Sanctuary

Hello again.

It's Monday, the weekend has passed by in a flash, as usual, and another week stretches out in front of us all.  Perhaps it's time for a little Sanctuary then?

'Sanctuary' can mean different things to different people and can be found in lots of ways, but right now, with autumn really setting in and Christmas on the horizon, it makes me think of being on holiday.  We had a wonderful time in Scotland this summer and, despite the changeable and cooler weather, we did have some lovely sunny days.  There is something magical about the scenery in Scotland.  It's incredible, and seems to change each time you go around the next corner, if you know what I mean.  Here are a couple of shots from some of our 'scouting for film location' days. 

Glencoe

From the shore of Loch Awe, just opposite Kilchurn Castle

Glencoe is simply breath-taking, and the photos I have don't do it justice.  I think we must have been unlucky with the weather there, as we hit rain each time we drove through the pass.  As you can see, we had great weather when we visited Kilchurn Castle.  The colours in this shot looking towards the mountains from the opposite shore are really vibrant.  We picked out this little bit of shore as a nice, quiet location for filming while we were looking around the castle, which was heaving with tourists.  So, we drove around the top of the loch, parked up on the side of the road and tramped through long grass and then very wet bog to this wonderful site.  It did feel a bit like something out of Swallows and Amazons, and you could see where people had previously camped and partied!  After much repositioning of a sinking camera and tripod (not to mention the cameraman!) we got some nice footage, and here's another shot from the shore across the loch to the castle.

Kilchurn Castle

Happy days!  Why not let us know where you escaped to this summer via the comments section, or how you find those precious moments of sanctuary?  I hope you enjoy the rest of your Monday.

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness... Hello Autumn!

Morning in the forest

 Hello readers, and welcome back to the Labyrinth after our summer break.  Dori and I have had an interesting couple of months with lots of things going on, and never enough time to do everything, as usual...  Dori has been working on writing her first novel, and I've been busy decorating the house, sewing costumes, knitting scarves and cowls and being wardrobe mistress and general dogsbody for my daughter's film shoot in Scotland.  It's been fun!  More about those things in forthcoming posts, though...

Today, here in England, it is officially the first day of autumn, marked by the autumn equinox ('equal night'), which means the period at which day and night are of equal length.  This definition is, however, not quite so clear cut, as you can read in this article published yesterday (22nd September 2014) by Hannah Osborne in the International Business Times.

Where I live, in the far west of England, autumn has crept in over the last couple of weeks.  The nights and mornings have become much colder, the leaves are starting to lose their summer green and the beautiful burnished colours that the forest rewards us with at this time of year are starting to show.

 

 

My lime green Acer has turned. Such wonderful colours!

 

 

 

    So, the 'Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness' that Keats so beautifully portrays in his 'Ode to Autumn' is definitely here, despite what the weather forecasters may say about warm weather continuing into October.  Autumn just has a certain feel about it, don't you think?  That touch of chill dampness in the air and the smell of woodsmoke from woodburners or the occasional bonfire...  Everything looks brighter and richer, berries are starting to weigh down the branches of trees, and soon, as the nights draw in and the temperature drops, what can be better than to curl up with a good book in a comfy armchair in front of the fire?  Not forgetting a steaming cup of hot chocolate either!  This is definitely my favourite time of year...

If you'd like to read Keats's poem, you can view it here at allpoetry.com.  You can also listen to the talented Ben Wishaw reading the poem via the YouTube video below.

Has autumn started where you are?  We'd love to hear from you, and you can write us in the comments section below.

The Creative Maze: Costume-making for Film.

Hello again, and welcome back to The Creative Maze.

You may remember, from my last Creative Maze post, I promised you a decent image of my finished huntress costume for filming later this year?  Well, here are a few shots...

Sanctuary: Enjoying the view...

 

Enjoying the view, because sometimes, pets need sanctuary too...

This is a cute shot of my English Pointer looking over the battlements of St. Mawes Castle in Cornwall, taken last summer while we were on holiday.

Have a great day!

Art and Culture: The Art of Topiary

Hubby and I share a love of visiting houses, castles and gardens, wherever we may be.  I never cease to be amazed by the amount of work, artistic vision and patience that goes into the topiary, whether it be hedges and mazes (like the photo above, taken by hubby a few years back at Chatsworth House in Derbyshire), repeating designs that add structure to a garden, or more individual and intricate designs.

Creative Maze: Costume-making for Film

Hi there.  Two weeks have flown past, and I'm here again to report on the progress of the Huntress costume.

Last time, I'd got as far as sewing the bodice and its lining, which I then stitched together.  This time, I can show you the next two stages of constructing the dress:

Food Porn

Hello foodies...

Today I'd like to share this with you:

  

Sanctuary: The pleasure of pets

In the eyes of your four-legged friend, it never matters what kind of day you've had, where you've been, or what you've done...they will love you unconditionally.  How is it that they seem to know when you're feeling out of sorts?  They'll just come and sit beside you and 'lean', or rest their head in your lap.  I've read many times about the physical and mental health advantages of owning a pet, and it really does seem that stroking them is not only relaxing for them, but for us too!

Arts and Culture: Importance, meaning and the Arts Council.

 

Hello, and welcome back to the labyrinth.  In today's post, I would like to talk about the importance of the arts and culture, and what they might mean, in our lives.  For me, art, in any form, can be inspiring and regenerative, can stun the senses creating wonderment (for example, the first time I saw Turner's work in London, and Monet's work in Paris - all I could say and think was 'Wow...'), and can massively enhance our mood.  It feels good to read a great book, to be an audience member at a great play, film or concert, or to produce something creative yourself, doesn't it?  Culture, for me, represents humanity in action - the road map of how we have lived and are living, and what we think, feel and believe.  In today's multi-cultural society, then, the inevitable blending of artistic and cultural ideas should be more interesting and exciting than ever.

The Creative Maze - Val: Costume-making for film - 3

Welcome back to The Creative Maze.  This week, I have another update for you on the huntress costume I'm currently making for a short film that will be shot in Scotland later this year.  I think it's going well, and here are some photos tracking its progress:

Shoulder strap, stitched, turned, pressed and trimmed with fiddly 6mm brown ribbon. This velvet material is so beautiful, but with a stretch in it, it is a total pain to work with, especially when you are attaching slippery fabrics like lining or ribbon!

Food: Cauliflower Cheese and Bacon at The Glasshouse Inn, May Hill, Gloucestershire - Val

Hello there, and welcome back to 'Food' at Labyrinthus XXI.

It was my birthday recently, and to celebrate, we decided to eat out somewhere new, as we tend to keep going back to the same old tried and tested places.  Well, that gets boring, doesn't it?  So, we spent a while trawling the internet and reading reviews, and found a gorgeous old pub in glorious countryside just west of Gloucester (sorry about all the adjectives, but it was lovely!).  We went last Saturday evening and arrived in the nick of time, nabbing the last free table, which was really lucky as people literally started piling in - I guess it's quite a popular pub!

Arts & Culture: April 26 - World Intellectual Property Day

Hello and welcome back to Arts & Culture.

As you can see, today is 'World Intellectual Property Day', celebrated every year on April 26, to raise awareness and understanding of Intellectual Property ('creations of the mind...inventions, literary and artistic works, designs, symbols, names commercial images' - from: http://www.wipo.int/about-ip/en/).  The World Intellectual Property Organization has been in existence since 1970, holds events, workshops and training sessions all around the world, and runs an awards program to highlight and encourage creativity and innovative thinking  If you click on this link you can visit their website, which is brimming with information, links to events and a free magazine you can subscribe to.

As bloggers and creative people, Dori and I are very aware of the multitude of issues concerning intellectual property, such as copyright, patents, and trademarks.  In our modern world, with the immediacy of the internet and social networking, it can be very easy for anyone to publish something they do not own, and having been alerted recently to the copy/pasting of some of our own material on another site, and to the attempted theft of a family member's own brand and logo, I felt this was a relevant organization that our readers might be interested in.

I hope you all have a great Saturday and enjoy the weekend!

Until next time...


All information from the WIPO portal at: http://www.wipo.int/portal/en/

Sanctuary: Easter Monday at a classic car carnival

A beautiful old Riley - my dad had one in the 1950's!

Hello and Happy Easter Monday to you all, wherever you are.

Today, here in England, we have a bank holiday, so lots of people are having an extended weekend, which is always welcome (!) and a chance to do something different, visit somewhere new or kick back and relax.  How we like to relax is personal and different for everyone.  For example, if the weather is bad, I might curl up on the sofa with a book I can escape into, or I might do some knitting or sewing.  My hubby is mad about cars and loves classic car shows and museums, and if we get the chance, we visit.  He tells me the history of the cars and car companies, while I drool over my favourite old Jaguars, Healeys and Triumphs...  I spent many happy hours as a youth under the bonnet with my dad, learning how cars worked and getting covered in grease.  I've always been a bit of a tomboy!

Recipe: Quick Home-made Tomato Soup

Recently, I posted the chocolate mug cake recipe as I thought it might be useful for my son who is off to university-land later this year.  He's keen now to learn how to cook quick, cheap and nourishing meals, so here's one I got him to make for us a couple of days ago.

We are great lovers of tomato soup in this house, and think home-made is SO much better than the shop-bought tinned stuff.  Don't get me wrong, tinned soup is great because it's convenient (and I guess number one son will eat a lot of it during his time at uni!), but I always find it quite concentrated...  He was surprised how good this soup tasted when we sat down to eat it, and commented on how easy it was.  So, here's the simple, quick and cheap recipe, and I hope you like it.

Arts & Culture: Graduation Day at the Barbican - Update

Hello readers and welcome again to Arts & Culture.

You may remember that a couple of weeks ago I graduated at the Barbican in London, and I posted a YouTube video and a link to the Barbican website?  Well, my graduation day was long and we all had sore feet at the end of the day, but it was absolutely brilliant.  The Open University had the ceremony arranged perfectly, and walking across the stage to accept my degree was a lot less scary than I'd expected!  Here's a shot of me just after the presentation:

The Creative Maze: Val - Costume-making for Film

Hello again and welcome back to The Creative Maze.  Today, I have an update for you on the costume I am making for a summer film project.  You may remember that last time I had to make some adjustments to the skirt of the original bought pattern.  Well, those adjustments seem to have worked on the calico mock-up and so I've taken the plunge and cut out the pattern pieces in the main fabric - always a scary prospect as you don't want to get it wrong!  So far, so good...

Sanctuary

Hello readers.  It's Monday, and I don't know what the weather is like where you are, but here in the west of England it's raining heavily, it seems dark as the sky is the colour of slate,  and thunder is rumbling somewhere nearby.  On days like these, it's good to be able to find some sort of sanctuary in photos of better days, with better weather, in beautiful places, so I've uploaded a photo of Nunney Castle in the county of Somerset.

Creative Maze - Joint Challenge

Hello everyone, and welcome to our joint Creative Maze challenge.

Dori - Change to My Challenge

As many of you will know, I have been learning to knit for my challenge. It's been going fine, but I had to admit to myself that I'm not really into it right now. I'm going to continue to learn how to knit but at another time. You know how it is when your heart isn't really into something. Well that's what's been happening with me. I'm interested but not interested enough at this moment to take the time needed to learn.

So today I'm changing my challenge over to something that I would like to revisit. Years ago, I used to make jewelry, but I haven't done so for a long time. Therefore, I thought that I would set myself the challenge of tapping into my creativity again and seeing what I can make. Even though I will be making jewelry, the broader challenge is to tap into a part of myself which has been dormant for way too long...my creativity.

I look forward to sharing my journey with this challenge which I am really excited about. Watch this space :-)

*******

Val – Piano Challenge

 

 

It’s  been a few weeks since my last posting, and I haven’t got very far with the piano practice.  ‘Life’ seems to have got in the way, with other things taking over and bleeding into my precious practice time.  Never mind – that happens, doesn’t it?  I’ll just have to dive back in next week and stick to a more rigid timetable!

I have managed to learn a new piece though, and have moved on from using the odd sharp to introducing flats, so the little practice I have done has been quite interesting.  It’s amazing how many things a pianist has to do all at the same time, but then, perhaps, in time, it will become second nature...a bit like driving a car.  Well, I hope it will anyway, because right now things are a bit all over the place!

You can watch the ‘Russian song’ video here, or go to our Labyrinthus XXI YouTube channel and see it (and others) there.  Bye bye for now... 

 

 

 

Have a great weekend!

Recipe: Banana Breakfast Smoothie

Hello again.  Today's recipe is simple, quick, healthy and delicious (if you like bananas!), and also counts for two of my daily fruit/veg portions.  Yesterday, it was announced on the news here in England that 'five a day' fruit/veg portions is no longer enough - apparently, we should all be aiming for seven a day.  What do you all think about that?  I think on an average day, I eat around five portions, but these are mainly vegetables rather than fruit.  So, all I need to do is have a smoothie each morning varying the fruit and I'll be okay.  Or perhaps eat an apple and a clementine with lunch, instead of crisps...  Anyway, here's the recipe:

Arts and Culture : Graduation Day at the Barbican

Hi everyone, and a very Happy Saturday to you all.

I'm REALLY excited today, as I'm graduating this afternoon after four wonderful years of study!  I live in the far west of England, but chose to graduate at the Barbican in London, as I'm from London originally, my close family still live there, and it makes for a great day out.  A weekend away is always a bonus, too.  I remember going to a classical music concert at the Barbican when my husband and I were first dating, but that was years ago (Okay, not that long!), and I hadn't realised what a fascinating place it is.  I thought it might be interesting to show you a little about it, and, if you like, they have a dedicated YouTube channel where you can watch more of what goes on there.