Well we’ve had some gorgeous weather over the last week. Every day has been warm and sunny, people have started wearing summer clothes and smiling a lot. It can’t last – it’s unseasonable weather – but let’s hope it’s a little foretaste of a wonderful summer to come.
Where I went
I went to see “In the Loop” on Wednesday. “In the Loop” follows a successful BBC sitcom “The Thick of It” about a Government spin doctor – Malcolm Tucker, an unpleasant and foul-mouthed Scotsman, said to be based on Tony Blair’s chief spinner Alistair Campbell – and his relationship with the hapless Ministers, civil servants and political advisers who have to work with him. In the Loop offers more of the same, and very funny it is too, with the added dimension of the British characters being bested at every turn by two wily American Secretaries of State and their political advisers, demonstrating that when it comes to political sleaze and slime we still have oh so very much to learn from our cousins across the pond.
Malcolm Tucker was played by the superbly talented Peter Capaldi, and I was very glad to see that Malcolm’s second in command Jamie – an equally unpleasant and foul-mouthed Scotsman – was featured in the film. Beyond that, many of the actors from “The Thick of It” played slightly different characters in the film (but not Chris Langham, of course!!!) which could get a bit confusing, but this is a very minor gripe. I’d certainly recommend it, and I’ll be buying the DVD as soon as it’s released.
On Saturday I got back to walking the Saxon Shore Way long distance path. The path runs from Gravesend in Kent to Hastings in East Sussex, and follows the line of the coast as it was in 300AD. Saturday’s walk took me from Plucks Gutter (intriguing name!) to the beautiful town of Sandwich. The walk didn’t start that well. The path runs along the south bank of the River Stour – the Isle of Thanet really was an island in those days and the south bank of the Stour marked the coastline. The path was surrounded on either side by undergrowth which was full of hundreds and hundreds of insects which kept buzzing round me. More insects seemed to live in the grass on the path, and rose up in swarms with every footstep, and a small cloud of black flies followed me along, buzzing round my head. However, the path soon came to fields, most of which were full of or had recently been full of sheep or cows, so the grass was cropped short, which was very helpful. What wasn’t so helpful was the constant need to be careful not to step in animal s**t, but you can’t have everything.
My view as I walked along was dominated by the three concrete cooling towers of Richborough Power Station. You can see this for miles around – in fact I first saw it when I left Herne Bay – and I have been walking towards it for the last 20 miles. Well, today was the day I finally drew level with the power station, and sat down to have my picnic lunch directly opposite it. It’s disused now, and so it should be taken down. It’s a real eyesore, a blot on the landscape, these three harsh and horrible concrete structures despoiling the beautiful flat and fertile lands of East Kent. From the power station I continued along the river to Sandwich, one of the historic Cinque Ports and a beautiful little town. I’ll be back there in July for jennyflowerblue’s “Makey Do” event, and here’s a link to her blog about that:-
http://amakeydo.blogspot.com/
What I made
I am really cracking along now with the floral filigree beaded scarf, and may even be finished it by the end of June! I did a few lines of the Black Heart cuff, and on Sunday I sat down to teach myself brick stitch. I have never done this stitch before, but one of my classes at the forthcoming Bead and Button Show uses it, and so I thought it would be useful to get a bit of practice in. I played about with the stitch for a while until I’d got the hang of it, and then practised my new found skills by making a brick stitch floral necklace by talented designer Kerrie Slade from a recent issue of “Beadwork” magazine.
What I read
This week I’ve been reading “Company of Liars” by Karen Maitland. Set during the Black Death of 1348 it follows the fortunes of a company of travellers, drawn together by expediency and a desperate need to avoid the plague – each with a secret they’re concealing, and a scary young rune-reader who always tells the truth. As the try to outpace the plague it becomes clear that the plague isn’t all they need to be worried about…..A highly recommended read – I finished all 548 pages in 3 days, but I won’t say any more for fear of giving the plot away.
What I learned this week
If you’re going to be near a river on a hot day, consider taking some insect-repelling cream with you.
Monday, 27 April 2009
Sunday, 19 April 2009
It's Grim Up North
A very, very busy couple of weeks, what with visiting my mother in Newcastle. The weather has been very good, though and it’s great to see Spring finally arriving.
Where I went
The trip to Newcastle went better than I could have hoped, all things considered. We set off on Sunday 5 April and drove to Wakefield in Yorkshire, where we stayed overnight at a Premier Inn on the outskirts of town, next to a curiously named pub called “The Rhubarb Triangle.” The day after that we headed off to Newcastle, stopping on the way to go to the National Museum of Coal Mining, where we got to go down a pit, which was very interesting.
We stayed at another Premier Inn in Newcastle, next to a pub/restaurant called the Stonebrook. My husband recently bought a sat-nav (it’s his new toy!) and we let the sat-nav guide us to our Premier Inn, which was out in the middle of nowhere to the north of Newcastle. The sat-nav took us right through the centre of Newcastle by the most complex route imaginable, in the middle of the evening rush hour! And that was only one of a number of weird / wrong things it told us to do during the week. To say nothing of the extremely annoying voice. My husband turned the sound off in the end, after I’d threatened to pull the sat-nav off the dashboard and hurl it though the window.
The day after that we went to the Holy Island of Lindisfarne. It was stunningly beautiful, and I can’t recommend it too highly. There is a Victorianised castle there, looking spectacular perched on a rock above the bay, and the ruins of the priory which was once the cradle of Christianity in Britain. There were also a number of decent pubs and tea shops, as well as gift shops for the tourists. Going across the causeway to the island was also quite fun, though when the tide had come in Laura said she felt “trapped” even though we all knew that the tide would be going back down in a few hours. It rained a bit when we first got there, and it was very windy all the time, but I guess that it is always windy out there.
The day after that we collected my mother and went on a trip to Hadrian’s Wall. It was unbelievably cold and windy, and everyone was freezing cold. We hauled ourselves off to a bit of the wall that contains the most complete fort (Housesteads) and looked at that for a while. Building a wall right across the country was an amazing feat of both architecture and engineering, but when all is said and done it’s still just a wall. We looked at the wall and the fort for a short while and then scuttled back to the warmth of the car. Being a Roman legionary posted up there must have been complete hell. We then went to the lovely village of Corbridge where we stopped for a cake and a coffee before going to see Corbridge Roman town. Again, it’s just a load of foundations, but there are an awful lot of them and it was marginally warmer than being out on the wall.
The next day we went to Durham. I had been really looking forward to this as it’s my very favourite place in the North-East. It’s such a lovely city, with tiny little alleyways, gorgeous river views, a castle and the most beautiful Cathedral in the world. There’s not much in the way of shops though.
Our final day in Newcastle was spent at Bamburgh Castle. This is a huge castle which sits ominously on a large rock which rears up from the Northumbrian coast. From the castle you can see the beautiful sand dunes for which Northumberland is rightly famous, and the castle itself was good too. Well with a visit.
The day after – Saturday – we made our way South again, stopping in Leeds to visit the Thackray Medical Museum. The most extensive medical museum I’ve ever been in, it has an impressive array of early surgical instruments, and displays charting the history of medicine and surgery. My daughters really loved it. Then it was back to the Premier Inn next to the Rhubarb Triangle for an overnight stay, and then back to Orpington on Easter Sunday.
On Easter Monday we went to Tunbridge Wells to see the “Day at the Wells” exhibition – only to find it had shut. But we had a good day out in Tunbridge Wells nevertheless, and spent our time poking about in the shops.
What I made
While I was in Newcastle I did some intensive work on the Black Heart bracelet and since I’ve been back I have really put my back into the floral filigree beaded scarf and I’m finally past the half-way point!
What I read
I had borrowed “Cityboy” from a friend, and took it with me to Newcastle in the hope that I’d be able to finish it really quickly, and I did. This sorry tale of City folk by Geraint Anderson confirms most peoples’ worst beliefs about the greed, arrogance and selfishness of City traders, whose reckless pursuit of the quick (and easy) buck has tipped the world into recession. Geraint spent twelve years working in the City, so he does know what he’s talking about. While he may have left the world of banking behind, I think it will take a while longer for his banker’s arrogance to wear off – he comes over as insufferably smug, which puts a large damper on what might otherwise have been a half decent book.
What I learned this week
Don’t go to Hadrian’s Wall. It really isn’t worth the bother.
Where I went
The trip to Newcastle went better than I could have hoped, all things considered. We set off on Sunday 5 April and drove to Wakefield in Yorkshire, where we stayed overnight at a Premier Inn on the outskirts of town, next to a curiously named pub called “The Rhubarb Triangle.” The day after that we headed off to Newcastle, stopping on the way to go to the National Museum of Coal Mining, where we got to go down a pit, which was very interesting.
We stayed at another Premier Inn in Newcastle, next to a pub/restaurant called the Stonebrook. My husband recently bought a sat-nav (it’s his new toy!) and we let the sat-nav guide us to our Premier Inn, which was out in the middle of nowhere to the north of Newcastle. The sat-nav took us right through the centre of Newcastle by the most complex route imaginable, in the middle of the evening rush hour! And that was only one of a number of weird / wrong things it told us to do during the week. To say nothing of the extremely annoying voice. My husband turned the sound off in the end, after I’d threatened to pull the sat-nav off the dashboard and hurl it though the window.
The day after that we went to the Holy Island of Lindisfarne. It was stunningly beautiful, and I can’t recommend it too highly. There is a Victorianised castle there, looking spectacular perched on a rock above the bay, and the ruins of the priory which was once the cradle of Christianity in Britain. There were also a number of decent pubs and tea shops, as well as gift shops for the tourists. Going across the causeway to the island was also quite fun, though when the tide had come in Laura said she felt “trapped” even though we all knew that the tide would be going back down in a few hours. It rained a bit when we first got there, and it was very windy all the time, but I guess that it is always windy out there.
The day after that we collected my mother and went on a trip to Hadrian’s Wall. It was unbelievably cold and windy, and everyone was freezing cold. We hauled ourselves off to a bit of the wall that contains the most complete fort (Housesteads) and looked at that for a while. Building a wall right across the country was an amazing feat of both architecture and engineering, but when all is said and done it’s still just a wall. We looked at the wall and the fort for a short while and then scuttled back to the warmth of the car. Being a Roman legionary posted up there must have been complete hell. We then went to the lovely village of Corbridge where we stopped for a cake and a coffee before going to see Corbridge Roman town. Again, it’s just a load of foundations, but there are an awful lot of them and it was marginally warmer than being out on the wall.
The next day we went to Durham. I had been really looking forward to this as it’s my very favourite place in the North-East. It’s such a lovely city, with tiny little alleyways, gorgeous river views, a castle and the most beautiful Cathedral in the world. There’s not much in the way of shops though.
Our final day in Newcastle was spent at Bamburgh Castle. This is a huge castle which sits ominously on a large rock which rears up from the Northumbrian coast. From the castle you can see the beautiful sand dunes for which Northumberland is rightly famous, and the castle itself was good too. Well with a visit.
The day after – Saturday – we made our way South again, stopping in Leeds to visit the Thackray Medical Museum. The most extensive medical museum I’ve ever been in, it has an impressive array of early surgical instruments, and displays charting the history of medicine and surgery. My daughters really loved it. Then it was back to the Premier Inn next to the Rhubarb Triangle for an overnight stay, and then back to Orpington on Easter Sunday.
On Easter Monday we went to Tunbridge Wells to see the “Day at the Wells” exhibition – only to find it had shut. But we had a good day out in Tunbridge Wells nevertheless, and spent our time poking about in the shops.
What I made
While I was in Newcastle I did some intensive work on the Black Heart bracelet and since I’ve been back I have really put my back into the floral filigree beaded scarf and I’m finally past the half-way point!
What I read
I had borrowed “Cityboy” from a friend, and took it with me to Newcastle in the hope that I’d be able to finish it really quickly, and I did. This sorry tale of City folk by Geraint Anderson confirms most peoples’ worst beliefs about the greed, arrogance and selfishness of City traders, whose reckless pursuit of the quick (and easy) buck has tipped the world into recession. Geraint spent twelve years working in the City, so he does know what he’s talking about. While he may have left the world of banking behind, I think it will take a while longer for his banker’s arrogance to wear off – he comes over as insufferably smug, which puts a large damper on what might otherwise have been a half decent book.
What I learned this week
Don’t go to Hadrian’s Wall. It really isn’t worth the bother.
Saturday, 4 April 2009
Northwards
No blog post this week - we're off up North to see my mother and won't be back until 13 April.
Have a great Easter!
Have a great Easter!
Monday, 30 March 2009
Robbing, thieving **&$@&*s!!
Well the big news for this week is that I had my purse stolen on Friday. It has £60 in it, £25 worth of taxi receipts that I hadn't yet claimed back on expenses, a book of first class stamps and a Cafe Nero loyalty card. I'm gutted to have lost the money, but I'm really disturbed that someone has been into my handbag. Well, at least it wasn't my credit cards, or else I would have had to spend the whole of Friday evening cancelling them. I hope whoever stole the purse doesn't get any pleasure from that money.
One thing that was bugging me earlier in the week was half a verse of a song I'd heard a long, long time ago kept going through my head. I'd heard it sung at a demo in the mid 1980s, and finally managed to track it down. I knew it was about The Diggers - a mid-17th century band of people who occupied waste and common ground and tried to grow food on it. Their egalitarian movement was unsuccessful and was suppressed quite quickly, but remains as one of the new occasions on which agrarian socialism was tried in Britain. I found a whole web page devoted to the song (isn't the internet marvellous?), including the lyrics and links to the many different versions that have been sung since it was written 35 years ago.
http://www.seedstar.net/undeep/diggers.html
Where I went
I went to The Vitality Show on Sunday. It is apparently the 10th anniversary of this health and well-being show and I remember it from the relatively early days when it was held in the Business Design Centre at Islington. It grew bigger and bigger over the years, and eventually took over the Grand Hall at Olympia, with thousands of visitors every year. This year's show seemed rather smaller, with less free samples to be had - perhaps due to the recession? And there were less people about too, which is perhaps something of a blessing. Emma and I had a foot massage, a back massage, examined our breasts with a special light and looked at some vibrators. We came away with some free samples, and made a couple of purchases, including some body cream from Brown Earth, which for my money makes the best body creams I've ever come across. Brown Earth's website is
http://www.brownearth.co.uk/
What I made
I finally made a start on the picture of the beaded butterfly I'm doing for my mother's birthday - and which has to be finished by next Saturday. I'd done two rows when I decided that the colour scheme I'd chosen wasn't working and so took it all out. I decided to rework it as a tropical butterfly. I hope she doesn't want any more of these bead embroidery pictures - it's just not something I really want to do at the moment and it's taking time away from stuff I do want to do - like the beaded floral filigree scarf. In metal clay class I made a pair of textured silver flower earrings and also a paid of earrings with little spirals stamped into the clay. I fired the first one and then clumsily knocked something over onto the second one just before firing - and it broke into four pieces. I have stuck them together with metal clay paste, but I don't know if they'll stay stuck during the firing process. More of this later.
What I read
I'm ploughing my way through Frank Harris's biography of Oscar Wilde. There was outrage at the time it was published because so much of it was a pack of lies, and because it was upfront about why Oscar had been convicted and sent to prison. I don't know enough about the fine details of the lives of the main protagonists to catch Mr Harris out in a lie, and even for the time I don't think that he is particularly clear about the nature of Oscar's "crime" -he just keeps talking about rumours of Oscar's unsavoury reputation for "sexual viciousness" and that some men would not speak to him or go to parties etc where they knew he would be. But what does come across very strongly is that Frank Harris was an extremely spiteful man.
What I learned this week
Always, always keep you handbag properly fastened shut, particularly in crowded public places.
One thing that was bugging me earlier in the week was half a verse of a song I'd heard a long, long time ago kept going through my head. I'd heard it sung at a demo in the mid 1980s, and finally managed to track it down. I knew it was about The Diggers - a mid-17th century band of people who occupied waste and common ground and tried to grow food on it. Their egalitarian movement was unsuccessful and was suppressed quite quickly, but remains as one of the new occasions on which agrarian socialism was tried in Britain. I found a whole web page devoted to the song (isn't the internet marvellous?), including the lyrics and links to the many different versions that have been sung since it was written 35 years ago.
http://www.seedstar.net/undeep/diggers.html
Where I went
I went to The Vitality Show on Sunday. It is apparently the 10th anniversary of this health and well-being show and I remember it from the relatively early days when it was held in the Business Design Centre at Islington. It grew bigger and bigger over the years, and eventually took over the Grand Hall at Olympia, with thousands of visitors every year. This year's show seemed rather smaller, with less free samples to be had - perhaps due to the recession? And there were less people about too, which is perhaps something of a blessing. Emma and I had a foot massage, a back massage, examined our breasts with a special light and looked at some vibrators. We came away with some free samples, and made a couple of purchases, including some body cream from Brown Earth, which for my money makes the best body creams I've ever come across. Brown Earth's website is
http://www.brownearth.co.uk/
What I made
I finally made a start on the picture of the beaded butterfly I'm doing for my mother's birthday - and which has to be finished by next Saturday. I'd done two rows when I decided that the colour scheme I'd chosen wasn't working and so took it all out. I decided to rework it as a tropical butterfly. I hope she doesn't want any more of these bead embroidery pictures - it's just not something I really want to do at the moment and it's taking time away from stuff I do want to do - like the beaded floral filigree scarf. In metal clay class I made a pair of textured silver flower earrings and also a paid of earrings with little spirals stamped into the clay. I fired the first one and then clumsily knocked something over onto the second one just before firing - and it broke into four pieces. I have stuck them together with metal clay paste, but I don't know if they'll stay stuck during the firing process. More of this later.
What I read
I'm ploughing my way through Frank Harris's biography of Oscar Wilde. There was outrage at the time it was published because so much of it was a pack of lies, and because it was upfront about why Oscar had been convicted and sent to prison. I don't know enough about the fine details of the lives of the main protagonists to catch Mr Harris out in a lie, and even for the time I don't think that he is particularly clear about the nature of Oscar's "crime" -he just keeps talking about rumours of Oscar's unsavoury reputation for "sexual viciousness" and that some men would not speak to him or go to parties etc where they knew he would be. But what does come across very strongly is that Frank Harris was an extremely spiteful man.
What I learned this week
Always, always keep you handbag properly fastened shut, particularly in crowded public places.
Sunday, 22 March 2009
I'm in print!!
I'm in print twice this week! Read all about me on Jennyflowerblue's blog "A Kent Makey Do" (see "blogs I'm following at the side) and my Crystal Kisses bracelet is in the April/May 2009 issue of Bead Magazine. Brag, brag, brag..........
Work
I'm not going to write about work any more, I don't really like writing this part of the blog and I'm pretty sure that people don't want to read it.
Where I went
Well, it has been a busy week for trips out. The weather has been fabulous all week, and it's really felt like spring. I've made the most of it by getting out and about as much as possible. On Monday, which was my non-working day, I set off for Highgate in North London and spent and hour or so walking in one of the most curious open spaces in London. It's an old railway line that has been turned into a nature reserve. You're never more than about 100 yards away from the houses on either side of the line. The line itself has been removed and a path has been installed. It was a short but lovely walk along to Finsbury Park. There were quite a lot of people about too, for a Monday.
On Thursday I went to the Health and Social Security Recreational Association awards ceremony to pick up my prize for winning the "Craftwork" class of the national art competition. I got a £15 M&S gift voucher. I'll eventually get round to putting a picture of my winning entry, Magic Carpet, on my website.
On Saturday I went to a craft fair at Telegraph Hill and then walked to Lewisham before taking the train home. In the evening we went to Pizza Express to celebrate our wedding anniversary (which is on 22 March).
Sunday was Mother's Day and after lunch we went to Igtham Mote. This is a moated manor house in Kent which is now owned and operated by the National Trust. It is such a pretty place and was very popular today - I didn't think we were going to be able to get parked, but luckily we managed to get hold of a space very near to the house, which someone had just vacated.
What I made
I spent quite a bit of Monday afternoon designing the beaded butterfly picture that my mother wanted for her birthday (but I still haven't actually started the sewing!). Most of the rest of the week was taken up with the floral filigree scarf, when I realised that I'll really have to pull my finger out if it's going to be finished my the end of June. I missed metal clay class last week - but the Lord alone knows what they'd been doing that week because they seemed to be pretty much at the same stage I was at Thursday's class. I applied syringed clay to the base of my ring, and then fired it, before polishing it at home. It is a very chunky ring - far too heavy for everyday wear - so I'll have to save it for special occasions.
What I read
A Robert Goddard book called "Into the Blue", a murder mystery with a whole slew of improbable twists. It wasn't bad, but I wouldn't really recommend it either. I've just started reading Frank Harris's biography of Oscar Wilde - more about this next week.
What I learned this week
Telegraph Hill is actually a hill. Yes, I know that the clue is in the name, but it's very, very steep. Great views towards North London from the top though.
Work
I'm not going to write about work any more, I don't really like writing this part of the blog and I'm pretty sure that people don't want to read it.
Where I went
Well, it has been a busy week for trips out. The weather has been fabulous all week, and it's really felt like spring. I've made the most of it by getting out and about as much as possible. On Monday, which was my non-working day, I set off for Highgate in North London and spent and hour or so walking in one of the most curious open spaces in London. It's an old railway line that has been turned into a nature reserve. You're never more than about 100 yards away from the houses on either side of the line. The line itself has been removed and a path has been installed. It was a short but lovely walk along to Finsbury Park. There were quite a lot of people about too, for a Monday.
On Thursday I went to the Health and Social Security Recreational Association awards ceremony to pick up my prize for winning the "Craftwork" class of the national art competition. I got a £15 M&S gift voucher. I'll eventually get round to putting a picture of my winning entry, Magic Carpet, on my website.
On Saturday I went to a craft fair at Telegraph Hill and then walked to Lewisham before taking the train home. In the evening we went to Pizza Express to celebrate our wedding anniversary (which is on 22 March).
Sunday was Mother's Day and after lunch we went to Igtham Mote. This is a moated manor house in Kent which is now owned and operated by the National Trust. It is such a pretty place and was very popular today - I didn't think we were going to be able to get parked, but luckily we managed to get hold of a space very near to the house, which someone had just vacated.
What I made
I spent quite a bit of Monday afternoon designing the beaded butterfly picture that my mother wanted for her birthday (but I still haven't actually started the sewing!). Most of the rest of the week was taken up with the floral filigree scarf, when I realised that I'll really have to pull my finger out if it's going to be finished my the end of June. I missed metal clay class last week - but the Lord alone knows what they'd been doing that week because they seemed to be pretty much at the same stage I was at Thursday's class. I applied syringed clay to the base of my ring, and then fired it, before polishing it at home. It is a very chunky ring - far too heavy for everyday wear - so I'll have to save it for special occasions.
What I read
A Robert Goddard book called "Into the Blue", a murder mystery with a whole slew of improbable twists. It wasn't bad, but I wouldn't really recommend it either. I've just started reading Frank Harris's biography of Oscar Wilde - more about this next week.
What I learned this week
Telegraph Hill is actually a hill. Yes, I know that the clue is in the name, but it's very, very steep. Great views towards North London from the top though.
Sunday, 15 March 2009
Chocolate, Chocolate...and more Chocolate
Once again, a very busy week for me. Here's what I did
Work
A madly busy week at work, with a trip to Brussels at the end of it. I was most impressed with the Eurostar service out of St Pancras, which was much quicker than the old service out of Waterloo and as an added bonus it didn't stop at Ashford, which is the gateway to hell. I stayed at the highly recommended Noga Hotel, a quirky but reasonably priced hotel with a gorgeous white cat, a sweet little dog, and the most spartan rooms going, outside of prison.
Where I went
Highlight of the week was the trip to Brussels - not that I saw much of the place but I did get the chance to pick up some relatively cheap cigarettes and chocolate at Midi station. It was so nice today (Sunday) that I went for a walk to the park in the afternoon, and sat there basking in the sun and reading my book for about an hour.
What I made
I did some more work on the crocheted lattice scarf, the floral filigree beaded scarf and the black heart bracelet. I couldn't go to my metal clay course because of the trip to Brussels, but writing this has reminded me that I still need to do my "homework" and sand down the ring I made last week in preparation for firing it this week. I made a crunchy-top lemon cake on Saturday, which was troughed down in record time by my husband, two daughters and myself.
What I read
I finished the "Kings of Albion" by Julian Rathbone. A mixed bag of a book - I really enjoyed the descriptive bits about 15th century England, but the discussions of religion and science left me cold, and I think that even Mr Rathbone was a bit sick of the book by the end, because the last 50 pages were of much lower quality than the rest of the book. Still, I loved his final summary of what it truly means to be English, which I'll repeat here (if you'll indulge me):-
"They are a nation of individuals who yet can combine and behave with ferocious bravery under leaders they respect; they are skillful and ruthless traders with few natural assets of their own to exploit; they are foolhardy sea-farers; they are inordinately arrogant; they are ruthless, unforgiving, cruel enemies. Unfettered by morals or a common religion they take an empirical, practical view of life, adapting their beliefs to circumstances, though always favouring an approach which leaves each individual the captain of his own soul. They enjoy and even live for camaraderie. the company of their fellows, physical prowess, hedonistic if simple enjoyment shared with others, strong drink and rough, speedily concluded sex. They have an incredible capacity to suffer pain for a short term, and will face death willingly. But they will not put up with pain or toil as a life-choice. They hate boredom. They will cheerfully accept individuals of other creeds and races as individuals, especially if they take a personal liking to them, while continuing to despise all foreigners in general. They are mad. One day they will conquer the world."
I also started to read "Out of the Blue" (or possibly "Into the Blue") by Robert Goddard. It's like every other book that Robert Goddard ever wrote - they're always a good read, the pages virtually turn themselves, but six months' down the tracks you can't remember what it was about, the names of the characters etc etc
What I learned this week
Sitting through an episode of "Lark Rise to Candleford" is a horrible experience, but not as bad as you think it's going to be.
Work
A madly busy week at work, with a trip to Brussels at the end of it. I was most impressed with the Eurostar service out of St Pancras, which was much quicker than the old service out of Waterloo and as an added bonus it didn't stop at Ashford, which is the gateway to hell. I stayed at the highly recommended Noga Hotel, a quirky but reasonably priced hotel with a gorgeous white cat, a sweet little dog, and the most spartan rooms going, outside of prison.
Where I went
Highlight of the week was the trip to Brussels - not that I saw much of the place but I did get the chance to pick up some relatively cheap cigarettes and chocolate at Midi station. It was so nice today (Sunday) that I went for a walk to the park in the afternoon, and sat there basking in the sun and reading my book for about an hour.
What I made
I did some more work on the crocheted lattice scarf, the floral filigree beaded scarf and the black heart bracelet. I couldn't go to my metal clay course because of the trip to Brussels, but writing this has reminded me that I still need to do my "homework" and sand down the ring I made last week in preparation for firing it this week. I made a crunchy-top lemon cake on Saturday, which was troughed down in record time by my husband, two daughters and myself.
What I read
I finished the "Kings of Albion" by Julian Rathbone. A mixed bag of a book - I really enjoyed the descriptive bits about 15th century England, but the discussions of religion and science left me cold, and I think that even Mr Rathbone was a bit sick of the book by the end, because the last 50 pages were of much lower quality than the rest of the book. Still, I loved his final summary of what it truly means to be English, which I'll repeat here (if you'll indulge me):-
"They are a nation of individuals who yet can combine and behave with ferocious bravery under leaders they respect; they are skillful and ruthless traders with few natural assets of their own to exploit; they are foolhardy sea-farers; they are inordinately arrogant; they are ruthless, unforgiving, cruel enemies. Unfettered by morals or a common religion they take an empirical, practical view of life, adapting their beliefs to circumstances, though always favouring an approach which leaves each individual the captain of his own soul. They enjoy and even live for camaraderie. the company of their fellows, physical prowess, hedonistic if simple enjoyment shared with others, strong drink and rough, speedily concluded sex. They have an incredible capacity to suffer pain for a short term, and will face death willingly. But they will not put up with pain or toil as a life-choice. They hate boredom. They will cheerfully accept individuals of other creeds and races as individuals, especially if they take a personal liking to them, while continuing to despise all foreigners in general. They are mad. One day they will conquer the world."
I also started to read "Out of the Blue" (or possibly "Into the Blue") by Robert Goddard. It's like every other book that Robert Goddard ever wrote - they're always a good read, the pages virtually turn themselves, but six months' down the tracks you can't remember what it was about, the names of the characters etc etc
What I learned this week
Sitting through an episode of "Lark Rise to Candleford" is a horrible experience, but not as bad as you think it's going to be.
Sunday, 8 March 2009
My first publication!
A great week for me - one of the bracelets I designed was published this week on the website of American magazine Bead and Button. The pattern for the Art Deco themed bracelet "Diamonds and Chevrons" can be downloaded for free, but you'll have to register with the Bead and Button website to get hold of it - the link is below. It was also on the front page of the website....brag, brag, brag!
www.beadandbutton.com
Work
Another busy week. A trip to NHS East of England in the wilds of Cambridgeshire on Monday, and a trip to the Brook conference at the Oval Cricket Ground on Thursday.
Where I went
I had my non-working day on Wednesday rather than Monday, and so I decided to go for a walk in North London. I took the tube to Golders Green and started to walk South, along a road which cut across Hampstead Health to Hampstead itself, where I poked about the little streets and posh shops and got some organic bath cream. I then walked to Belsize Park where I managed to pick up a real bargain in the Marie Curie charity shop - a ghastly 70s necklace, which had 10 extremely large turquoise lampworked glass beads. Other than that I haven't been anywhere else this week.
What I made
More work on the floral filigree beaded scarf, and more work on the Black Heart square stitched bracelet. In metal clay class we started work on making a ring. I won't be able to go to the class next week - more of why not in next week's blog - so I have to do quite a lot of the filing and smoothing at home.
What I read
I'm reading "Kings of Albion" by Julian Rathbone. It's a story about how a price of Vijayangaran (in South India) travelled to England together with his guides and entourage in the 1460s in search of his long-lost brother, and stumbles right into the beginning of the Wars of the Roses. Some amusing insights into what noblemen from a civilised empire made of the dirty, stinking, filthy countries they found in Northern Europe.
What I learned this week
The Oval Cricket Ground is nowhere near as big in real life than it looks on the telly.
www.beadandbutton.com
Work
Another busy week. A trip to NHS East of England in the wilds of Cambridgeshire on Monday, and a trip to the Brook conference at the Oval Cricket Ground on Thursday.
Where I went
I had my non-working day on Wednesday rather than Monday, and so I decided to go for a walk in North London. I took the tube to Golders Green and started to walk South, along a road which cut across Hampstead Health to Hampstead itself, where I poked about the little streets and posh shops and got some organic bath cream. I then walked to Belsize Park where I managed to pick up a real bargain in the Marie Curie charity shop - a ghastly 70s necklace, which had 10 extremely large turquoise lampworked glass beads. Other than that I haven't been anywhere else this week.
What I made
More work on the floral filigree beaded scarf, and more work on the Black Heart square stitched bracelet. In metal clay class we started work on making a ring. I won't be able to go to the class next week - more of why not in next week's blog - so I have to do quite a lot of the filing and smoothing at home.
What I read
I'm reading "Kings of Albion" by Julian Rathbone. It's a story about how a price of Vijayangaran (in South India) travelled to England together with his guides and entourage in the 1460s in search of his long-lost brother, and stumbles right into the beginning of the Wars of the Roses. Some amusing insights into what noblemen from a civilised empire made of the dirty, stinking, filthy countries they found in Northern Europe.
What I learned this week
The Oval Cricket Ground is nowhere near as big in real life than it looks on the telly.
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