JOYS OF SPRING

Dearest Family and Friends

57 Cumberland Street, San Francisco CA 94110
Phone Number: +1 415 738 2112
Nadine 415 595 0023
Colman 415 871 9920
Skype: nadinemellor

Ah, the joys of spring – longer days, balmy weather, a proliferation of spring flowers and tattoos emerging from winter hibernation. We were actually apart for three weeks as I ventured to the UK for work thanks to www.i-escape.com so Colman flew the flag here. It was the longest time we had been apart since we met and it is lovely to be back home now with Colman, who got up to all sorts of mischief in my absence…

Visitor of the Month
Colman and I knew that Felicity would be the First Friend to come to stay given her love of America and the proximity of Tartine bakery to our home. She gave our apartment, the location, the vibe, the parties (somehow she got to go to a dotcom millionaire’s pool party on a Saturday night in his four-storied designer pad complete with ceiling high picture windows looking out over the city), the sofabed and our company high marks. And of course the weather was warm and sunny while she was here. Here she is in Mission Dolores park.

Expedition of the Month
It was with trepidation that I steeled myself for the onslaught of dismal weather, high prices, and surly service in my beloved London - but at least I wouldn't be expected to talk to strangers in lifts. But the weather was encouragingly springlike most of the time (daffodils out everywhere) with glorious light over the sweeping views from my parents’ apartment, with only 2 nights of rain plus a sudden Arctic cold snap, which lasted briefly but brought snowflakes for 24 hours. People seemed pretty friendly – well as much as you’d dare to hope from a busy stressed overcrowded city – and staying with my folks cosseted me from eye-watering prices in the main. Good oh!

As is my wont I had timetabled an ambitious and hectic schedule, out every night and often for lunch too – and there were still heaps of people I didn’t see and would have loved to. And having led the laid back California lifestyle, I was rather out of practice for this social whirl but soon got into the swing of working in my parents’ living room while they, the TV, radio and 2nd TV, and grandchildren were sometimes all vying for attention, jaunting around on buses and tubes (distances are great in London and noone can afford to live centrally so long expeditions were in order), driving my little red car around once more, getting home at midnight, sleeping badly, working during the day, and doing it all again the next day. Thanks Mum for spoiling me, taking me to the theatre (John Gabriel Borkman by Ibsen at the Donmar starring Ian McDiarmid and Penelope Wilton) and waiting on me hand and foot…

Family are with you all your life, whether you like it or not - and I managed to catch up with a satisfactory percentage of them, just in time before a goodly portion migrate out of London to exotic destinations like Pakistan and Manchester.

It was very good seeing me old mates, catching up with news, hanging out and (alas) eating vast quantities at every port of call – to say I’m swelling in every direction is somewhat of an understatement. Thank you very much for your excellent hospitality everybody…

A highlight was my last weekend when I went to Wales, chauffeured by Matthew at supersonic speed there and back, to the West Courtyard Wing of a Grade I listed stately pile, Penpont dating from 1666 Nikki had found in the Brecon Beacons, where all 10 of us ate fit to beat the band and giggled and relaxed. We wandered along the Usk River during the day and explored the ground, which included a maze, a Victorian walled garden, barns from every century galore and acres of parkland, while the boys went fishing in the Usk, to no avail but at least they got to wear their fetching complementary waders.

There is something very lovely and life affirming seeing your family and friends’ children arrive and grow up; changes in 5 months away are most obvious in the under 10s – it was delightful seeing my gorgeous godson, Harry, handsome Cain, bilingual Quentin and Arthur, and meeting brand new Finn. Excursions included to Bristol - for meetings and marvelling at Poppy’s eyes. To Oxford where we all (7 adult children and 6 less adult ones) walked along the tow path beside the Thames trying to minimise the mud fest, with limited results, particularly when Charlie and Calum were involved. Embarrassingly I had assumed I was coming to stay but had omitted to ask Tom & Carrie, Megan and Elsie, my hosts, who were very gracious about it!

A very special day was also had at my goddaughter, Rose’s, first birthday celebrations in Highgate Woods where I made a speech. Rose was impeccably behaved all day and lapped up the attention.

And best of all was playing with my charming niece, Lizzie, and mischievous nephew, Thomas, who I got to see quite a lot of as they spend every Thursday with Mum. I’ll always remember Lizzie’s excitable rendition of The Big Bad Wolf and her jutting jaw as she danced to her own tune in her ballet class.

Sporting Moments of the Month
My visit to London seemed to coincide with Arsenal’s sudden loss in form, and also no home matches apart from a Champions League 2nd Leg match against PSV Eindhoven, which I trooped off to with only a small excitement. As I said to my neighbour, we’re bound to not get through as I’ve just flown 1000s of miles to be here. Sure enough, true to this season’s form Arsenal had all the play, peppered the box with shots but only led 1-0 75% into the game thanks to an Eindhoven own goal. Then of course a sudden uncharacteristic surge from PSV saw them score which meant Arsenal lost on away goals… and our season was effectively over…. I’ve always found the association of sport lovers and smoking to be a strange one, and it was disconcerting to be so wreathed in cigarette smoke from my parents’ apartment to the stadium and back that night; passing an open pub door I staggered back at the reek of stale beer and fags that emanated from within. More passive smoking in a few minutes than in 5 months in California! Bring on the ban!

Underlined when meeting a bunch of friends in a traditional Brixton pub on St Patrick’s Day evening. Probably the smokiest environment I’d been in for years, the pub redeemed itself by having big screens showing the Pakistan vs Ireland world cup cricket match. Earlier that day the Irish had, by a whisker, failed to win the Six Nations (rugby) Championship, that honour going to France, and as a novice cricketing nation, were not expected to do well. To everybody’s astonishment, the Pakistani team played abysmally badly, and Ireland kept their nerve and beat them - on Paddy’s Day. Wild scenes of jubilation in the pub ensued - us incomers dancing for joy with the local Caribbean regulars. It was incredible that Pakistan, one of the more fancied teams a couple of months before the tournament, should have crashed out so spectacularly, and the unbelievable news that Bob Woolmer, the Pakistani coach, was murdered as a consequence dominated the news for the rest of my stay.

Walk of the Month
Colman’s best man, Rory, came to stay while I was in London and by all accounts an action-packed weekend was had with dinners and parties and wanderings around San Francisco. The highlight seems to have been a 6 mile walk with the boys in Tennessee Valley in Marin through rain and thick fog, which was apparently good character building stuff and the genesis of many a catchphrase.

Nightclub Moment of the Month
Back to the adventures in SF and a warm welcome, especially from the DLG - a very newsworthy and giggly evening with much to catch up on. A few days after my return to the warm spring sunshine of San Francisco (apparently it had rained while I’d been away) we were invited as guests of Gerardo and Sophia to Mezzanine for an evening featuring those well-known LA-based movers, DJ AM, Travis Barker and Mickey Avalon. As Gerardo’s new company, Attendio (www.attendio.com), an event discovery and social networking service, were sponsoring the event, we all got in for free and had tables in the VIP area – thank you! A fun and social evening, we were snapped by the paparazzi and gossiped, mostly looking at the wares on display around us. The club was absolutely packed and the girls in the crowd were characterised by their tans, 80s hair, long legs, high heels and dresses the sizes of pocket handkerchiefs. Many breasts would fail the pencil test and several even outshone mine, which is saying something these days…

The mash-up warm up DJ did pretty well but was eclipsed by the main acts, who from our angle up on the balcony, generated a writhing mass of ecstatic hipsters on the dance floor. My evening was made by meeting Jerry Harrison, ex-Talking Heads now successful music producer, who knows Gerardo, and with whom I had a long conversation ranging from Middle East politics to the cultural implications of the i-pod. Now that’s really cool.

San Francisco Moment of the Month
Rob had just taken an intensive yachting course and we were his first guinea pigs on the last Saturday of the month. He chartered a 31’ yacht called Final Answer, and the four of us sailed around the Bay – on of course another splendid day. I fulfilled the role of Lady Muck quite admirably and lolled around the cockpit while Colman and Adam heaved on ropes, furling and unfurling sails, cracking pirate jokes. We sailed from Sausalito in Marin up to the Golden Gate bridge where the winds were quite strong coming in from the Pacific, then followed the shore beside downtown San Francisco, sailed close to Alcatraz, and anchored for a very leisurely and lazy lunch in the lee of Angel Island.

Thereafter the wind died down quite a lot so we had to part motor back home. I was therefore entrusted with the tiller and nearly effected a collision, which Rob, with all due gallantry took most of the blame for as the skipper. The other great excitement was Colman losing his cap overboard, which allowed Rob to practice his ‘man overboard’ drill and with great skill navigated us back to the sinking hat. On the second attempt I fished it out of the water – the most exercise I got all day! The birding was great – see below – and the angles of light on the water changed its colours constantly – an absolutely terrific tip top day out and big thanks to Rob for bringing us out and about and safely home.

Restaurant of the Month
LuLu in SOMA was Felicity’s choice and did not disappoint. Its USP is a wood-fired oven, rotisserie and grill and is housed in a large warehouse now converted into a destination dining room and must-be-seen-at bar. The cuisine is mouth watering European-influenced– starters, antipasti, pizza and pasta, wood grills, rotisserie, dish of the day, and oak fired oven categories all featured on the extensive menu. I went for the signature skillet roasted mussels with drawn butter, which arrived sizzling centre table, yum. Colman’s main was confit of lamb with lentils – really delicious. Good food well cooked and inventively but simply put together.

Wine of the Month by Mission Boy

Bird of the Month
Sailing around the harbour I saw old familiars like the double-crested cormorant, the common loon (yes really) and the ubiquitous western gull. But three new species were also sighted including the powerful Caspian Tern Sterna caspia. The Caspian Tern is quite uncommon in Europe but their numbers are increasing in North America; they are easily distinguished by their massive red bill. This is the largest tern you can get – terns are a more elegant version of gulls sometimes dubbed ‘sea swallows’ – and it was great to see them hovering expertly before diving gracefully and purposefully into the water to catch a fish. The gulls instantly gave chase but in most cases the terns swallowed the fish whole very smartly. It was a gorgeous sight to watch them dancing through the air and swooping down on their prey in wonderful sunshine against sparkling waters.

Mural of the Month
This is opposite my yoga studio. The murals are really one of the nice things about living in the Mission.

Bumper Sticker of the Month
Don’t Pray in My School and I Won’t Think in Your Church

Love and hugs Nadine and Colman xxx