (portrayed by Robert Redford in Out of Africa), albeit at an earlier time. So watch this space as I start my magical mystery tour of important locations in the book…
I thought it appropriate to dress accordingly, as a nod to those glamorous bygone days. So I wore an ornate pearl choker which formerly belonged to my Great Auntie Rene (Diana's pearls were rather contentious in the book vìs à vìs insurance fraud and the fact that Diana had been given two sets – one from her lover and another, more expensive string from Jock); beige silk blouse with black polker dots (similar to one Gretcha Saachi wore in the film); vintage suede tan belt (bought from an estate sale in Harrison, NY and looks like one in a photo of Diana), paired with black knee length tailored shorts (still frowned upon in those days) and my favourite pair of gold glittery high Mary-Janes. J on the other hand had worn “smart-casual” trousers with a crew neck t-shirt, which I am sure cost more than some people’s suits, but it was I fear frowned upon; let’s hope K doesn’t get blackballed as a result.
Our first faux pas was entering a bar which was rather empty, and being promptly frog-marched out. Apologies Sir/madam, but this is the gentlemen’s bar. I mean really??? This is 2012 is it not. In the quiz we came third from last overall, but the questions were difficult, no really they were – here are a couple of examples: What is the term for the process where paint and egg yolk are mixed?*; Which architect said less is more?**; What is the world's longest straight road without any corners or bends going from point a to point b directly?*** On a more positive note, I did manage to correctly answer questions relating to Damien Hirst, Christo and Jeanne-Claude (of orange gates in Central Park fame) and bizarrely managed to name red light districts in Nairobi, Bangkok and San Francisco!!
** Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
*** Saudi Arabia, the road connects Harad area with Badha on the UAE boarder, and is about 260 km, 160 miles long.
Friday night J and I had been invited by friends, K and P, to participate in Quiz Night at the Muthaiga Country Club which did not resemble Pub Quiz @ The Red Lion in any way. It was our second visit to “The Club” and it certainly is a special place, and continues to be a place to be “seen at”. I have just finished reading White Mischief by James Fox, which tells the true story of Josslyn (Joss) Hay, the philandering Earl of Erroll, who was found dead in his Buick in Karen, a suburb of Nairobi, back in January 1941. He had a reputation for having affairs with married women, the most famous of whom was Diana Cholmondeley, Baroness Delamere, wife of Sir Jock Delves Broughton. Jock was put on trial for Joss’ murder, but was acquitted and later committed suicide. Joss’ death remains one of those unsolved mysteries, and now I am determined to visit as many places mentioned in the book. Diana and Joss were introduced at The Club, as were Karen Blixen and Dennis Finch Hatton (portrayed by Robert Redford in Out of Africa), albeit at an earlier time. So watch this space as I start my magical mystery tour of important locations in the book…
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| Joss, with his ex-wife, Idina |
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| Jock and Diana |
Our first faux pas was entering a bar which was rather empty, and being promptly frog-marched out. Apologies Sir/madam, but this is the gentlemen’s bar. I mean really??? This is 2012 is it not. In the quiz we came third from last overall, but the questions were difficult, no really they were – here are a couple of examples: What is the term for the process where paint and egg yolk are mixed?*; Which architect said less is more?**; What is the world's longest straight road without any corners or bends going from point a to point b directly?*** On a more positive note, I did manage to correctly answer questions relating to Damien Hirst, Christo and Jeanne-Claude (of orange gates in Central Park fame) and bizarrely managed to name red light districts in Nairobi, Bangkok and San Francisco!!
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| February 2005 was when Christo took New York... Central Park had 7,500 Orange "Gates" |
Saturday morning, T had his soccer match, Tatoum her swimming lesson and I cycled in the gym. In the afternoon, T and I went cycling around Karuru Forest, which was a lot of fun, save for not seeing anyone for about 30 minutes and Thibaut making me nervous every time we heard a noise in the trees. We covered some distance on the cycle trails, often getting a little lost, but thankfully there was a very strong Safaricom signal on my blackberry in case we felt totally marooned. At one point we agreed we would stop and have a little snack once we reached the wooden bench again, yet we never saw it again, despite having thought we were returning along the same trail. Memories flushed back of orienteering exercises we had to do with the Foreign Office to reinforce teambuilding – talk about fun. Almost as fun as fractions/decimals/cubic space, but that’s another story entirely. It also reminded me of the photo of my dad "lost in the forest" when he had gone watching rally racing in the forest somewhere and they had taken a shortcut and totally lost their bearings.
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| Thibaut looking confused. We had been here before TWICE! and still hadn't seen any waterfalls or caves... |
Sunday was my mummy’s Birthday, so we kept singing Happy Birthday throughout the day, irrespective of where we were, or if she was on the phone. In the morning, T had tennis coaching, then afterwards we went to L and N for a delicious brunch. We wrapped up the weekend watching Angelina Jolie in SALT – not a bad movie, but not a great one either. Unlike the brilliant Woody Allen movie Manhattan Murder Mystery, which I have just asked my bootleg DVD man to order for me :)
*Tempera** Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
*** Saudi Arabia, the road connects Harad area with Badha on the UAE boarder, and is about 260 km, 160 miles long.
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