Saturday 28th September 2024

Woke around 0900. Made tea and got back into bed. Read some Farrell before getting up for brunch. Finished annotating Act Two of my Witch sheet music. Aki popped out to buy bread. I made a peach tarte tatin and stuck it in the oven. Phoned ma and pa…they seemed in good nick, though dad still unable to drive for another week or two. Masumi and Kiko turned up late, having had to cycle through the Arsenal football crowds. Kiko is now 6 years old...we hadn't seen her for about 4 years, I guess. She was a little shy at first...I greeted her in my chef's hat, and gave her a large glass of ginger cordial. Aki and Masumi caught up, largely in Japanese, while Kiko and myself played Subbuteo on the dining table. 

We broke for some peach tart and creme fraiche, before some ad hoc improvised music was struck up, with Kiko on ukulele, then kazoo, and finally, and probably much to the annoyance of the neighbours, on tin whistle...she played one note in varying rhythms! Then she got the Subbuteo out again, this time on the floor in front of the telly...it was a miracle no players got kneeled upon! Finally, she insisted on showing us some Super Mario stuff on YouTube, specifically a song growled by the monstrous Bowser...she sang along in a deep growl, and danced the movements! She's got a certain talent for performing and improvising...we encouraged her mum to bring her along to the Tower Theatre to see The Worst Witch at half-term. They left around 1830. Aki baked trout for dinner, with spelt and vegetables. Watched "Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter"...a strange film, the first half set in corporate Tokyo and following the ups and, mostly, downs of a depressed office girl who fancies the loot buried in the snows of Minnesota in the film "Fargo" is real, as the film states the narrative to be based on a true story. She flies out to Minnesota on the company credit card and begins a journey, largely on foot, through the snow-scape to find it. It was beautifully shot, but ultimately pointless.