Since my return to London three years ago, my cultural life has expanded.  In fact this was one of the major considerations that influenced my decision to make the move.  Of course, there are regrets.  I miss the countryside.  I miss my large garden and the ease of taking long country walks.  But all of life is a compromise.  And as my teeth grow longer - albeit not too many with roots attached these days  - there are some activities that are more sensibly abandoned in favour of others that are more easily undertaken.

These include visits to art galleries, museums and theatres, with all of which London is richly endowed.  Happily, too, these pursuits are shared by the Jenner branch of my family, the only immediate branch still remaining in the London area.  Previous blogs and articles in the New Nurturing Potential magazine have described my participation in and enjoyment of several of these activities.

In recent months theatre visits have increased and my pleasure with some of these has been greatly enhanced by the performances of my grand-daughter Jessica, whose command of the thespian medium has gone from strength to strength.  Her performances in The Glass Menagerie (Laura Wingfield), Twelfth Night (Viola), and Anne Boleyn (incredibly multi-roled with miraculously speedy changes of costume) had thrilled me and filled me with typical grand-parental pride. 

These were all more than one year ago.  This year, however, her versatility and her mastery of the medium has been astonishing.  From Eliza (Pygmalion) at the Bob Hope Theatre in Eltham  in March 2014 to Ariel (The Tempest) at the Wickham Theatre Centre in July 2014.

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My joy at these performances has more than compensated any remaining twinges of regret at the loss of my country pleasures.

Other memorable theatrical evenings spent recently with the Jenners - or at least one of them - include The Thrill of Love and The Importance of Being Earnest at the Bromley Little Theatre and Wot? No Fish!! at the Battersea Arts Centre, all of which have been catalogued elsewhere.