A cold and frosty morning

When our church holds a weekend away, we often stay at Quinta, near Oswestry.

This last weekend was cold and frosty, very bright today, and quite foggy yesterday, after a bright start.

These pictures are taken from both mornings, so I suppose the title is sightly less than honest.

Body of Lies

My Cinema going is a fairly random matter, especially now David is at home. I have not seen Quantum of Solace but I have seen Body of Lies.

This is not a gruesome film, but it does have some very gruesome moments. It is a high octane, high excitement film, with lots of fear. David said it has some Good Explosions.

It reminded me of a novel by Gerald Seymour, The Journeyman Tailor, about informants living in constant fear of discovery.

The central character is played by Leonardo DiCaprio is excellent. In his first scene it takes a while to realise that the Arab looking guy is in fact an American.

The film shows him grappling with the competing dictates of his superior, played by Russell Crowe, the host country’s security chief, and his sense of right and wrong.

The action sees the efforts to capture a terrorist chief, and who is used as bait to do so.

Lots of excitement, and a Good Story.

Ten Centuries of English Music

Last week we went to the Concert at St. Edwards College, and enjoyed some good performances.

John promised me that the early piece, 13^th century, was terrible, all he did was play the note of F# for three minutes, and I would not like it at all. He was wrong. I did quite enjoy it, and I like the drone effect.

The highlight of the evening was definitely a set of Miniatures by Frank Bridge, with piano, flute and cello. I do have to admit to being biased, but it was very good. The trio was well balanced – no one instrument dominated the other two. It was lovely hearing the pieces we had heard being practised a little, with the addition of the flute and cello.

There was quite a bit of brass during the evening. The first half finished off with some Jeremiah Clarke, while the most modern piece was for two Trumpets, French Horn, Tuba and Trombone by Peter Maxwell Davies. The same group will be playing it again later this month with the composer in the audience. It was certainly more enjoyable and accessible than I expected.

The second half started off with a very different modern piece – the Dam Buster march, which was quite good fun, and finished with some Gilbert & Sullivan, from Trial by Jury. There was quite a lot of singing, starting with 10^th century plainchant from off stage, a setting of Nunc Dmittis with a very fine treble performance, and a trio singing The Waters of Tyne which was quite outstanding.

Lancaster Canal & Thwaite Brow

When we left Liverpool in a fine grey drizzle, I did not expect to be enjoying a pleasant stroll along the Lancaster canal at lunchtime.
I had not brought boots or rucksack. I had not even brought a map. If I had, I would probably have gone from Nether Kellet to Crook o'Lune to rejoin the motorway. Instead I ended up at Bolton le Sands, and walked along a stretch of the canal which runs at the back of the houses in the village, along to Thwaite Brow.




The highlight was certainly seeing a Kingfisher, a bright flash of turquoise darting about on the bank. I did hang about trying unsuccesfully to catch a picture, but no luck there. I would not have seen it at all had another walker not pointed it out to me.

On Thwaite Brow I met a someone with a better camera than mine, taking pictures of fungi, about which he was very knowledgeable. I was hoping for a view across to Carnforth and Warton, but Thwaite Brow is wooded, and makes a good backdrop to the Canal.

Martian Child

This is quite a good film, with John Cusack playing a widower, who decides to adopt a child. Being a science fiction writer, and a bit of a loner as a child, he is not especially fazed by an odd ball child, who shelters from the sun in a cardboard box, and claims to have come from Mars.

It has some quite funny moments, and draws to quite a dramatic and satisfying conclusion.

Rose in November

It may be November. It may be cold. But that does not matter to this Rose, bravely blooming in our back garden.

Coffee Cake

I would not say that it is the most exciting thing about today, but it is probably the easiest to take a photo of. Very tasty too.

Il y a longtemps que je t'aime

David took me to see a film on Wednesday. That does not mean he paid, but rather I would never have chosen to see it otherwise. He did arrange the transport home, suggesting we walk, rather than catch the bus.

I usually like films that have a car chase in them somewhere, so this was disappointing on that score. The title rather gives away that it is in French, with subtitles. It also has an English title “I’ve loved you so long”

The lead role was played by Kristin Scott Thomas, and it was a shock to realise that the sad tired weary woman being met at the airport in the opening sequence was her character. I still think of her from Four Weddings and English patient days. We soon learn that she has been in prison for fifteen years, and that the woman meeting her is her younger sister, played by Elsa Zyberstein – that is quite a name!

How Juliette settles into life, family, work, and the social scene is very poignantly portrayed, but always the central theme is the relationship between the two sisters. There are some very funny moments, some heart warming, and some excruciatingly awful, but all wonderfully portrayed. The film builds to a closing scene where the younger sister, who used to worship and still loves her big sister finds out what it really was that kept them apart these fifteen years.

Not a feel good film, still less a car chase one, but very moving and inspiring, despite the weakness of the plot at the end.

Sunday Afternoon at Quakers Stang

Quakers Stang is a causeway between relatively normal fields inland, heading towards Leighton Moss, and the grass that gets submerged by the highest of the high tides.

From the car park where bird watchers park to reach the RSPB hides, I walked across and over Healds Brow to reach Silverdale, taking in the rather splendid Woodwell Cliff on the way. Stopping at Wolf House for a cup of coffee on the way, I went round rather than over on the way back, enjoying the coast at Jacks Scout facing to the West, rounding Jenny Brown's point. It gets quite spectacular as the limestone pavement slopes down into the sea. Eventually the path and the road come to an end, and the path home goes round the headland - tides permitting.

After some reassurance from a fellow walker who seemed to know, I stepped out onto the shingle and rocks, and very soon found myself walking on grass, not too close to the edge and avoiding the inlets that cut through quite starkly from time to time. It was a more shallow one of these that lapped around a large stone forming the feature in the photo.

It was turning quite cold and windy at this point. I thought it was just more exposed, but as I got further round and retraced my way across Quakers Stang, I realised that the weather had changed. The wind was strong, and cold, and the rain was hard. I was thankful for the dry, sheltered and peaceful moment I had enjoyed in that little cove where I had sat and eaten my lunch not long before.