John's brooms in his workshop

I had forgotten about the meeting of the Lansdown Hall working group this morning, which I had to chair, and was so gald when Camilla reminded me of it last night. She had come round to our house with the other trustees of Stroud Preservation Trust for our regular meeting, and as she will also now be fund-raising for the further works on the Hall which need a lot of money, she was also going to the council offices today.

After a busy and positive meeting, I had to rush off as John was expecting my presence again to assist him in the decoration of their kitchen. We eventually got to work at midday, and then broke for a late lunch with his eldest son, Joe, who is a wonderful artist and has returned home after quitting his job recently to focus on his developing his own portfolio. He then helped us for a while, washing down the sanded wood and walls, and we all nattered about committed film makers and writers who tell stories of what is really going on in the world; John Pilger and Noam Chomsky are recent discoveries of his. In about 1986, I was once allocated John Pilger's desk to work at, while he was away shooting a documentary in Vietnam, which I was rather chuffed about at the time.

After lunch, I went out with a cup of tea, just like yesterday, to get some air. I wandered into John's upper workshop, directly above his microscopy den, where I've blipped him before. John was elsewhere and I just slowly looked around his wood working tools and machines, and the odd assortment of paraphernalia that has accumulated there, which may well be used for something, one day.

I liked the light coming through the large recycled wooden framed doors he installed a couple of years ago, shining on brooms, which I am sure can tell a variety of stories, if only one has time to hear them. Maybe I have now we are working together this week.