A Day on Safari...

Heathcliff...

A brand new adaptation brings Emily Bronte’s passionate and spellbinding tale of forbidden love and revenge to life on stage. Set on the wild, windswept Yorkshire moors, Wuthering Heights is the tempestuous story of free-spirited Catherine and dark, brooding Heathcliff. As children running wild and free on the moors, Cathy and Heathcliff are inseparable. As they grow up their affection deepens into a passionate love, but Cathy lets her head rule her heart as she chooses to marry the wealthy Edgar Linton. Heathcliff flees broken-hearted only to return seeking terrible vengeance on those he holds responsible, with epic and tragic results... A dark and somewhat less than compelling storyline though you couldn't fault the production. The narration was very good and the characters well played, it just wasn't my favourite performance of the year. I now remember why I struggled to read this the first time around and even though seeing it on stage should make it easier to understand, it doesn't help when you miss bits. I would like to apologise now for waking everyone up when I dropped my water bottle. No excuses... and if it's any consolation, it woke me up too! He he...

The Szabo family+1

Here's what 55 years of marriage looks like! If I look that good after 55 years of marriage, I'll consider myself to be extremely lucky. I just need to find a groom and I'll be on my way to happiness... !
My family know how to celebrate. Today is mum and dad's 55th wedding anniversary - imagine that. 55 years of living with the same person, day in and day out and they're still smiling. The family gathering spanned the generations with fathers, mothers, daughters, cousins, sisters, brothers, grandmas, grandads, nephews and nieces. I have my lovely friend Fi to thank for the location - the Swan did us proud and it's rare to get us all together these days which made the day all the more special. It was just the start of a brill weekend for yours truly and I thank my lucky stars that I have such a great family and fabulous friends.


The thinker in my family...








The great reader in my family...

Busier...

Than a busy person's busy bits! Here's a pic of the grand opening at Cabot Circus today. No space for a little person like me. I've decided that I'll visit next week when everyone else has been! I aim to shop at Harvey Nicks, eat at Brasserie Blanc and ride up and down the escalators all day long.

OMG... circus legs!

To celebrate the opening of the biggest and best new shopping experience in the wonderful city of Bristol - Cabot Circus - I wore my circus legs today! I carefully matched my wardrobe to my legs which are 'on-trend' (what a naff expression!) and yes, I knew I'd bought slightly, subtle patterned raspberry tights. They looked fabulous in the mirror from a distance. It was only when I got into my car and suddenly my legs were stretched out in front of me that I pulled one of those Dame Edna faces and shrieked! So, I've re-named them my circus legs and now they just make me smile.
Apart from that then it was another busy day at Origin Towers. I did have a minor tantrum this afternoon - sooooooo unlike me. Changing my email system over to one that makes more work for me isn't such a great idea - DOH! But, it's done now and I have to live with the fact that I now have two accounts to juggle with. IT now stands for something else which would make my raspberry circus legs blush like peaches if I said it OUT LOUD! Calming down with a nice cuppa (no cake!) was the best way to purge myself of the nasty email situation and I settled down to backseat designing a poly for one of the mags.
Today was also CMOTY day so we had visitors. Only nice people are invited. We went to Loch Fyne for lunch and it was fab. Come to think about it, it's always fab at Loch Fyne. My shell on prawns starter was fresh and tasty. I had a bit of a moment when the mackerel arrived with its head and tail intact. But, ignoring the bits on the ends, I just ate the middle bit and it was lovely. I do believe it's going chilly. I drove back from my favourite shop just after 7pm and had to put my lights on. Autumn is here and I'll need to think about my heating very soon... cosy hey x

Happy Crafting Spaces...

Here's what creativity looks like! It's not pretty, nor is it logical or particularly organised, but it's filled with potential. Some people are crayons and like to draw pictures whereas others are more into words or numbers. I'm definitely a crayon with a passion for words. Being creative makes me happy. I can lose myself in the creative process and although it can be frustrating too, it's a journey of discovery, both of the unknown and of myself.

Secret Santa meets the Strictly Secret Scrappers!

Take 8 girls who have a passion for paper and glue. Put them together and what do you get? More fun in a weekend than most people will have all year! I was invited to join the girls in Derbyshire this weekend as an honorary member of G+G’s scrapping group. I decided to take the long way there via Paperarts (of course!) and enjoyed a tasty trout for lunch in a Worcestershire pub. It was going to be a day of great expectations and surprising revelations. Arriving in Derbyshire late in the afternoon, after quite a long drive north taking in some of the best scenery Derbyshire has to offer. I could have done without the dawdlers but hey ho, the sun was shining, I was topless and this was just the start of a wonderful weekend. There are always one or two special highlights and this weekend was no exception. The Quiz, watching Strictly Come Dancing, making a special birthday card, scrapbooking my love affair with the US, Gwyneth’s birdhouse challenge, the silly stories, staying up til 2am, late night cheese and biscuits, and so much more.. I learnt that I really am hopeless at dog spotting, not bad at ariel views, but seriously rubbish at general pub quizzes. Yet, me and Ginger still won! I have learnt how to die-cut better than I did before and discovered the finer art of embossing. The lovely Ginger bought me delicious amaretto biscuits back from her hols and a hamster! No, not Richard Hammond! I could be forgiven for thinking it was a hamster because it appeared to be a bundle of shaved wood wrapped in brown paper. But after further investigation, I discovered the most beautiful hand blown champagne glasses, which Ginger had bought me for my birthday. No, in case you’re wondering, it’s not my birthday again yet, thank you! Talking of birthday’s, I spent Sunday evening back in the Cotswolds at one of my favourite places with one of my favourite new people. Someone there asked about you Ginger… we must book dinner for 3 weeks time...

Doing the washing was never this much fun...

Can you guess what inspired these images...??






I love photoshop! I love experimenting with my digital images and just seeing where I can get to. I went to the library today and picked up a book aptly titled 'Idiot's Guide' so I can find more ways to play. Sometimes, it's good to know just enough to get you started. Now of course, I want to know more.. and more. Ok, not many people would see the possibilities in a bowl of washing, but I do. The vibrant colours of my hand washing seemed just too good an opportunity to miss so I got out my camera and got snapping. All these images come from just the one source. Clever little programme.. clever little 'me'... x

My life is... one big cappuccino!

Oh what a lovely, lazy weekend. Plenty of 'me' time and just doing those jobs I rarely have time for. I took my little Min to Tescos. Why? To get it handwashed.. lovely. I went shopping with Tash. We had such a brilliant day and finished it off at the wine bar. I sat outside Hobbs with my cappuccino and a muffin watching the world go by before wandering along to the ironmongers to buy screws. btw, my mouse has gone walkabout, hence why this is more difficult to write. I hung one of my wonderful pictures that has been sitting in the hall for what must be over 2 months. Why is it such a challenge to do such things? I drove into Chelts on Sunday, sat in La Scala with my grilled hullumi cheese salad and another cappuccino! My life is just one big cappuccino!

LIFE IS SWEET

This week I've been collecting "QUOTES". It started when I heard a couple I really liked on the radio. They struck a cord with me and now that my brain is tuned into 'quote-mode' I've picked up a few more that I like. Life is indeed very sweet so I have made up a quote of my own to celebrate that fact!

Today is... happy 1st year in the mill day!

I've put the flags out and I'm celebrating my lovely apartment today. Here I am 12 months ago waiting for the BIG move. Now I've been here for a whole year, I still think it's wonderful and love waking up here to the sound of the water and the wildlife. I never tire of being here. It was a great move and although I loved living at the barn...

I know I'm happy living anywhere where my heart feels at home.

I still remember walking in here and falling in love with the place. I can recall my excitement at buying this place and even though it's further away from my family and friends, it's brought us closer together. People come to stay here. My family and friends visit here. I have found new friends here too and that will always be so, wherever I go.

Here is a stepping stone to somewhere that I've not discovered yet.

How exciting is that. Life's journey is an intricate pattern and we have to live every day as if it was our last, treat everyone with kindness and take advantage of every opportunity. Trust your instincts, follow your dreams and smile ;-) easy really... just watch those swans go!

Flowers for a Princess

I lie in sleepless nights
Looking up at the dark sky
Seeing the moon so bright
Feeling your soul by my side

Flowers for friends, flowers to say “I’m thinking of you”, flowers to cheer you up and flowers to send your love. I love receiving flowers and these are flowers for… “being the best hostess (was there ever any doubt?!” and cooking dinner”. And very yummy it was too! Then it was off to the cinema to see ‘The Duchess’. What a fabulous film and great company too! I was totally enthralled and moved by some of the scenes. I shed a few tears and got that weird twisting pain that only a mother can feel in the pit of her stomach at the thought of giving away one of her babies. Keira was excellent and this movie showcased her talent in a way not yet seen on the big screen. She deserves to win an award for her performance, as I will eventually do for mine!

Home sweet home...

Here's Little Mystic Meg with her mystical house - made all by herself with bits of paper and sticky tape! Quite a challenge considering the roof didn't want to stay on but she wouldn't be beaten and just found more sticky tape to solve the problem!

Not guilty.. ;-) who ate all the puds..?!

Not me.. not sure who this is.. ?! Naomi's certainly got a talent for photography!
I could try to deny it. I could even blame it all on dear, sweet Naomi. But, the evidence is plain for all to see... YUMMY! Me and Naomi had a lovely lunch at the Gumstool Inn. Naomi chose the puddings so we could share them and we made a good effort to demolish both the bread and butter pud and the summer pud, both of course served with the most enormous scoop of clotted cream! Every mouthful was mouthwatering and worth every calorie!

'Me' and hamsters...

Today has been another busy day juggling one project with a zillion others. Yet, today is different. Today, I'm peeping over the parapet and OMG, this is such a great feeling! This rush of fresh air may be short-lived, we all know there's no respite when it comes to magazine deadlines, but I can smell the success and that pleases me. Life has been a roller coaster ride over the past month, or so. I can only liken it to being stuck a very small and cramped hamster's wheel. Not something I've experienced in the 'real-world', but in 'anna-land', anything can happen! When my mind goes into free fall, I see my life played out in images, not words, and as with everything in 'anna-land', they can often be weird and wacky! People say they have 'Out of body experiences'... I know what they mean. Like seeing images speeded up. The scenes from Times Square, NYC with the neon lights making streaks across the night sky. Yet there's one tiny person standing amongst the noise and commotion - that's 'me'. So, back to my hamster's wheel... with my legs frantically making it turn faster and faster and getting me no where. The faster I have run, the more frustrated I have felt. That's what getting no where feels like. But in this age of green things, my guardian angel did something wonderful. She made sure that my hamster's wheel was connected to the National Grid! That's the real reason that this week, my electricity bill was cut, just like that. It's nice to look back and know that I got somewhere after all ;-)

Green fingered friends...

I may not have green fingers but I know someone who has! Fi & Rob have an abundance of beautiful plants, not least these wonderful fuchsias.

Our Wills...

Hagley Hall is the venue for another outdoor Shakespeare evening in the company of these two lovely people. It truly was a Midsummer Night's Dream! No rain, no wind, just a balmy evening in the grounds of Hagley with a picnic and a few bottles of vino. Produced and performed by the Chapterhouse Theatre Company, the shining lights were definitely Puck and Bottom! There were many hilarious moments and I thoroughly enjoyed another foree into the weird and wonderful, cultural world of Shakespeare!

a top weekend... !

Us girls know how to relax! Up not so early on Saturday morning, a cup of tea and a girly gossip then a dip in the spa. Two hours later we both had one or two more wrinkles and far less worries! It certainly beats anything I get up to on a weekend!

Mad Monday!

Here's the view from the 5th floor of our office in Bristol. As I looked out of the window today suddenly we noticed that there was someone sitting on the corner of the roof of the car park. The panic that whipped around the office was startling. People on phones trying to call the police and others just scared with that was unfolding before our eyes. We watched horrified as a guy appeared on the roof and walked towards what appeared to be a young woman with long, dark hair. He boldly approached the woman from behind, he swiftly flung his arms around her and held on tightly as she started to struggle wildly. We all thought she was going to pull him off the roof with her. Within a few seconds there were five men trying to stop her struggling as they pulled her down off the edge of the roof. But something just didn't seem right - 'she' was too strong to be a young woman. Bristol is a strange place at times and sometimes things are not quite what they seem. The police and an ambulance appeared within a minute blocking the roads around the car park building and with the imminent panic over, we took a deep breath and waited. Imagine our surprise as the police marched an elderly balding man out of the building! Perhaps it was a stunt, or just an act of sheer madness. He certainly disturbed a few of us in the office... !

a funny thing happened on the way back from London...

There I was having another mini adventure when I found I was following a car and guess what...? the registration was none other than... BOD! HA HA! If you're read below then you'll understand the significance of those 3 little letters. Made me chuckle as I drove back from the BIG City. London was great today. I drove down to visit the girls and we went to Covent Garden for lunch of sea bass with black and green olive gnocchi, roasted tomatoes and watercress... yum! All of course washed down with a pretty glass of blush pino. You can see I was having fun... Then I had a wander round a very busy Oxford street with the lovely K80. We went back to the apartment via Starbucks and the most amazing confectionary shop. They had cadbury's mint flakes, cherry chocolates and all kinds of popular branded in flavours that I'd never seen before. The north circular was a delight on the way home. They are such aggressive drivers down there. They cut you up, undertake you and would run over you as much as look at you. It was a relief to get back onto the M4 and head west back to fresh air and sanity. See that big black spiddy on the wall of the restaurant...? I caught one just like that when I got home, it was the size of a wopping great saucer!. It can fly now ;-) x

where to start...

A whole month of adventures have happened so there's a fair bit of catching up to do! I was thinking about what I'd choose as the highlight. It has to be 'The Thinker'.. I meet some interesting guys but this guy 'Le Penseur' has to be one of the most powerful images I've ever seen. Created out of both marble and cast in bronze, he depicts a man in sober meditation battling with a powerful internal struggle. The sculpture is nude, as Rodin wanted a heroic figure in the tradition of Michelangelo, to represent intellect as well as poetry. He sits proud on his pedestal in the gardens of the Musee Rodin in Paris. He can be viewed from the road outside and there are over 20 versions of this cast in museums around the world. I have now seen the original - woo hoo!

This guy just impressed me by his sheer size (yep, call me shallow!) he looked like the kinda guy who'd protect me and let's face it, he'd be great at getting rid of those cobwebs! His heart of stone might take a hell of a lot of softening and he's unlikely to keep my toes warm in bed but hey, looking on the bright side, I've got a soft top! I did try to smuggle him out of the gardens of Versailles but sadly, he'd been standing there for so long, he was rooted to the spot!

Shakespeare and ashes...

No one has dates like I do! Sunday evening finds me sitting on a bench beside the river sharing a bottle of wine. No real surprises there I hear you say. Except for the fact that I'm squigged up on the bench between Bod on one end and dead persons flowers on the other end...! Perhaps not the most tactful way to describe them, but true all the same. As I walked over to the bench by the side of the river i could see what appeared to be bunches of flowers in buckets and a large arrangement sitting on the bench. It was only when I got closer that I realised they were a couple of weeks old. I even had to go and look in the river to see if there was a body... no, phew! It's not the kinda subject to be discussing on a first date and anyone who knows me would have whisked me away from there in a flash... but I knew that that wasn't going to happen. And if you think that's surreal, read on because that was only the beginning.

As the clouds gathered above us big rain drops started to fall so we hurried our wine and dashed back to the car park. We were in separate cars so having made the decision to leave mine closer to the venue, we both left to drive the few miles to Slimbridge for the outdoor performance of A Winter's Tale. This is when the heavens opened!. The rain poured and for one fleeting moment I thought I would just keep driving as far away from that place as I could. But I'm much to well mannered for that. I just thought I must be totally, stark staring bonkers to go and sit in a field to watch Shakespeare in such atrocious weather. Sometimes life throws us a challenge and tonight was such a night! Within the hour I was sitting in a field in the pouring rain with a bunch of other people who were obviously totally bonkers. Kindred spirits you could call them ;-)

With my jumper, my coat, my hat, my scarf and umbrella and a bar of Green & Blacks... and Bod, for that's what I'll call him. Just Bod, nice but undeniably doomed from the start... The performance continued through the wind and the rain and although I was seriously questioning my sanity at this point, in a crazy way, you know what, I was really enjoying the play. The cast were amazing and delivered every line as if it were a summer's day. I admired their fortitude, their great spirit and sense of adventure and as the play had to go on, so I decided I was going to sit there right up until the bitter end. 3 hours later.. the sense of relief as I got back into my own car to drive home was without doubt, enormous. I know stuff happens to me and life can seem pretty odd at times, but tonight could only be described as... a real CRACKER!

Paris, the city of romance...

Don't you just love it! Everyone else is taking photos across the Seine, snapping away at all the most famous landmarks of this great city and I looked down and voila... here on the grass below is the most romantic symbol in the world. I don't know where it came from, or even if it was supposed to be there, but I like to think it was there, just so that I could photograph it to show it to you. Often the best things in life are the things other people don't notice. I bet that most of the visitors were so busy scaling the dizzy heights of this oh-so-famous Eiffel structure that they didn't notice what was carved out of the lawns beneath them. Today I looked down and I'm so glad I did. x

Anna Pavlova...

Here's a dance costume which includes real feathers, photographed at the Paris Opera House. A lesser known fact is that she spent her private days at Ivy House in Hampstead, London where she kept a collection of exotic birds and animals - including a pair of pet swans. These were no doubt the inspiration for her remarkable onstage performance. She was perhaps the most famous dancer in the world.

A striking piece of structural art...

Gustave Eiffel was named the 'Magician of Iron' when he created this temporary structure way back in 1889. It was only supposed to stand for 20 years but it's still standing. A symbol of love, peace and hope, I'm sure Gustave would applaud the awesome twinkling light show which happens every evening when darkness falls which quite honestly, keeps his magic alive. I can only marvel at the amazing design skills required to create such stunningly, beautiful curves.

From someone who took an instant dislike to history in her first year of high school, and failed her history exam consistently every year after... I now find the history of such iconic structures fascinating. What bored me to tears then, now enthralls me. Prepare to be enthralled... the design for this gigantic monument was unanimously selected from 700 proposals to symbolise the centennial of French Revolution. Built as the entrance arch to the Paris Exhibition, it's fair to say that the Parisians weren't that fond of it from the start. They considered it to be an eyesore. But in the first year of the exhibition, it's true value as a tourist magnet was realised when it was visited by over 2 million visitors in 1889. With the money rolling in, the tower quickly became a national symbol of France. It is now the most visited paid monument in the world! Well done Eiffel...!

Who could believe that in 1909 it was due to be demolished? The lease on the land it stands on had expired and it was only saved from the bulldozers by the fact that it was being used as a radio transmission antenna. A little known fact is that Eiffel originally planned to build the tower in Barcelona but the spaniards thought it was strange and expensive so turned it down. A year later the design was accepted by the French and the rest as they say, is history... and I love it!
Did you know..? Our Eiffel was a talented chap. His skills as a phenomenal structural engineer were exactly what was required when it came to building the one and only, 'Statue of Liberty.' Designer, Bartholdi, needed someone who could take on the challenge of designing the massive iron pylon on which the lady now stands. Hence the reason why there is a quarter scale bronze model of Lady Liberty standing alongside the Seine, 2km north of the Eiffel tower.

Monet's Garden..

Enchanting.. where else but Monet's Garden...

How do they do this..?

Could there be such a thing as a cone-shaped tree cutter? How do they trim these trees with such precision? Every tree has been trimmed so perfectly, not a twig out of place and every angle lined up perfectly with the tree alongside. I'm left pondering...

The other kiss...

Lost in a moment Rodin captures two lovers in a heavenly kiss. I wonder how many others have stood beside this statue, taken photographs and shared this kiss? How many more will do the same? If you had to be locked inside a moment, I'd say this was a pretty good choice, wouldn't you? x

One thing I've learnt is that...

Mothers are always right, particularly wise ones like mine. So the debate has to be... who is the more glad? In the blue corner is Pollyanna sponsored by my Mom and in the pink corner, Anna of Green Gables sponsored by me! The internet is a wonderful web of words so here's the first bit of glad news... Extract from Anne of Green Gables..

On Wednesday Miss Barry took them to the Exhibition grounds and kept them there all day.
"It was splendid," Anne related to Marilla later on. "I never imagined anything so interesting. I don't really know which department was the most interesting. I think I liked the horses and the flowers and the fancywork best. Josie Pye took first prize for knitted lace. I was real glad she did. And I was glad that I felt glad, for it shows I'm improving, don't you think, Marilla, when I can rejoice in Josie's success? Mr. Harmon Andrews took second prize for Gravenstein apples and Mr. Bell took first prize for a pig. Diana said she thought it was ridiculous for a Sunday-school superintendent to take a prize in pigs, but I don't see why. Do you? She said she would always think of it after this when he was praying so solemnly. Clara Louise MacPherson took a prize for painting, and Mrs. Lynde got first prize for homemade butter and cheese. So Avonlea was pretty well represented, wasn't it?
Pretty GLAD wouldn't you say?

Extract from Pollyanna..

"And so it's hurt that I am, and not sick," she sighed at last. "Well, I'm glad of that."
"G-glad, Pollyanna?" asked her aunt, who was sitting by the bed.
"Yes. I'd so much rather have broken legs like Mr. Pendleton's than life-long-invalids like Mrs. Snow, you know. Broken legs get well, and lifelong-invalids don't." Miss Polly--who had said nothing whatever about broken legs--got suddenly to her feet and walked to the little dressing table across the room. She was picking up one object after another now, and putting each down, in an aimless fashion quite unlike her usual decisiveness. Her face was not aimless-looking at all, however; it was white and drawn. On the bed Pollyanna lay blinking at the dancing band of colors on the ceiling, which came from one of the prisms in the window. "I'm glad it isn't smallpox that ails me, too," she murmured contentedly. "That would be worse than freckles. And I'm glad 'tisn't whooping cough--I've had that, and it's horrid--and I'm glad 'tisn't appendicitis nor measles, 'cause they're catching--measles are, I mean--and they wouldn't let you stay here."
"You seem to--to be glad for a good many things, my dear," faltered Aunt Polly, putting her hand to her throat as if her collar bound. Pollyanna laughed softly.
Pollyanna is so much gladder! In the books, her philosophy of life centers on what she calls "The Glad Game", an optimistic attitude she learned from her father. The game consists of finding something to be glad about in every situation. At the height of her popularity, Pollyanna was known as "The Glad Girl", and Parker Brothers even created The Glad Game, a board game based on the book and character. Whoopie Do!

The blue corner wins and you know what... I'm very glad about that! x

ps the other funny thing is that when I went to find these pollyanna pictures, guess what music started blaring out from a very American deardaisycottage blog site..?! None other than Mom's favourite... Acker Bilk - you rock MOM! x