Mum The Poster Girl (89)

Three years ago I blogged about my surprise upon opening a copy of Which magazine to find a photo of my 86 year old mum in a feature on choosing car insurance click here. Now, at 89, she has gone one better and has been found on a street advertising hoarding in Murcia.

The gist of the advert is "The diet that isn't a diet". It's promoting the Mediterranean diet to the people of Murcia. In a bid to improve their health it's exhorting them to eat like their grandmother did. As Mum spent part of her childhood in a fish and chip shop and her favourite foods include cream and butter I'm not quite sure that she's the ideal role model but I think you will agree that, whatever diet she's been on, she's certainly looking very good. I hope that I've got plenty of her genes and not my poor Dad's who she has now outlived by almost twenty years.

Our busy summer has taken in more cultural stuff this week. On Thursday night we went to Snape Maltings for another of the summer proms. This time it was Beth Nielsen Chapman an American singer/songwriter. She performed for two hours with a very talented trio of young British musicians. We had read that she had written songs for a number of famous artistes but , until her final encore of the fabulous Beach Boy hit God Only Knows (which was composed by Brian Wilson), we were unfamiliar with all of the music. Her voice and style reminded me a little of Eva Cassidy and we enjoyed a string of easy listening - tending towards country style songs. Beth was a genial performer and her support were outstanding. We've got the Philharmonic Orchestra performing 60's music for our final Snape Prom tomorrow.

  
We had another trip to the excellent Ipswich Film Theatre earlier in the week. This week's film choice was the Spanish movie Marshland. Set in the 1980's in Isla Mayor, a remote Marshland region of Southern Spain. It's an atmospheric thriller about two enigmatic detectives attempting to solve the disappearance of two teenage girls. Magnificent arial shots of fascinating landscapes and scenes in extreme weather make it very artistic cinematographically and the story, against a background of poor farmworkers and the recent demise of General Franco, is an exciting whodunnit. It's certainly one to look out for.

Yesterday we visited our family in Kent and had a trip to a fete at Fort Amerhurst in Chatham. Today we went to the outdoor antiques markets in Beccles and Halewsorth. We've been meaning to get to these for a year or so but have been put off by bad weather on the last few occasions but today, though overcast, it stayed mild and dry and we enjoyed both markets. We didn't buy anything but had a good rummage around the thousands of items on offer.

No week would be complete without me having a few hours on the field with the detector. The BBC weather ap predicted a dry morning on Thursday so I drove down to a nearby farm and was in the middle of a field when the heavens burst and I was caught unprepared. To say I was soaked to the skin would be an understatement as I virtually poured myself into the driving seat ten minutes later and drove back home. The shower was relatively short and, after drying myself thoroughly and putting on a change of clothes, I was back on the field. The finds were not spectacular but, as always (at least to me) interesting.

Post Medieval Buckle Complete With Pin

The Usual Pistol And Musket Balls

A Post Medieval Spur Fragment

Solid Silver Spoon Handle Probably c1700

Lead Fragment. Could Be Modern But Could Also Possibly Be Saxon Brooch Fragment

Lead Fragment With King's Head (Poss Charles II)

Heavily Clipped Silver Half Groat Probably Henry VII