A Snapshot of My Week

Okay, I know if I start by saying it's been a busy week you are all going to groan and say "what's new?" But boy, even by my standards it has been pretty full on. It has started and ended with birthday presents... I am loving this birthday which just seems to go on and on! My lovely stepson and daughter-in-law, James and Elizabeth, gave me theatre tickets for an outdoor production of "Too True to be Good" by George Bernard Shaw,  performed at Shaw's Corner, home of the man himself for 44 years.

As this was a first for me, it was also something to be added to my sixty by sixty list... I have threatened that once I reach sixty on my list I shall start a 100 x 100! The play itself, which I was not at all familiar with before the evening, was a little strange,reflecting Shaw's strong political views but it was well acted and entertaining, with the house as a backdrop and the terrace as the stage. 

We brought along a picnic of good bread, cheese, olives and hummous plus a bottle of prosecco and had a thoroughly enjoyable evening. Even the rain didn't come on until we were on our way home.

By Saturday morning the rain had cleared and we set out for yet another sixty x sixty adventure recommended by Paula a regular reader of my blog. We booked a tower tour of Peterborough Cathedral.

I confess, despite not being all that far from Peterborough I had never visited the Cathedral before this week... and it is magnificent.

The tour involved climbing 200 steps up via narrow spiral staircases, allowing access to parts of the cathedral not usually open to the public.We had close up views of  the stunning stained glass and amazing architecture.

It was wonderful to have such views of the cathedral and we were in awe of the skills that were involved in the building of such an colossal building.

And the views from the roof, the highest point in the city, were spectacular.

We were also fortunate to see a fabulous exhibition of quilts, Threads Through Revelation, that is touring British cathedrals, made by artist Jacqui Parkinson in response to the Book of Revelations.

Yet again we were lucky with the weather as the rain only set in for the day on or way home. On Sunday it was time to celebrate an engagement. An enjoyable afternoon, with lots of good food, meeting lots of lovely, interesting young people. And the rain held off once again!

After a day baking on Monday I then headed out to London on Tuesday with friends Jude and Isobel, to visit the Grayson Perry exhibition at the Serpentine Galleries.

As always with Grayson Perry, it didn't fail to entertain, the man is such fabulous astute observer of life today, serious observations executed with a large dose of tongue in cheek. I'm sure his work will provide a wonderful social history in years to come.

I really liked this little shrine with models of himself and his wife, but best of all I loved the glimpse into his sketchbooks. What a treat!

. There then followed a two day overnight trip to Hastings with my Mum for a family funeral, an evening out working, and then James and Elizabeth staying for a couple of nights before they head off for a month in Panama. Mostly it has been a good week and even the funeral was a chance to catch up with family members not seen for a while but I am tired! I have finished the week with a fabulous day out painting acrylic abstracts, another birthday present, this time from my Mum, but I think that can be another blog post all of its own... mostly because I'm too exhausted to write anymore!