Our jolly good fun day out

Wendy and I went up town today to see the Antony Gormley exhibition.It was brilliant , as expected, and the fog room was quite an experience. The fog really did restrict visibility to a hand in front of your face .It was wet and , cold and bright and more than a little claustraphobic.

Why did he make this installation , you may ask.

I quote from the author

"Architecture is supposed to be the location of security and certainty about where you are.It is supposed to protect you from the weather, from darkness, from uncertainty.Blind light undermines all of that.You enter this interior space that is the equivalent of being on top of a mountain or at the bottom of the sea.It is very important for me that inside it you find the outside. Also you become the immersed figure in an endless ground, literally the subject of the work."

Yep, just as I thought(!!??)

There were loads of other greatly moving exhibits also and my idea of art is something that elicits a good response from you or something that is obviously incredibly talented.

This was the former. Well worth a visit.

Wendy broke her oyster card on the way by sticking it in the machine instead of touching it on the yellow circle.She blamed me of course saying she had just copied me.

Yes , well, hey there, I had a one day travel card!!

We walked over Waterloo bridge , had a wicked sausage toad in the Wellington pub and then mosied back through the embankment gardens.

Got home before the rush hour.Great day out.Knackered now.

Ive been ill.......or...The Norwalk virus and me.

I know, its pathetic isnt it? I thought the last bout of illness would be it for a year but no.
I wont go into to details but suffice to say my 48hours involved sleeping, the toilet, more sleeping, more toilet...you know the rest.
Anyway, my dad and my uncle Alec both had it so we all decided we must have got it at the hospital.
Better now, blogging again.

My wish visiting list 2

Blind Light.......Anthony Gormleys exhibition at the Haywood Gallery

My wish visiting list

The yorkshire sculpture park

Auntie Elsie and the polish woman

My Auntie Elsie is in her eighties and doing pretty well.However, she fell indoors a day or so ago and fractured her wrist. Nick and I went to visit her in Wexham Park hospital. Shes doing ok so far.

I am here to write about the woman in the next bed. There we were sitting talking and listening to Els when the nurse comes in to change the womans incontinence pad (I know we shouldnt discuss this in polite company so I wont.)

Anyway, the curtains were drawn and all we could hear was " aye aye aye aye aye!" wailing from the next bed. The nurse was explaining that, contrary to the patients opinion, she wasnt trying to kill her, simply to make her a bit more comfortable.

It didnt help that the poor woman couldnt speak a word of English and the nurse, not a word of Polish. Now one would think that my Aunt Els, having been married to a Pole (of the Eastern European variety , not Homebase) for probably 50 years, would speak some Polish.

Not so.

Not a word can she utter.

So that didnt help.

Anyway, nurse leaves, curtains drawn back, patient in view.

I made the mistake of smiling at her and telling her my name , to which she replied that hers was "Toshi" in spite of the fact that it said Antonina over her bed.Maybe Toshi meant something else? Oh well, too late now.

Biggest mistake I could have made because from then on there was no peace for the three of us.

"oy oy oy oy" was the constant cry to get my attention.Closely followed by "Shooshi, shooshi shooshi" which I worked out meant toilet. I went for the nurse three times but she was busy serving tea. I told Toshi I couldnt take her so she picked on Nick! She tried to get my attention again by attempting to get out of bed, an attempt that I did prevent.

What a worry tho. I did feel for her because it must be particularly undignified to lay there knowing you need to go but helpless to get there.

Next time, Ill take a porta potti.

Nazdrovia, Toshi.

Displacement activity

The lyrics (and the tune) of this Simon Webbe song are just what you need when you want cheering up. Thats my verdict anyway. Try and catch the song, cant give you a link but its on limewire, called Coming around again. You know when something is just enough to make you feel happy? Like a holiday, a new friend, a long awaited contact, losing 3 pounds in weight, etc etc?

Ive been sitting in the darkness
But the sunlights creeping in
Now the ice is slowly melting
In my soul and on my skin
You know those good times my friend?
They're coming around again.

We've been so long waiting
For the all time highs
We've got a damn good reason
To put your troubles aside
You know those winter sorrows
Hanging round to dry?
Better throw them away
Gotta throw them away
All those colourful days my friend,
Are coming around again.

Just thought Id share them.
Also, now this is an experiment to see if I can do it, my confused friend http://kenjoy.net/music/downloads/eclipse.htm has just completed a new album and some of the tracks on that have a similar uplifting effect.Check it out

Yet more pics of Roma

Me (spot the satsuma)
and the gang in Le Lanterne

The gang at the colosseum


The Trevi Fountain

Piazza de popolo Near the Roman Forum Roman Forum

Casting my clouts

Yes, I know, "Cast not a clout till May is out" but when you are not sure when its going to rain and when not you have to "strike while the trowel is hot" dont you?
I speak of gardening and I spent all day Saturday casting as many clouts as I could.
Very satisfying to see my Bizzie Lizzies smiling at me from the pots and flower beds and the Marguerites in pots gasping their thanks because they were in fact pot bound.
Another neighbour , not Evil Bob who is not evil anymore by the way, cut down the Holly trees that formed a nice privacy screen at the end of his garden and the side of mine.Now it feels like Im in a fish bowl!
I need to find a fast growing evergreen climber to restore my comfort zone.
A pole in the middle of the flower bed formed the highlight of the day.
This pole had come, over the years, to represent the struggle between the dominant male of the species and the local wildlife in the form of a squirrel and its offspring.
Every hurdle imaginable had been put in the way of the little mammal to prevent its access to the bird food hanging in a metal feeder.( Metal was the only material capable of resisting its sharp little incisors).
Still it found ways , each more elaborate and ingenious that the previous, of jumping on to the feeder and hanging there , nibbling through the bars.
I always quite liked watching it and the birds still came and fed.
However, for alpha male, this became a war of attrition.
Man against beast.
David versus Goliath (which was which?)
Samson and Delilah...no thats not right, Ill stop now.
The pole was the last bastion for our furry friend.He would run up it and leap onto the line bearing the feeder, dodge the rolling plastic coke bottles and find his hanging place, no sweat.
So the pole was greased and I mean greased, with axle grease.
Yes, it did stop the squirrel who just jumped from the roof of the shed then, but it also covered me in grease each time I did anything near it.
It aint no joke to keep getting the damn stuff up your arm or in your hair I can tell you.
I asked, ney DEMANDED, that it be removed.
Then the trial really began. Its my belief that the squirrel and the pole had an agreement because it took about half and hour of bashing and digging and rocking, not to mention the swearing and grease covering, to remove the thing.I watched from the safety of the kitchen, where I could have a little chuckle.
Cruel arent I?
I bet the squirrel laughed more than me.

Skald missing?

Alysia seems to have disappeared.
I understand everyones right to remain incognito.
If this is the case...Farewell Alysia...Thanks for reading mine.
I enjoyed reading yours and good luck.

If not....get in touch and keep on blogging eh?

reply to comments
for some reason I am unable to post comments!! So...
Alysia, glad you are still around.Look forward to hearing from you now and then.Send me the link when you are blogging again wont you?

A little bit of breathing

Take a few long deep easy breaths

Enjoy the spaciousness that comes with each breath.

Breathing in, feel that light expansion as it flows into every cell in your body.

Breathing out, let go of all holding on, empty out all heaviness.

Let your mind rest on the balanced, easy rhythm of your in and out breath.

Enjoy the freedom of the present moment.

Reply to comments

Not new age...just old me.Thats the beauty of the blog.

I can write whatever I want whenever I feel like it.

The Warrior of Light

A warrior of light knows that certain moments repeat themselves.
He often finds himself faced by the same problems and situations and
seeing these difficult situations return, he grows depressed, thinking
that he is incapable of making any progress in life.

" Ive been through this before;" he says to his heart.
" Yes, you have been through this before"; replies his heart.
"But you have never been beyond it".

Then the warrior realises that these repeated experiences have but one aim.
To teach him what he does not want to learn.

Quote taken from "The Manual of the Warrior of light " by Paulo Coelho (Harper Collins 1997)
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Neither.Just a reminder to all of us to acknowledge that which we find difficult fo accept.
Im sure I need that reminder, dont you?

Pilates and the football.

Why do I take these things on and then feel supremely happy when I dont have to do them?
Yes, I speak of Pilates. Tonight is indeed pilates night but Helen rang to say she had to fill a form in so she couldnt go. Yes, I know how she felt.I , too, had to open an envelope so Pilates was out of the question.
Sarcasm aside, I danced around the kitchen singing "Im not going to Pilates" to the tune of " Here we go here we go here we go." Try it.It sort of works.
Anyway , the footie was on.I speak of course of the semi finals of the Champions league (UEFA ) between Man U and AC Milan.We were 3/2 up on aggregate and simply needed a draw , even 0/0 , to go through.
But, of course, we were losing 3/0 when I gave up and came up here to add to this little diary of mine and to check my emails. That cheered me up.
So here I sit, typing and listening to my Ipod.The favourite on the gos are Simon Webb, Coming around again, Afternoon Delight the Starland vocal band, Breathless by the Corrs and Come on down to the river by Alison Krause.
Off to a course on Autism tomorrow. Hopefully informative if not fun.

More pics of Roma

This is "The sacred place" where Julius Caesar bit the dust.

The colosseum(minus Russell Crowe unfortunately)

View of the Tiber from CastellD'Angelo The Altar of the Nations