The Tempest Tomorrow

 

Very excitingly I'm off tomorrow to meet up with a girlfriend for a couple of days in Stratford Upon Avon. We've booked to see Alex Kingston in the RSC production of Shakespeare's The Tempest.

I have seen a fair few of Shakespeare's plays in my time, including one when I was at secondary school which starred a young Vanessa Redgrave. The Mr and I have also been to the Globe in London. But the RSC has been on my list for an age. I'm really looking forward to it.

I Adore Margaret Rutherford

 

There have been a few of the black and white Miss Marple films on the tellybox recently. I bloomin love Margaret Rutherford who stars in them as Jane Marple. I have the films on DVD but when they're on I have to watch them. Is that just me, or do any of my blogging chums do the same?

Anyhoo I have just found a clip of Margaret in a film I have never seen, apparently she won an oscar for her role as the Duchess of Brighton. For my overseas chums, Brighton is in Sussex. 

MAC

 

The Mr and I popped down to the Art Club exhibition at The Midland Arts Centre last Monday. I loved it of course, the Mr not so much. He's more of a representational art kind of guy. 18th century sailing ships in full battle mode is his favourite thing. We almost missed the bulk of the exhibition as the in-house signage leaves a lot to be desired, so remember that if you are going.

I really enjoyed all the tv programmes and I've become quite the Grayson fan. The stories behind the art works were beautifully told by the artists themselves. They were brought to mind as I wandered through the galleries. 

Here is a small selection of  the works I most admired.

And of course these thoughtful takes on modern life by the Perrys.

I envy Birmingham their Midland Arts Centre (mac). Gallaries, cinema, open air theatre, parkland, bars, restaurants, and space for courses and workshops. What a dream. Sadly nothing like that near to us, even though there are plenty of empty large heritage buildings that would fit the job very nicely. All down to the coin I'm afraid.

I'm A Luxury Update

 

Just a little update for my crafty followers. (I know you're all crafty in one way or another, ha ha.)

The 'Princess Diana' jumper front side has been completed and blocked and I'm fairly happy with it. It's been a bit of work because the pattern was wrong, which I've managed to sort out, and I'm starting to suspect the amounts of yarn may be wrong too. Nice to have some wool left over I suppose but being a thrifty Ms, I would rather have saved the pennies, the wool was quite costly.

Hope you're all having a good weekend. I'll be back soon with a peek at the Grayson Perry Art Club exhibition that the Mr and I went to last Monday.

More Of Trolls & Tromso

 My lovely blogging chum, The Cranky Crow  who lives on the other side of the pond, tells me she had a great fondness for the toy trolls of the 1960s. I hadn't realised that Troll mania had started in the USA before we even got a glimpse of them in the UK.

A memorable holiday in Brightlingsea when I was but a wee child introduced me to the 'Dam' trolls. I was totally beguiled by them and had to have one at all costs. I must have mithered my parents incessantly and tantrumised on full power, because they acquiesced and bought me one. I was totally in love. 

I have just discovered their creator was a Danish chap, Thomas Dam who initially carved a troll toy for his daughter, way back in the 1940s, modelling it's ugly face on a local butcher to whom he owed money. Who knew? 

Over time he went into production of the Goodluck Trolls and earned a jolly good living.

Stories abound of the good luck these adorable creatures brought to folks lives. Including famously the troll who accompanied Betty Miller, the first female pilot to traverse the Pacific Ocean solo. On her return she took her faithful troll to The White House to meet JFK.

Unfortunately for Thomas Dam their good luck didn't extend to him, as he bungled the copyright registration of his creation and soon fell foul of imitators. Disillusioned he scaled back production to Denmark , where I hope he had made enough money to live well. 

You can tell I'm still smitten with these cheeky creatures eh? And of course I have been on Ebay looking for the original 1960s Dam Trolls since our return from Norway, where the only trolls that were available to buy there were horrible cheap things made in China.

Anyway enough of lucky trolls, let's get back to our Tromso trip.

The Mr and I had the best time in Tromso, we went with friends who knew the area well so that really helped. If any of you are thinking of going, I can recommend the orgainised trips, we did the Sami reindeer experience and also a Fjord cruise on a modern large windowed electric boat. Obviously it is snowy and cold and there is always a tremendous slip hazard, so attaching rubber spiked covers over your shoes is a must. Food and drink is hellishly expensive, but of course they can't grow a thing in the Winter climate, nearly everything must be imported. As an example 2 drinks and a pizza is around £70, and two Burger King meals around £25. We opted to book with a rather nice hotel where breakfast, afternoon Fika and dinner were included in the price, this is also a must in my opinion. 

Tromso Part 2 The Trolls

 

We did some research before our visit to Norway, just to be on the safe side, wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of any supernatural Nordic creatures.

First stop then on the holiday was of course the Troll Museum - irresistible. An enchanting and entertaining place with augmented reality real live trolls!!

Also displays of wonderfully visualised Norweigan fairy tales, with hand made original figures all with great attention to detail.

If you're very kind to the trolls and they decide not to eat you, they may let you join them and become a troll yourself.

Elvis & Sinatra

 How is this for a bit of fun? You're welcome.

Tromso Norway A Little Review Part 1 - The Reindeers

 

Hello lovely blogging chums, we are back from Norway safe and sound and relishing the sun and daylight in Blighty in a way I never thought possible. Whilst we were there the sun did peek over the horizon but at this time of year that's as much as it does and only for a few hours a day. Generally from late November till the beginning of February it is permanantly dark. The local folk seem to leave all their lights on almost all the time and it does create a warming twinkly glow albeit totally artificial. 

We were extremely lucky with the weather and the day of our reindeer experience was clear and dry. We had a sleigh ride for about 25 minutes which was so beautiful, tons of thick white snow made us glide almost silently through the landscape. We then had the opportunity to feed the sweet creatures, most of whom are pregnant at this time of year, and very hungry. 

Following on, we were priviledged to spend some time in a Sami dwelling around a blazing open fire listening to our young guide explain the history of the Sami people and the political struggles they have within their various homelands. Our outing was obviously a tourist event but I did feel I gained an understanding about the real life the modern Sami people live.

I'll be back soon with some more of Norway, (I don't want to make the posts too long). 

Can I also extend a warm welcome to a new follower Janice Cooke