Sunday, 5 April 2009
The Tempest
Last night we saw the Royal Shakespeare's Company's production of The Tempest. It was fabulous. We arrived at the Playhouse Theatre in Leeds in good time. We bought our meal and sat down to eat it. I went off to the bar to buy a couple of glasses of red wine and some interval drinks. I completed the form for the interval drinks and it requested which play we were seeing (there are two theatres there in Leeds). I paid for the drinks and then the barman noticed I had written "The Tempest" for the play we were seeing. He told me that play was not being performed at The Playhouse but was on at The Grand. I panicked slightly and told Kath. What a daft thing to do. We walked up to The Grand and had a great experience with that play. It was great.
Tuesday, 3 February 2009
Monday, 2 February 2009
Robin and owls
Yesterday we went to Fairburn Ings bird reserve (RSPB) because we found out there were several owls nesting there. We did not see them but there were loads of people trying to get a glimpse. However, when we were waking back form the hide, there was a man feeding a robin some seed from his hand. Another man had a sophisticated camera and took a great photo. He took the email address of the robin feeder person and was intending to zap the photo to him. Great stuff.
Tuesday, 20 January 2009
Tina
It was Tina Greatorix's funeral today. I have never seen a funeral like it. 600+ peple in St Giles' church, Pontefract. Tina was only 62 and died of a malignant brain tumour. She was a nurse and worked for decades at Pontefract General Infirmary mainly, towards the end of her career, with cancer patients. She was a member of our Castleford Choral Society for quite a while as was her husband, Bobby. They were both very much involved with G and S. I met her through the CCS and she was a valued member of the committee for a long time.
It was amazing how many people she knew in this area. The major was at her funeral as well as several GPs and consultants. Mick Peake, a consultant chest physician who moved to Leicester, came over for the funeral. At the end, 30+ nurses n uniform lined the street when the coffin was taken to the car. Music was a great feature of the funeral and there were performances from the Castleford Male Voice Choir and the Margaret Duckworth singers.
Towards the end, members of several G and S societies scattered in the audience stood up and sang two pieces one of which was "we are gondellieris". Stunning stuff.
We had trouble getting out of the crowded church but when we did so there were about 200 people chatting on the street. We met quite a few people we knew.
Goodbye, Tina. We will never forget you.
It was amazing how many people she knew in this area. The major was at her funeral as well as several GPs and consultants. Mick Peake, a consultant chest physician who moved to Leicester, came over for the funeral. At the end, 30+ nurses n uniform lined the street when the coffin was taken to the car. Music was a great feature of the funeral and there were performances from the Castleford Male Voice Choir and the Margaret Duckworth singers.
Towards the end, members of several G and S societies scattered in the audience stood up and sang two pieces one of which was "we are gondellieris". Stunning stuff.
We had trouble getting out of the crowded church but when we did so there were about 200 people chatting on the street. We met quite a few people we knew.
Goodbye, Tina. We will never forget you.
Wednesday, 2 July 2008
Carol's Poems
I haven't written anything for a while but today, I feel I must. My relation (great niece?) enabled me to get to her website and read some of her poems. I am not really in to poetry but some of them brought me near to tears and some bits made me laugh. Very clever stuff.
http://www.bebo.com/Chapters.jsp?MemberId=7367628645
I think that link will get you to them.
Carol Ward is the daughter of Liz (who is my half sister Gerry's daughter) and Terry (who tragically died recently. Gerry and Terry would have been very proud of Carol who is embarking on a Masters in creative writing later this year. I keep in tough with my family through facebook. Carol's sister Alison introduced me to facebook which I thoroughly enjoy and am trying not to have it as an obsession.
I had to read a poem by Wendy Cope at Samantha's (my God daughter) wedding. I was a nervous wreck. For Christmas later that year I gave Samantha and Jon a signed copy of the book of poems by Wendy Cope that had the operative poem in it. I had written to Ms Cope and told her the tale and she put a special message on the page of the poem which was called Hungerford Bridge.
http://www.bebo.com/Chapters.jsp?MemberId=7367628645
I think that link will get you to them.
Carol Ward is the daughter of Liz (who is my half sister Gerry's daughter) and Terry (who tragically died recently. Gerry and Terry would have been very proud of Carol who is embarking on a Masters in creative writing later this year. I keep in tough with my family through facebook. Carol's sister Alison introduced me to facebook which I thoroughly enjoy and am trying not to have it as an obsession.
I had to read a poem by Wendy Cope at Samantha's (my God daughter) wedding. I was a nervous wreck. For Christmas later that year I gave Samantha and Jon a signed copy of the book of poems by Wendy Cope that had the operative poem in it. I had written to Ms Cope and told her the tale and she put a special message on the page of the poem which was called Hungerford Bridge.
Friday, 30 May 2008
Katia
2 days ago we arrived with our friends at our house in Italy. This posting is an illustration of rich pigs luxury. The night before we left, Kath emailed Katia (who looks after our house) to ask her to take the bolognaise sauce out of the freezer. She bough us some beautiful pasta, parmizan cheese and a bottle of red wine as a present.
!!!!
!!!!
Thursday, 1 May 2008
Il Papa
Last Sunday was a day to remember second to none. Kath had seen on the internet that the Pope was doing a mass in St Peter's Basilica on the Sunday we were there. It was a mass to ordinate 29 priests and he was doing this as the Bishop of Rome. We went to the Vatican post office and a very nice woman made a phone call and confirmed that we had to go to the bishops church (name to follow) to get a ticket. we went on the tube and asked the information and audioguide man what to do. He told us where to go and when we got there (behind this wonderful church) we encountered two policemen at the entrance of the offices that had the tickets. Fortunately one of them spoke English but we could have managed in Italian. When we explained what we wanted, one of the policemen went off and came back with this huge bloke. I thought we were about to be arrested. He asked how many tickets we wanted. As I was not a Catholic and Kath was, I said "one". He looked at me as though I was crazy. He insisted we had two and I was happy with that although I was worried that if i went, i would not know when to sit, stand, kneel and say stuff. Kath was thrilled. We had ticket numbered about 850. The policeman and the big bloke could see we were pleased. The policeman said that we must look round this beautiful church and we did. the cloisters were magnificent.
The Sunday morning arrived. On the ticket it stated that we could get in at 8 am for the 9.30 service. It was a beautiful day and we arrived at the front of the basilica at 7.45 am. The queue was enormous. All had tickets. It was a slow business as the security is thorough.
We got our seats at the back and about 500 priests and bishops came in down the central isle. The Pope led the main procession and we all moved to be closer to the central aisle and stood on chairs to get a good view. There were lots of photos taken. He turned his head first to the right then to the left and smiled at the congregation as he walked to the front.
The service was lengthy and I could pick up a few words of the Italian. Most people in the congregation took communion and it must have been a marvellous experience for true Catholics (like my wife) to take communion that has been blessed by the Pope.
The highlight for me was at the end. The Pope slowly walked up the central aisle and shook hands with people alternately on the right and left. He came to be about 3 feet from us.
We then went out of the Basilica but the crowds outside were enormous and we could hardly move. They were waiting for the Pope to do his weekly thing from his private apartment window. There must have been 200000 people in front of St Peter's.
Fabulous.
The Sunday morning arrived. On the ticket it stated that we could get in at 8 am for the 9.30 service. It was a beautiful day and we arrived at the front of the basilica at 7.45 am. The queue was enormous. All had tickets. It was a slow business as the security is thorough.
We got our seats at the back and about 500 priests and bishops came in down the central isle. The Pope led the main procession and we all moved to be closer to the central aisle and stood on chairs to get a good view. There were lots of photos taken. He turned his head first to the right then to the left and smiled at the congregation as he walked to the front.
The service was lengthy and I could pick up a few words of the Italian. Most people in the congregation took communion and it must have been a marvellous experience for true Catholics (like my wife) to take communion that has been blessed by the Pope.
The highlight for me was at the end. The Pope slowly walked up the central aisle and shook hands with people alternately on the right and left. He came to be about 3 feet from us.
We then went out of the Basilica but the crowds outside were enormous and we could hardly move. They were waiting for the Pope to do his weekly thing from his private apartment window. There must have been 200000 people in front of St Peter's.
Fabulous.
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