Quaker Retreat
28 September

Ross and I have had a quietly gentle few days of it.

Monday took us into Liverpool for a look at an exhibition of Jazz Age Ceramics at the Walker Art Gallery. All in all, it was most pleasant. There was a decent range of ceramics on display alongside some paintings and furniture of the era.

Unlike Ross, I had not paid very much attention during the Antiques Roadshow on TV and so the name Clarice Clift did not mean very much to me. However, there were many examples of her art and I generally liked the colour if not the general lack of functionality of the form.

I found the experience of sitting in the exhibition room quite strange. I mentioned elsewhere that I found it quite a shock to realise that I was born only forty years after the start of the Great War. The 1920s were a period in the eye of the storm. One great cataclysm had just finished. Europe was in shock. The flu pandemic had wiped millions off the face of the earth. I can see how, in the face of such utter depression, people wouldn't even want to contemplate another land war in Europe and how people would cherish something which brought colour into their lives.

We also took a look at the newly re-opened Liverpool World Museum - and were not impressed at all. We were placed at an initial disadvantage by both lifts being out of operation. These are newly installed, at great expense. To have both out of commission within a few months of opening speaks volumes. Staff were helpful but it is still not a warm welcome when you have to use the service lift.

And, as a consequence, we didn't really get into the new displays. But we couldn't summon up much enthusiasm.

The week passed quickly at work. I'm busy writing a course on Microsoft Project. It's the first new course I've written for a very long time and I'm enjoying it. I'm having to learn the software as I go which makes for slow progress but it's a voyage of discovery. I'm also becoming much more attuned to issues about resource management and what I'm learning tells me that this is not, of course, the most cost effective way of doing things.

So I was ready at the weekend to head off into North Wales, Penmaenmawr to be specific, for a weekend of Quakerly retreat at a place of refuge and sanctuary called Noddfa. Another two days of spiritual growth which takes me nearer to becoming a member. Mind you there are some very odd Quakers. But then, is this not true of all groups of people?

Other news is that Ross and I are now both non-smokers. This has been coming for some time now. Neither of us could really admit to enjoying smoking. And, when you think about it, we would smoke outside because we didn't want the house to smell of smoke and the paintwork to be discoloured but were happy to inflict all of those effects upon our lungs. Doesn't make sense. There are so many things that we want to do. It will be nice to have the energy and the money to do some more of them.

And at last we have a new venue for yoga which is warm, clean and carpeted.