A Damp Day

It was a wet and miserable day today, the sort of day I really don't like.  It dampens my spirit and reminds me that winter is on the way.  So, in effort to think positive I walked into town and went to the library where I borrowed the latest Wexford book on CD.  I then had to buy an umbrella as the drizzle that had been falling was now proper rain.  I squelched my way home. 

I was booked in for a haircut in Wickham and after that I took myself to Lilly's for lunch.  It was warm, cosy and welcoming, especially as I am a regular and the staff know that my first request is almost always a decaffe tea.

I chose a warming dish for lunch; my favourite risotto.

Risotto with cherry tomatoes, goats cheese and pesto.

I popped into the local hardware shop and bought some small jars as when I got home I planned to make chutney.  I had saved some jars but not enough.
A colleague from work had brought in a carrier bag full of cooking apples so the plan was for spicy cranberry and apple chutney and some apple crumble (the Engineer's favourite as long as there is plenty of crumble and some ice cream too).

 

The chutney is a really easy Nigella recipe, just put all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to the boil and simmer for 45 minutes.  Once its gooey and sticky put it in the sterilized jars and allow to mature for a couple of months.  Perfect for Christmas.

Hopefully it will taste better than it looks

On another note, I was reading silverpebble, one of many blogs I enjoy, and fell in love with the crochet shawl that Emma made so I bought some soft snuggly wool and am going to attempt it.

I am joining Emma in her 'making winter 15 - 16' which hopefully will help me and lots of others to get through winter by making and sharing.

Tomorrow I am off to a pen and ink drawing workshop.  I am really looking forward to it as I've never used pen and ink before but I often used to use a biro over an initial sketch and use hatch marks for shading.  In fact you can do some quite good shading using a biro and long as the pen tip doesn't go all splodgy.

Su+2 and Harry Potter



Fizzing wizbies, chocolate frogs, peppermint toads, wands, cats, house elves, puking pastels, broomsticks, Quidich, cloaks and a whole lot of excitement!  Yes, last Friday the Su+2 household went to Warner Bros studios near Watford, UK and immersed ourselves in the world of Harry Potter.

Chess men from the Philosopher's Stone

The first thing to say is this is not a theme park; there are no rides or experiences, you walk around the various sets used in the Harry Potter films and all the props and creatures are there for you to see. 

You can hire a digital guide which plays audio and video clips for you while you wander around, this gives you information without giving you information overload.  We moved around at our own pace, taking about 6 hours and it was all brilliant.

 

The sets really do take your breath away, they are almost all plaster and wood but look like stone or brick.  The great hall really is great and the only bit that was real stone was the floor. 

 

 At the top end of the hall there are a set of mannequins wearing the costumes of the teachers and you can see the detail and care that has been put into them. 

 

In fact everything looked amazing - it was all so detailed and you could see how much thought had been put into each thing, from the tapestry around the walls of the Gryfindor common room to the house elf armour. 

Gryfindor Common room

We spent the day just staring and asking each other “did you see?  did you notice?”.  My favourite bit was the creature shop where many of the masks and mannequins used for the film are housed.  I have to say they are stunning, its quite disconcerting to look up and see the head of John Cleese as Nearly Headless Nick looking down at you. 

Dobby

We took lots of photos, of which I have only put a few on the blog.  You can have a go at flying a broomstick using green screen magic (the Teen did that) and you can sit in a carriage of the Hogwarts Express so you can have your photo taken. 

Hogwarts Express, a real steam engine much to the Engineer's delight

Magical creatures - full sized with animatronics

Dumbledore's office

Quidich

Eyelops Owl Emporium, wands, a golden snitch, the Knight bus and much more - all real props from the films

All in all there is so much to see and the sets are so big and interesting that we were there all day.  The Teen started reading Harry Potter when she was about 7 years old is a die hard fan and can pick holes in the films.  But she loved the attention to detail that is part of the film making process and the way they brought the magical creatures to life.   Even the drawn plans for the props, sets and creatures were amazing.  As you can probably tell we had a brilliant time.

 

Slow down.

Google images

 

I have noticed over the past few of weeks that my life seems to be speeding by in a bit of a blur. Suddenly its October! The thing that really brought this speeding along home to me was a realisation that I was bolting my food; I would start to eat, clear my plate, look up and see that everyone else was still eating.  This made me stop and think - what else have I been doing at breakneck speed?  I seem to be trying to fit a lot in.  Like everyone else who works part time, you have to fit the domestic and pleasure bits in when you are not at work and this seems to be causing me some problems of late.

Google Images

 

 

So on Saturday I decided to have a slow day, when I woke up I asked the Engineer if he would mind bringing me up a cup of tea in bed: in over 20 years of marriage this is only the third or fourth time I have asked.  He said of course and brought me up a steaming cuppa and I read the latest Louise Penny book whilst sipping my tea.  Once I came down for breakfast I made sure I ate it slowly, then I had a slow shower - usually I am in and out, so it felt quite luxurious.

 

I had to do the shopping so off I went with a comprehensive list and I wandered rather than ran down the aisles.  I even stopped for a cup of tea in the coffee shop and read some more of my book. 
 

 

I took the rest of the day slowly too; I still put on the washing and put a nice bit of brisket in the slow cooker but I did everything a bit more mindfully.  It was relaxing and everything still got done.  I have nearly finished my pepper in colour pencil; amazingly coloured pencil work is something that hasn’t speeded up.  Its still relaxing and sometimes it feels like everything is in slow motion, except when I look at the clock and see how long I have been at it and my neck and back are starting to complain.


Copyright Su+2

Life can be stressful sometimes, that's just the way it is, but I seem to add to my own stress by trying to do everything too fast and taking responsibility for things that I should let go of.  So lets see if from now on I can slow down, enjoy life a bit more and let go when I need to.  Oh, and do more colour pencil work.