Typically, I have lost all the details of this painting. I love her expression though.
Archive | July, 2009
CSI: Sun Hill and Midsomer Murders
31 Jul
Dave has been a huge fan of The Bill for a really long time so it was a bit of a surprise when he announced a couple of weeks ago that he would no longer be watching it any more as because of his night shifts he always felt like he was investing valuable time and effort in keeping up with it. There were also some mutterings about how they were getting to be a bit formulaic with their storylines.
Imagine his horror therefore when the new improved The Bill was unveiled last week complete with new theme music, shaky camera work, pacier script and a plush American atmosphere that is redolent of CSI or similar. I am a sucker for a bit of American police drama so I was instantly hooked but Dave is remaining resolutely aloof.
Let’s face it though, the only real reason to watch The Bill, new or otherwise is the forensics guy Eddy, who will no doubt be given his own short lived spin off series any day now where he can clumsily ask out all the WPCs and eat everyone else’s sandwiches while picking over the grisly remains of murder victims. Quincy eat your heart out.
Another old classic that made a return this week is Midsomer Murders, which I have loved passionately for quite a while now and I don’t care how uncool that makes me. Actually, apparently Johnny Depp is a big fan too so that automatically makes it as uncool as uncool can be AND guarantees that I will have something to talk to Johnny about if we ever bump into each other in Paris.
It was with trembling excitement therefore that I tuned in last week for the first episode, only to lose interest about ten minutes later when it became clear that golf was involved. I made three further attempts to watch the episode but never quite made it to the end, so I am afraid that I am still not really sure who the murderer was.
Nevertheless, I tried again this week with the second episode, which turned out to be about cricket and MI5. Oh joy. Still, I managed to just about make it to the dramatic denouement so clearly cricket was an improvement on golf.
Although, frankly I should just be grateful that Cully has yet to make a re-appearance with her wet lettuce of a husband.
A slightly better day
31 JulOne of Felix’s first questions after being told that his granny is dead, was to ask if everyone else was okay so today we took him to his granny’s house where Dave’s father, brother and sister are currently staying while they sort things out and prepare for the funeral.
It was really weird being there without Dave’s mum – especially as they now have her car back and it was parked outside the house again. I looked inside as we went in, wondering what happened inside it all those weeks ago.
It is funny, but I remember walking to pre-school to pick Felix up after Dave called to tell me that his mum had been found and felt so profoundly sad and miserable that I was sure that everyone I went past must surely know what had happened.
Being there in her house, surrounded by her things made it feel even more surreal and unlikely, not less.
After leaving Nailsea we caught up in a massive traffic jam which was apparently literally caused by an excess of spilt milk and drove to the Mall at Cribbs Causeway where we decided to have lunch at Frankie and Benny’s. It wasn’t too bad actually. The music was a bit loud and our table was slightly sticky but the food was okay and the service was pleasant, which makes up for a lot of sins, I think. I had the mushroom and goat’s cheese calzone while Dave had the meatball one. We followed this with the shared ‘Godfather’ desert, which I opined was very unlikely to have been eaten by the actual Godfather. I changed my mind afterwards when replete with an artery clogging excess of squirty cream, I recalled that Marlon Brando’s Godfather had died of a heart attack at the end of the film.
It didn’t look much like this picture. The component parts were all there but, well, you can imagine how it was.
We then went shopping at the Mall. Apparently Katie Price was there at the same time as us. We didn’t see her but this may account for why it was eerily empty inside. Dave bought clothes for the funeral and I looked at vegan foodstuffs in Holland and Barrett, T shirts for Oscar and Felix in Baby Gap and books about baking, Venice, Paris and Rome in Waterstones. We are going back next week so that I can do some proper shopping.
Had a lovely citrus Frescato drink in Costa, which was slightly ruined by two over tired small boys who were demanding to go home and have their bath. Even so special mention should go to its intensely citrussy and tart deliciousness.
Came home to an email from my friend Hester, telling me that my blog post about the second episode of Desperate Romantics was quoted in the Independent today. I feel like a proper blogger now!
An imperfect day
30 JulThis morning we told Felix about his granny. I have been reading him books about death for the last few days in an effort to prepare him for the news and ensure that he knows what it means when someone is no longer alive.
It was very, very hard and we were very emotional as we told him that granny had had an illness that made her very, very, very sad and that it made her die and then tried to answer his questions and reassure him that everyone else that he loves is very much alive and well. He knows that there will be a funeral on Monday, where he can say goodbye.
I don’t know how much he understood. He seemed upset but then was playing again shortly afterwards. Every so often though he tells us that he is ‘thinking about granny’ or says that he feels sad that he won’t see her ever again.
It is now a week since the police turned up at Dave’s work and told him the news about his mother and a fortnight since she took her own life. I can’t believe that she has been dead for two whole weeks. I still can’t believe that we will never see her again.
After this we drove into Bristol and took a walk along the Harbourside past the SS Great Britain, the Matthew (which Felix decided was a pirate ship) and the enormous cranes outside the old Industrial Museum. Apparently Aidan Turner, who plays Dante Gabriel Rossetti in Desperate Romantics went past on a bike, but he was gone by the time I turned around. Luckily for him!
The Arnolfini gallery was closing when we got there so I didn’t get to look at really bad art, unfortunately. Instead, we walked to the square by @Bristol and let Felix run around in the fountains until he got absolutely soaked, while Oscar watched very solemnly from his pushchair. He was quite pleased with himself as we moved him into a front facing car seat today, which means that he can now see all of us when we go out in the car. He celebrated this by sleeping lots.
Dave took us to the Kawasaki showroom to look at bikes as he is going to get a new one. He liked one called a Z1000, which comes in a pretty blue purple, a nice orange and um white. He is talking about going off on a big bike trip around Europe next year sometime, which should be a lot of fun.
Paris, August 2003
29 Jul
I just came across some photographs of a trip that I took to Paris in Autumn, 2003. I looked very different back then! I love the way that this picture makes it look as though Versailles is surrounded by swathes of heavy fog, just like in the film The Others.
The Louvre.
The Queen’s bedroom in Versailles. I wish that I had the original of this picture but alas it is lost in the ether. Ah well!
Desperate Romantics part two
29 Jul
The second part of Desperate Romantics was every bit as preposterous and mawkish as the first and just as entertaining. It’s like processed cheese slices: I know it’s bad, I know it’s shameful but I still can’t stop myself opening the fridge and then eating it straight from the packet while standing up against the kitchen counter.
Not that there was any of that in Desperate Romantics. Oh no. Unless you count Holman Hunt and Annie Miller having a quick knee trembler in his studio.
Last night’s episode featured more undignified toadying around Ruskin, much lounging around in baths heated by only candles, nipples, a dream sequence involving Ophelia and Effie Ruskin that was reminiscent of something directed by Ken Russell, head butting, angry Yorkshire fathers, affronted prostitutes and Charles Dickens’ absurd beard.
Apparently next week’s episode is going to involve poor old Fred getting his turn with Annie, while Hunt goes off to paint his Scapegoat. Poor old Fred indeed.
The eighteenth century dressing table
28 JulWhat would the aristocratic eighteenth century lady have had on her dressing table?
A beautiful clock, to ensure that you weren’t late to meet your lover.
A pair of beautiful candelabras, as every lady knows that candlelight is exceptionally flattering to the complexion.
Perhaps an exquisite porcelain sculpture based on a work by Boucher. Madame de Pompadour adored porcelain flowers and had scented examples in all of her houses.
A pretty dish for bonbons, pastiles or macarons.
A pretty jug for water.
A Sèvres pitcher and bowl for washing your hands and face with scented rose and lavender water.
Another candlestick, just for luck.
Some flasks of gorgeous perfume: violet, lavender, lily, carnation, iris, rose, jasmine…
The all important patch boxes.
Curling tongs to help create those beautiful frizzed and curled hairstyles.
Pretty little pots of rose, violet and vanilla scented pomade which keeps your hair in place, scents it and makes the powder stick!
Hair powder!
Flasks of lotions and potions, all designed to keep your complexion as perfect as possible and to get rid of pesky spots and freckles.
A nécessaire de toilette, complete with bowls, perfume flasks and implements for applying make up, plucking eyebrows and cleaning teeth. This was also cunningly portable – perfect for the days before make up bags had been invented!
Powder to clean your teeth. What is left of them. ;)
Vinaigrette, to revive you should your husband come home unexpectedly…
Madame Guillotine
"You'd find it easier to be bad than good if you had red hair," said Anne reproachfully. "People who haven't red hair don't know what trouble is." - Anne of Green Gables.
I am a middle class housewife, History geek, Versailles obsessive, Paris lover, historical fiction writer, Victorian Prostitute re-enactor, Art History graduate, committed vegetarian, GIN taster, curry lover and Pimms addict living in the deepest darkest West Country with my family.
I'm a member of the Romantic Novelists' Association, Whitechapel Society and London Historians and also a reviewer for the Historical Novel Society.
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