sunshine on Dartmoor

Hound Tor, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

It's been a good week.

HP and I went for a walk on Dartmoor on Thursday. We started off by Hound Tor and wiggled our way up and down to Bowerman's nose. The sun shone and everything was beautiful.

Save the William Morris Gallery

Jonathan Glancey's article in today's Guardian reminded me. The William Morris Gallery, which is very near my parents' house in Walthamstow, is under threat of drastically cut funding, which would see its opening hours cut to weekend and bank holidays and a huge reduction in its education work. Glancey says of visiting school children "Most have experienced nothing like it; a world of beautifully crafted romance. The rest of Walthamstow is virtually bereft of such special moments." I might beg to differ a little on the last point, Walthamstow's not quite the artistic desert he describes, but the overall point that the gallery is an important resource for the borough and a unique place which many people should have the chance to experience is one I whole-heartedly agree with.

If you agree too, there's more information about how to get involved in the campaign, including a link to the online petition on the Keep our museums open site. Vestry House Museum (the location of the column above) is also at risk.

can anyone tell me..

...why the BBC's standard pronunciation for Manuel de Falla's surname is "de FAL-li-ya" rather than "de FI-ya"?
Radio 3 have been doing it all week and now Counterpoint on Radio 4 are doing it too. Although the contestant pronunced it "de FI-ya".

barefoot in April

barefoot in April, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

I'm having a lovely Saturday. Sunshine, warmth, music, poetry. At lunchtime I ate salad with perfectly ripe buttery avocado, tomatoes, peppers and tasty bacon and listened to cello suites on Radio 3 (Bach and Kodaly). Then I lazed in the garden reading poetry all afternoon. Bliss!

afternoon poetry

afternoon poetry, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

I've been enjoying myself, curled up on cushions with textbooks and poetry. At the moment I'm working my way through the chapter on poets of the 30s and I'm loving it.

spring comes to Cambridge

spring comes to Cambridge, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

It's been beautifully sunny for the last couple of days, but today it's gone cold and misty again. I cycled the scenic route into town this morning, across Coldham's Common and along the river, parked the bike here and wandered around the town. It was too cold to stay out long, so I pootled back home for fresh coffee and my morning snack of humous and mange tout.

huh?

I've just been watching Napoleon Dynamite. I don't think I get it. Why do people love this film?

I liked the title sequence. The lat ten minutes or so so made me smile, but mostly, I really don't get it. It just left me blank and sometimes a little sad. And wanting never to live in a small town in America.

Anyone want to explain it to me?

moving the furniture

It's obviously a week for spring cleaning. I've got a couple of weeks holiday from work, which I'm mostly spending pottering round the house. Over Easter I was home with my family in London. Now I'm back in Cambridge and tidying stuff up, while my housemate clears out her room. It's a beautifully sunny day. What shall I do?

Oh and I've rearranged the blog. Let me know if anything looks odd.

good friday

crocus field, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

spring sky

spring sky, originally uploaded by the pig wot flies.

Sometimes it feels like spring, sometimes it doesn't.