Look at me... no me... and me... !

Fabulous photographs courtesy of Little Miss Beautiful here.. Foto Fi! We all wanted to peer out of the carriage window to chill out!

Just chilling...

Just when you think no one's looking, you do a bit of eyelid gazing and what happens.. little miss fifi comes along with her camera!

Woo hoo... a day on the railway!

Love and Loss...

Tonight was ballet night. I was at the Hippodrome in Birmingham. It’s a form of dance that I adore for a lot of different reasons. Technically, it’s a form of dance that demands a lot of dedication and physical excellence. I’m sure there’s a lot of competition when it comes to being a member of the Birmingham Royal Ballet Company. Tonight’s performance showcased exceptional talent through three different ballets. The first was a simple set, stunningly beautiful performance of Gallanteries. The set and dress were simply elegant which allowed you to focus on the dance alone. It was incredibly beautiful watching the individual dancers perform to set pieces. The second ballet, the Dance House, was more structured. Still contemporary but had a storyline. The set was again, very simple, with a ballet bar as the only prop. Taking inspiration from a medieval poem and set to a piece of Shostakovich, this was the most challenging performance of the evening. The third ballet, the Dream, was a surprise being more traditional with the big ‘deep in the woods’ set. The storyline was ‘Midsummer Night’s Dreamesc’ taken from Shakespeare's funniest plays of Oberon and Titania, who argue over a changeling boy. This was the biggest production with beautiful fairies, four young lovers and a donkey! There was humor, beautiful dance and a storyline – all the components which make a brilliant ballet. If you asked me to choose my favourite, I would struggle. I loved them all for a variety of different reasons though I do love a story so the final ballet would have to be top for the night. The set was magical, the dances were beautifully performed and I do enjoy a sprinkling of magic, don't you? x

Life isn't always wrapped up for us..

My week has been wrapped in parma ham! On MOnday it was wrapped around grissini sticks and on Tuesday evening at Bernadettes with my favourite chip monster extraordinaire, it was my asparagus spears that got the super parma ham treatment - and as always, it got me thinking. Life isn't usually wrapped in parma ham. Sometimes it's sugar-coated and at other times, it's shrouded in a thick mist. My life is definitely shrouded in mist at the moment. Nothing is clear and although parma ham wouldn't be my idea blanket, it would be lovely to have a comfort blanket right now. That's what friends are for, I hear you say and you're so right. On Tuesday evening I was treated to champagne on the roof top restaurant I know now as Bernadettes. What a brilliant choice. We had such a lovely time - that's how i imagine life should be. It is certainly as close to heaven as I am going to get right now. The roof top is a great place for people watching and it was wonderful to sit in the sunshine, chill and watch the world go by. I was reminded how much I love my friends.
Tonight I've been out to the Apple Tree with Lisa and had the most brilliant time. It's the 'doing' something for 'me' that I miss being on my own. Lisa drove, she'd already decided where we were going and we ended up chatting and just relaxing and having a few laughs. I think the 'buy two glasses of wine and get the rest of the bottle free' helped achieve my merry mood and let's face it, it is a darned good offer! We sat outside in the garden and the next time we looked at the clock, it was almost 10pm. Yes, it was too late for sweets because the chef had cleaned the kitchen but... 'oh I love your handbag' said the girl behind the bar.. and the next thing, two glasses of ice-cream with chocolate sauce appeared - wey hey! By this time the band were in full swing so we rocked the rest of the night away to Elvis and his twinkly blue notes. Not a bad end to a rather un-exceptional Thursday.

What a hotch potch.. !

Over stuffed, over rated and over priced... yes, that's my lasting impression of this year's Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. I was excitedly expecting great things from the world's biggest open exhibition, but it was not to be. The most striking thing about the show is the higgeldy piggeldy arrangement of the pieces. Some of the rooms are literally stuffed with pieces, which is refreshing and not stuffy like other galleries but sadly, even this couldn't lift my spirits. I know modern art can sometimes appear to look like the work of a 6 year old. Some artists mistakenly call a random collection of 'things' juxtaposed in a random way 'art'. I prefer to believe that art has to have some meaning. I like art that pulls at the emotional heart strings. It may make me smile, I may think it's clever, I may think it's sad but I'd rather not think it's rubbish. I did try very hard to like some of the pieces but sitting in the middle of the gallery, I got the distinct impression that 99% of the other visitors were thinking the same thing. Were we being fooled into believing that this is the best we have to offer? None of us are art critics, we don't profess to know much about the art world or the artists, but we certainly all have an opinion. I think the show lacks originality and unlike Scope where I was last week, this seemed very amateurish. There wasn't the excitement of a new experience around every corner. There are just walls and walls of mostly random pieces that lack spirit and any joie-de-vivre. It was hard to pick out many gems but amongst the mediocrity, there were just a few shining lights.


The Damien Hirst sculpture was exceptional and I'd have happily walked out with a couple of small pieces if it weren't for the silly prices. I could have been tempted to take Cy Twombly’s big blowsy roses home but sadly, it's a whopping great piece and much to pricey for my liking. The chopped up postcard pictures were also good, though once I'd seen one of them, each subsequent one was just a repeat of the process which lessened the impact of the first. I was quite partial to the wire letter cube and ironically, as it was an empty cube, you could pick out some of the lesser pieces behind it. I don't get Tracey Emin. Everyone wants to buy a piece of her, though certainly not for her talent. Tell me it's just for some silly investment, please! All in all, there was a faint glimmer but no leading lights at this year's exhibition. It remains in my head as the world's most expensive jumble sale!

I kept my promise...

I said I'd go to Kemble and as you can see, it was worth the trip! It's been a brilliant day, rubbish weather but a few smiles, lots of excitement and more fresh air than I've had for ages - fab!






A strange place to sit and read ;-)

Black cats ballet at the charity ball

Woo hoo, they don't call them black cats for nothing! Tonight was the round table charity ball at Lake Cerney. Fab hotel, great neighbours for company so it all just ticked over as expected. Lots of couples, us 3 girls doing that single dancing thing - again. I considered myself lucky being on a table of 9, 7 of them women and yet I still managed to get the seat between the two men ;-) and guess who won the bottle of cherry brandy?!
I was even asked to do that thing that they do on the shopping channels where the girl holds the thing that they're trying to get you to buy. In this case it was a coin up for auction, and my prancing about managed to get the price up over £50! Around midnight I'd got a bit tired of all the couples so went out into the bar to find the Black Cats Helicopter display team. Alison was straight in, well it would have been rude not to... talk to them! So myself, Alison and Christine managed to persuade them to come onto the dance floor to liven things up. They were so cute and so polite and considering one minute their serving in Iraq and the next, here with a pair of Westland Lynx helicopters at Kemble air show for their aerial ballet display, sounds like a pretty varied job! Us girls know how to party, hey! ;-) x

Fun & friends evening..

Friday nights are for fun and friends! Rob came over from France so that made the start to the weekend extra special. Lucky chap had 3 women out with him for dinner. We had a few laughs, a few drinks and chilled out at Lisa's - fantastic! It's good to know your friends are there when you need them. I'm not great at asking for help, after all I am little miss independent! Sometimes though, just like in the film 'About a Boy' I realise that one person really can't exist as an island - I need a support network. Thank goodness there are some special people out there who step up when life starts to resemble an apple crumble! x

I have some great friends @ xxx

Four days into the week and one day left before the weekend, hurrah! It's been a funnier than normal week for such a lot of reasons. I love emails, particularly when they are from great friends. Beats snail mail just because none of us would ever write as many letters as we do emails. This week alone, I've received five emails in the space of two days from friends who I haven't heard from for a long while ;-) I'm left wondering what makes them all choose to email me in the same week? One friend had news, one had an apology, one was concerned, one was looking forward to the future and another was just writing to say 'hello'. I'm so lucky to have some really great friends and I love them all to bits. Reading their emails makes me realise what my emails mean to them too. It's easy sometimes to skip through a week and put off writing just because we all lead such busy lives. But sometimes, all it takes is a simple 'hello' or even just a few 'xxx' in your inbox to change how you feel about your day. It's the tiny, sweet, thoughtful moments that break up routine and often mean such a lot more than you every imagined they might x

Today has been a rubbish day!

Though, don't jump to conclusions because I'm not talking about the kind of rubbish you're thinking of! I mean the kind that litters up your life and eventually bugs you. I got into my car this morning and there it was, again, my rubbish pot. It's so kind of mini to put a tiny pot in my car so I can fill it up with sweet papers. However, it's just another thing that shouts 'fix me' or 'I need attention' every now and again. I can spend days procrastinating about the tiny things that need doing. It's like there's a mental list in my head and when something either becomes really important or just bugs me enough, I will do something about it. Today, I emptied the bin in my car. In a strange way I know that delaying is addictive. It's a choice and I love choices. Things that need doing today aren't giving me a choice so in my head, I delay the less important things... just because I can. The delaying tactic, and we all know what that is, sets off a chain reaction of excuses why we shouldn't do something or other. Ginger calls it my distraction technique. I'll often find 10 other jobs that suddenly hit the top of my 'to do' list when I'm in a delaying mood. All I'm doing is putting off something in favour of doing something else, that I've been putting off for longer. It's a good game and the best bit is glow of satisfaction that you get when you finally get around to doing something you've been putting off for ages. People who are brilliantly organised and do everything straight away rarely get quite the same feeling. Well, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!

Stand further back...

Don't you sometimes get the feeling that you're just surrounded by problems? Like in those old cowboy films when the indians surrounded the waggon train and hurled arrows at them. They didn't have a choice but I do. I realise that I may not be able to shift obstacle X, fix problem Y or resolve conflict Z but I can sure as hell move out of the way! Having choices and being able to act on them is a wonderful gift. There's a lot of change happening all around me at the moment. Some I'm aware of and some I'm not, though I know it's happening. Not all change is bad, some is good, the trick is knowing the difference. Like being the snowgirl in a snow globe, someone keeps shaking the darned thing so I can't see what's happening. Though of course, I know something is happening because I'm getting giddy! Just when the snow clears and settles again, along comes another comedian to shake things up. Even the weather is unsettled. One minute it's hot and sunny, next it's chilly and wet. Clarity is power so I think I need to stop writing, get out my duster and rub the mist off my rose-tinted spectacles. Life in June isn't rose-tinted, it's more of a greyish-blue colour. Or is that the snow falling again?!

Mamma ER!

Tuesday night has never been so much fun! Luscious Lisa invited me to Frenchay's hospital's rendition of Mamma ER. We dined at Brown's for a quick catch up on Lisa's fab holiday in Turkey then both drove over to Filton for the show. Having spent Christmas in the hospital, I felt a kind of affinity with the cast who threw themselves into the production with such vigor. Completely new lyrics and all sung by the Emergency department at Frenchay Hospital. Superbly talented and funnier than anything I've watched on tv recently, it was a real treat. They really could sell the script, it was that good.

Two burnt fingers and a hole in the wall..

Oh what a joyous day I've had - seriously! I have scrubbed my window sills, tidied up after being away and having decided to remove the light fitting so I could hang my picture, I forgot that bulbs get hot when they're left on - doh! You know you've burnt your skin when it's just so hot that you can hear.. second thoughts, no graphic descriptions. Good job I'm not about to go away to the US where they have those peculiar finger and thumb print recognition tests on entry! I did manage to put up a couple of piccies, had yummy mozzarella and tomato salad for supper then my friend Richard called and invited me to go and see his cottage, now that he's moved back in. I'm not used to being in a house but his is very lovely. I had the guided tour and he has a garden full of honeysuckle and rambling roses, very nice.

Liverpool based artist..

There were galleries from all around the world - not least Opus from Newcastle in the north of England! I particularly liked the work of Liverpool based artist, Dave White. This one entitled, Say you love me, portrays iconic glamour of the Hollywood pin-ups from the 1940's and 1950's.

What a nice guy..

I like art that intrigues me, something that inspires a debate and what I would describe as being 4 or 5 dimensional! This picture uses very narrow strips of metal with indentations and tabs that create the shadows that in turn, create the face. The one on the right is created with holes cut in a canvas - depends where you're standing as to whether you can see anything. The artist. Pablo Tamayo, was very sincere, very informative and always stopped by for a chat when I was sitting outside with my coffee and butter cake.

Fun stuff

Scope may not be everyone's cup of tea but I loved it because the art there is just so diverse. From smoke ring installations to room setting installations created from old lottery tickets - it had it all! The title of the project is 'Ghost of a Dream'... using collected, discarded lottery tickets.

An installation by reedbarrow...

New York artist Reed Barrow debuts You and I will be together in the end, a new kinetic sculptural installation. The artist uses holes in the wall to hurl smoke ring vortices towards each other over a distance of 50ft. The smoke rings speed towards each other colliding in the middle of the space in a singular explosion of smoke.
You and I will be together in the end..

In good company!

Tuesday was press and celebrity invite only day so guess what, I missed Brad! Oh well, it appears he had money to spend because he reportedly paid just under $1 million for a Neo Rauch painting. He wasn't the only star at the show. Naomi Campbell, the ex Mrs Boris Becker and Karl Largerfeld were also at the show though I suspect some more for the limelight than the Picassos!

A Basel sandwich!

Nothing beats a bit of traveling. May was such a fantastic month for traveling that I'm determined to keep getting on planes and experience new sights, sounds and scents. This time it was Basel in Switzerland. I've never been and had been assured that Switzerland was clean, friendly and a great location. I was not disappointed. My ticket to the Solo Project what the real reason for going and I could never have imagined what a fantastic time I would have just looking at art. I know it's my favourite thing to do right now but I had no idea of the scale and depth of Art Basel. My flight was packed with arty types, that's how I'd describe them, and too full of their own importance for my liking. Not the best introduction to my trip but things were destined to get better. The Solo Project, was just one of many exhibitions in Basel, all focussing on contemporary art. Richard from the Bath gallery, recommended Scope to me - he said I'd like it and he was spot on - it was fantastic! Just the kind of art I like with people who can speak - fab! Here's a link to a visual you might like.. the artist has developed the technology to create laser outlines which are fun to watch.

http://www.stephan-reusse.com/start/en_works_laser.html

Here's what weekends are made for.. !

Happy faces! I've stared June as I mean to go on.. lots of visitors, visiting new places and just having fun! Had a fab time with Liz and the boys over the first part of the weekend then.. Ginger arrived, again! Liz and the boys had to catch the train back to London so we took ourselves off to the Bell to have a very yummy dinner. Here we are having a mad moment outside the pub. We both had our cameras out, mine is balanced on the wall for this shot - got us tho!

Frisking my visitors..

Why do my visitors love wearing my clothes so much? Only the girls, I might add! Liz took a fancy to my stripey top and my black cardigan. Ginger fancied my grey cardigan with the frilly hemline. I guess I should be flattered that they want to be seen wearing my wardrobe! Comes of having rails rather than cupboards, of course. It's like walking into a well stocked clothes shop from their point of view - I'm just grateful that we don't have the same size feet or my shoes would definitely be walking out the door!

My birthday present... !

Look what Ginger made me? My gift is fabulous, packed with little piccies of me and Ginger - I love it!

Anyone for cucumber sandwiches... ?

We are having a fab day today! Just resting having been to my 2nd polo match; still don't understand the rules and constantly amazed by the number of folks who go but don't bother watching what's going on! It was a charity event though and they did raise over 40k on the day - WOW - so I can forgive them for not being that interested in the gee gees. Me, Liz, Jeremy and his friend from Boston, Kyle (aptly named Cotswold Kyle just because he fitted in so well!) had english tea in the marquee. A pot of tea, sandwiches with the crusts cut off and a selection of cakes including the best homemade scones with clotted cream and raspberry jam - very tasty! We've obviously tired Kyle out, either that or the jet lag has got the better of him, because he's snoozing now in the chair, bless.

What colour is water?

Quite clearly green though it would be very hard to say exactly what shade of green - there are just too many! The level of the lake is very low and the water has taken on an unusual shade of sapphire gin. There are great clumps of weed to be seen from my window as the levels drop and the water plants start to show through. That suggests the water level is in feet where I believe that the lake is most likely much deeper than that.

My last chip!

Two long days at Origin towers, phew... followed by a fab evening at BB. One thing I've learnt about life is that good friends are hard to come by. When you find a very special one, you should hold onto them as if you are holding onto the string of a balloon. If you don't, they could just float away. I don't mean tie them down, that's not what great friends do, ooooer! But, it's important to keep in touch and keep that spark alight because you never know.. Know what I hear you say? You never know when or if.. how or whether.. which are the very times when you need a great friend. I know what a great friend is. It's someone you feel an empathy with. Someone whose on the same wavelength. Someone you can say anything to without offending them and someone who always has your best interests at heart. Time always passes by so quickly with a great friend and you leave them hoping to see them again sometime soon xx even if they're the chip monster & eat all your chips! ps though truth be known, you'd give them your last chip x giving someone your last rolo is so 2008 darling!