It ws such a beautiful evening that I walked the long way round Christ Church meadow to the Manor, stopping by the river to watch the rowers pound their way along the dappled waters of the Isis, and sit in the golden sun to finish Lies of Locke Lamora.

Later, lost in the beauty of the light of a late Spring evening, a patch of bluebells catching the sun just had to be photographed. It makes me just a little bit wistful; it reminds me powerfully of this song, maybe just substituting Marion Bridge for Christ Church meadow;

It was Miss Shore's birthday on Sunday and to celebrate the fact that it'll be another 5 months until I'm *that* old (as old as I thought she was the first time I met her 5 years ago!), and the fact that her parents were visiting from America I made a cake to celebrate...

 

So thats me punting us...

 

( A few more pics... )

 

 A 500 year old tradition.

Light in the morning. The cool dryness of stone. Flowers in the child's hand. Powder blue wellies on the feet. A long green cloak embroidered with flowers. Men in robes, ladies in straw hats. Limp oak leaves on a rucksack. A disparate group, but together for a single purpose - upholding tradition.
 
A collage of colleges. Warm honey stone under morning skies. Neat grey shadows cutting bright green grass. Cherries remembering their predecessors.Cold marble holding aged books, watched by a stone ghost.  Beautiful corners and secrets. A dripping fountain in flowers.

Chalk marking stone, cross upon cross. A mark of the year, some faded, some gone. A renewal of time, a step out of time. 

Songs in the squares, faces at the window. Bright sweets from the sky. A ladder up a wall. Cones in the darkness of wood. Bright lights from the glass, spilling colours over the stone. 

There is a reason for tradition. 
 

My 13 year old sister had a new camera for Christmas and has been enthusiastically playing with it. In order to liven up our traditional Good Friday walk we decided to have a photo competition with the theme of 'The Spirit of Easter'.

She did pretty darn well and even got the winning picture? Which do you think is the winner - and is there any indication as to who took which?

http://s17.photobucket.com/albums/b99/LadyVetinari/Spirit%20of%20Easter/

 


 

Since I have far too many hours in credit, I thought I would dedicate an extra hour of my lunch to writing up my trip to see the Lord of the Rings production at the Drury Lane Theatre.



 

People might be interested in picture 5 of the slideshow - Rare National Treasures go on display from the BBC website -

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/default.stm

I shall definitely be over to the Bod to have a look when its open.

And consequently everytime she closes her eyes she see's glrious fabrics, patterns, costumes, dresses, jewelry. Its not as good as Camden market (which is the ultimate in shinyness), but it is pretty darn cool, and I'm very happy I found it :-) 

I love this sketch so much, I'm almost tempted to ask Anke whether she'd be willing to sell it...

http://anke.edoras-art.de/cgi-bin/drawings.pl?file=sc_eowyn_and_grey_lady_72.jpg

Its great to see her improving all the time, even if it does make it more disheartening that I could never even in my nicest dreams be able to compete. 

EDIT:
If the link above doesn't work, try this. The picture I like is called Eowyn and the grey lady, and is Eowyn standing head to head with her horse about 10 pictures down. It appears to be a set of 4, all of which I think are lovely.

http://anke.edoras-art.de/anke_tolkien_drawings.html

In the five minutes I need from banquet heavy thinking to work heavy thinking I find - yay - new Anke hobbit sketches, and they're for sale. I'm trying to work out which one i like most :-)

http://anke.edoras-art.de/kunstplus_shop/originale_e.html#hobbit_e

Once again I have failed somewhat in my Christmas card writing ambitions. So here is my late/poor/cheap/artistic/environmentally friendly (delete as applicable) alternative. 

'I don't like this at all,' panted Sam just behind. 'Snow's all right on a fine morning, but I like to be in bed while it's falling. I wish this lot would go off to Hobbiton! Folk might welcome it there.' 



Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to All on my Flist!! 
May it be very happy!

(For the Tolkien fans, the painting is sister to 'Caradras')

Shanith
x
 

 A huge congratulations to Beam_Engine!! 

Its been a long and hard road, but I knew your cheeky smile and winning personality would shine through in the end. I'm very happy for you and toasted you well with mead last night. 
Well done you!!
x

We're rapidly approaching being two - thirds full, so I'd encourage anyone who hasn't signed up for the banquet to get on and do so, even if its just a maybe. It would be tragic to have to tell people there isn't enough space.

And if you need any more persuasion - I'm determined its going to be the *best banquet ever*. This is something I vow each time! I'm very excited about the talented cooks we've got on board, the extensive decoration ideas and the fact that its going to the longer 10 hours of joy!! 

 Today it is exactly 100 days until the banquet!

I'm quite excited about it. There are so many good ideas out there!

Being a Brownie is brilliant for your career, according to the Guardian.
Two-thirds of women in top roles across politics, the media, business and sport are former Brownies or Girl Guides.
Many say that childhood days spent acquiring an armful of badges contributed to their career success.
Polling conducted for Girlguiding UK found that a brown or blue uniform lurks at the back of the wardrobe of a whole host of high profile women, such as Liberal Democrat peer Shirley Williams, lawyer Cherie Booth and athlete Tanni Grey-Thompson.
What's more, three quarters of former guides believe that having access to female-only spaces helps young women become more successful as adults.
Full Guardian article here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/gender/story/0,,2201575,00.html

 Thought the Tolkien art lovers out there might like this link, I think her watercolours are beautiful. 

http://www.elfwood.com/art/f/i/filat/filat.html

I'm not so keen on this one, but others might be:

http://www.elfwood.com/art/s/o/solarfall/solarfall.html