Tag Archives: half term

Wednesday Wander – Royal Albert Hall, London

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This week I’m taking a wander to somewhere I visited fairly recently. In fact, it was only yesterday.

It’s half term, so my daughter and I have been spending time together, and yesterday we went to London. We planned to do some shopping in Covent Garden, then head to Embankment to meet hubby. After that, dinner in Kensington beckoned, and a visit to somewhere we’d never been before: The Royal Albert Hall.

Opened by Queen Victoria in 1871, the Hall was built as a memorial to her beloved husband, Albert, who died in 1861. Prior to his death, he had envisioned a series of public buildings in London, and the Hall, with its large monument opposite, was seen as a fitting tribute to his vision. Constructed of red brick and terracotta, the circular Hall is crowned with a huge steel dome, which was constructed off-site and brought in pieces to be placed in situ.

However, the massive dome, while seen as a miracle of engineering, also created acoustic issues – not ideal in a venue designed for performances. Various methods were tried to reduce the echo, but it wasn’t until 1969 that the issue was finally resolved, with the installation of fibreglass acoustic disks. The effect is quite beautiful, like an abstract artwork.

The Hall has seen many famous names grace its stage, from Wagner to Adele, as well as hosting events such as the Eurovision Song Contest and the yearly Proms. Last night it was Cirque Du Soleil, with their latest offering, Ovo. It was a beautiful, mesmerising performance – we were spellbound for the entire two hours.

When it ended, we went out into the cold night, walking past the dark mass of Hyde Park as we looked for a taxi. We sped towards the station and caught the next train home, our minds full of gilt and smoke and tumbling lithe figures.

Thanks for coming on a Wednesday Wander with me – see you next time!

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A Quiet Week

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After my good weekend, it seems to have been a quiet week. It’s half term so you would expect I’d be running here there and everywhere, but that hasn’t been the case. The gorgeous girl seems to be feeling the same way, quite happy to be at home working on projects or playing games, plus her new Barbie DVD seems to be a big hit. Of course we’ve seen some of her friends, had glorious sunny times at the local park, done our thing where we go shopping and have lunch – though I’m not sure how a trip to buy fabric, buttons and canvases for a project turned into her standing in Debenhams with an armful of clothes saying ‘I think I’d like to try these on.’ Sigh. I suppose she is my child, after all 🙂

It’s also been quiet on the writing front. This is my first post since Monday, and it’s simply been because I’ve had nothing in particular I wanted to write about. Not writer’s block, heaven forbid, just a sort of lull in the words that swirl through my mind daily. I’ve not been completely idle in this regard – I have a client for whom I supply web copy each week, so have been working on that. And of course I’m supposed to be working on my edit of No Quarter, as it’s meant to be going to the editor next week. But I find I’m stuck – I’ve reached a point in the story that was difficult to write, and that I still find hard to read. It is a major turning point, a catalyst for what happens in the rest of the books, and therefore very necessary. So I will have to steel myself at some point and get on with it.

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These spilled sprinkles are sort of how I feel at the moment, plus they are stars, so they tie in quite neatly hey?

If you follow the stars you will know that Mercury is retrograde at the moment. According to The Old Farmer’s Almanac, this is a time when plans go awry, when we need to leave extra time for travel, not sign anything if we can help it and be prepared for mix-ups in communication. However, it can also be an excellent time for intuition and reflection. I’m not sure, to be honest, whether far away planets swirling around distant constellations have any effect on our lives. But then I consider the idea that we are all connected, all part of some greater pattern that we only get to glimpse occasionally and I feel I need to be open to the possibility. It certainly does feel as though things are moving more slowly at the moment, but maybe that’s just me. For example, I’ve been approached about an interview with a newspaper – the journalist is lovely and very interested in my work. However, we can’t actually seem to get it together to do the interview. With persistence I’m sure it will happen, but maybe it won’t be until after June 11, when Mercury starts moving forward again.

And once again it has happened. I wasn’t planning on writing anything about the stars and Mercury, yet my mind has been pulled down that path and I’ve had to go with it. Such is the life of a Pantser 🙂