Miss Queenie Hennessy

Painting By Mervyn Grist.

I needed to get out of the house this afternoon, so I caught the bus over to Trowbridge. Walking past the Town Hall I saw that there was an art exhibition on and as I was in no hurry I went in. It was called ARTeology and was the work of thirteen local artists. Some of the work was splendid. I was especially pleased to see paintings by Mervyn Grist whose work I have admired for about forty years now. There is always a lot of humour in Mervyn’s work. I have actually got an original painting by Mervyn on a wall at home. My late partner Kim used to know him back in the 70’s and she had a painting by Mervyn rolled up in a cardboard tube at home for years until I discovered it and got it framed.

I spent quite a pleasant half hour in there looking at the paintings. When I emerged from the Town Hall, I had a look in the charity shops. I went in British Heart Foundation, Scope, Julian House, Bath Cats & Dogs Home, Blue Cross, Oxfam & Dorothy House. In all those shops I only found three books. One was a nice little hardback copy of Siddartha by Hermann Hesse which was published in India. I also found a vegan recipe book which I thought might give me some ideas for healthy food because I eat rubbish most of the time. It’s not as if I don’t have the time to cook either. The last book I found  I was really pleased about. It was a nice hardback signed copy of the sequel to the book I have been reading. It is called The Love Song Of Miss Queenie Hennessy by Rachel Joyce. That will keep me busy when I have finished The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry. After that I caught the bus home again. I was only away for two hours but I was glad I made the effort to get out and about.