Returned

 

Hello everyone. I hope that you are all well. We are fine - back from London and completely pooped. We were saying on the train back that we need to cut our cloth to match our age (I think that is how you say it.) In the olden days, we would be up at 5am, on the London train by 6, run all over London all day and then get the 7pm train back to Plymouth. I have no idea how we did it. This time, we stayed two nights, only did two exhibitions (and a bit of shopping, obviously), then came home. And we are still slightly shattered. 

Things didn't start that well because we accidentally booked a "Hub" at the Premier Inn. In case you didn't know, a Hub is basically a bed, a telly, three coat hangers and a tiny bathroom which is only separated from the main room by some frosted glass. I wouldn't stay there on my honeymoon if I were still trying to make my husband think that I never actually used the toilet. It was, however, cheap and clean and would have been fine for one night. So there you are.

The two exhibitions were excellent. I won't go on about it too much because there is nothing worse than someone wanging on about seeing something that you might have wanted to see.  We saw the Turner and Constable exhibition at the Tate. I am Team Turner myself, but the whole thing was very interesting because it would put the pictures side by side and invite you to compare. I had no idea that they were contemporaries and competitors. The main problem was that there were just too many people in - sometimes 5 or 6 deep. You just couldn't see very much. I could possibly do some very detailed comparisons of the back of people's heads, I suppose.

The second exhibition, though, was the reason we were in London. Marie Antoinette - at the V&A. Because it was the V&A, it was very heavy on the style and the fashion, which was very good, but I was completely blown away by all the original possessions, etc. that they had. After the Revolution, there was a concerted effort to wipe her off the map, and everything connected to her was destroyed or auctioned. Obviously, some things slipped through, and you could see her tiny little shoes and the book she wrote in the night before she died. You can also see the blade of the guillotine, which they think was the one that killed her (brought back by the Tussaud brothers, apparently. Up to you if you believe that). Blimey, that is an ugly, brutal piece of equipment. It really is an excellent exhibition - seeing the life of unknowable riches brought to an end through execution for plotting against the Revolution (bit of a spoiler - she was plotting against the Revolution, but still). It just gave me a bit of pause to see that, after all that opulence, she spent her last days in jail wearing this chemise. 

Before we went away, Messy Church kicked off again. I got the dates wrong and thought that we were away, so was a bit last-minute. (No one seemed to be able to tell that I wasn't my usual ultra-organised self.) Fortunately, because I had half of my brain thinking about what I was going to pack, it was a really simple make this week. It was about the sower and the seed, and the children just layered up marshmallows, cornflakes, Choc Krispies, etc., to represent the different soil layers. All went well. One little person didn't want to put the seed in at the end, and he was very certain of that. But his Mum and I decided that, with all the new farming methods and AI and all that, you might not actually need seeds these days. I know it kind of ruins the story, but he went home happy, having withdrawn his threat to throw all the contents of the cup all over his sister.

I think that I have shared everything with the group now - except to shout out for this book. I am just getting it in under the wire but, lets face it, we are all feeling wintery anyway are we not? So Winter Lights is a collection of short stories. I often don't like short stories because I am just getting the hang of the characters and then the stories finish and I am not always 100% sure why. This is really good though. Several, poignant, kind stories all woven together beautifully at the end. If you are a Christian, you will recognise the thought behind it but you don't need a faith to enjoy it. Beautifully done. Have a good week.