Sticks and Stones

Okay! So I've neglected to post on here for a while, but I have been busy writing papers over "Feminism in 20th Century Art" and "Bioethics Concerning The Human Genome Project". Go figure.  I've also been knitting; unfortunately the cat, Poppy, likes to "help" and randomly attacks while I try to knit, so its become more of a sport. I try to guard the knitting while Poppy creeps up, ready to pounce at any moment like a blood thirsty saber-tooth tiger hunting wild boar during famine to feed its jungle kin. Alright, so maybe its not quite that dramatic, but work with me here. 

Aunt Liz and Uncle Les came down to Basingstoke to visit and we went to lots of interesting places like Stonehenge, Winchester and Jane Austen's House. 

Jane Austen briefly lived there

 

Miss Austen's actual house was there

This rooftop reminded me of the scary bird scene in Mary Poppins 

The Round Table(or so they say)

Though I may have a blog, I am no techy nerd and have no idea how to get this photo to turn... this is Jane Austen's grave in Winchester Cathedral

I lightened the exposure on this so one can see the intricate detailing inside the cathedral. 

The CRYPT...

Look! A bunch of old rocks!

 I'd always wanted to go to Stonehenge and definitely listened to the entire audio tour. It was really cold outside though!

Blueberries, Anyone?

This weekend I went with Aunt Liz and Uncle Les to the Cotswold's. The area we went was very picturesque and had a lot of sheep and pheasants.

Lower Slaughter... Apparently there used to be more sheep in the area, but sadly, they probably weren't destined for long life in a town with a name like that. I'm guessing Upper Slaughter isn't much better. Poor little sheep.

Part of a river that runs through the town.

Thomas took the next pictures at a German fair we we went to in Birmingham

Myself and Aunt Liz

 

We went to a birthday party at The Pretty Bricks; if Shades of Brown and Kilkenny's had a child, this would be it. There was definitely a pirate there.

On the way back I crammed myself into one of the weirdest train rides I've ever experienced. The entire train was so packed that people had to stand in the aisles and entryway's, and there still wasn't enough room however, there was quite a bit of angry yelling. I squeezed on, but stood up the whole ride smushed between a crazy lady who announced that she was a Biologist and started handing out blueberries to strangers, and several students with their Ipods so loud they were probably deaf by the end of the journey. But hey, I got where I needed to go. 

Pyrotechnics

Well this Saturday was firework night; Wednesday was the 5th of November which is Guy Fawkes Day here. So, there was a guy burnt at the stake(a scarecrow like figure, not a real person, as I was led to believe in my younger days) and lots of fireworks at the festival in town. It was pretty enjoyable, and really what's not to love? Celebratory burning of terrorists is always brings a good laugh and it teaches the kids responsibility... 

Eh

I have five bottles of water sitting on my desk. That means I either recycle or am a pack rat.

I'm going to an ABBA dress up/sing along pantomime soon and my eyes are hurting from sewing sequins and psychedelic prints. I can't believe I just admitted that. The costumes are going to be crazy fun. 

Though halloween is well over, I'm still reaping the benefits of the free candy aspect of the situation, though I didn't actually collect any. 

I went into London Saturday and tried to go shopping, didn't get a single thing. I think its because I get so overwhelmed by choice and shear abundance. 

I had my hair done about two weeks ago so it would all be one overall tone, instead of the variations it seems to turn so randomly. Unfortunately after only a few washes, its lighter than it was before and looks like I need to have it done again because apparently I have an albino streak and my hair rejects dark color. This leaves me only one choice, back to blue.

I've Information Vegetable, Animal and Mineral

Penzance feels as though it is the edge of the world, or at least England; probably because the land stops and there's just an amass of sea. I didn't get to take too many photos, only 241, so here are a few I managed to snag on my short jaunt/marathon bike tour extravaganza. Unfortunately, though my trip covered an immense amount of seashore, I failed to see any pirates. Maybe next time...

Sunset Over Penzance

Penzance

Somewhere between Morazion and Penzance

 

St. Michael's Mount, Morazion

(Note: this is an amazing place because its half and island. When the tide is low, people are able to walk across to the area, in high tide, one must take a boat. Pretty schnazzy.)

Gullbert, my new friend

If one hasn't realized, St. Ives is a gorgeous beach town. Once a person discovers The Digey, the main pedestrian walkway through the town, everything local is suddenly unearthed; from art studios to Cornish Pasty shops. The Tate Gallery, St. Ives is located right off The Digey and Porthmeor Beach, so its easy to visit good friends like Pablo(Picasso) and of course Barb(-ara Hepworth). 

Penzance

St. Ives

More St. Ives

The Tate Gallery at Porthmeor Beach St.Ives

Little house on hill, St. Ives

Another view of the little house on the hill, St. Ives

Tour de England

Starting out at 6 AM from the train station in Hook with just a small backpack and a bicycle, I decided to take a trip down to the seaside, get in touch with my inner hippie, and visit St. Ives, St. Austell, Penzance, Morazion, and everywhere in between. Riding about 10-12 miles a day on Saturday and Sunday, going around the coast was really fun but very tiring. Saturday I went through St. Austell out to The Eden Project, which is a huge center housing several geodesic domes(green houses) and home to plants from everywhere in the world. 

I'd say these are the largest greenhouses I've ever seen. Thats not even all of it, there's another set of structures behind me, a huge bridge and an ice skating rink.

This is made from the average amount of garbage a person throws away in their lifetime; tons, literally-3.3 tons(or tonnes as the English like to spell it).

Yogminton

After trying a type of yoga called Bikram, which is done at 104 degrees for 90 minutes and goes through 26 different postures, one discovers muscles that were otherwise non-exsistent. At first the heat feels like an average summer day in Oklahoma, but its intense compared with the cold weather outside. The best part of going to a yoga class is watching people randomly fall over, so I'm proud to say I didn't because there were plenty of folks who did.

I've also been playing badminton, which I hadn't ever played before this week. Tennis and badminton incorporate a few of the same weapons: a net, racket, and something to hit, so I already had parts of it down, however it is fairly difficult to correctly hit the shuttlecock, and the technique used is completely different from that of hitting a tennis ball.

Upon trying these activities, I've decided to fuse them in order to spawn the new sport of Yogminton. Players contort themselves into weird shapes at extreme hot or cold temperatures and hit objects around a room, trying not to fall over. It could be highly entertaining. League play starts in 4 years, hopefully gaining enough worldwide popularity in order to make the olympics in 12 years, so sign up while there's still space left.

Pigeons

"I've Found a Racing Pigeon...What should I do?"

I found this fantastic site about pigeons. What should I do? Get a life probably. . .Who picks up stray pigeons? Stray pigeons are everywhere, in fact every pigeon could be considered a stray. 

Well this weekend I went shopping in Basingstoke and watched a few highstreet store fashion shows, which were ok, but not thrilling. I left half way through to go thrifting in the old part of the village and stumbled upon a little string of pearls(I'm sure they're fake because they're not knotted between each pearl, but they're a nice heavy vintage fake). I'm becoming obsessed with vintage lately. Ossie Clark is my current favorite.

I'm working on dyeing fabrics with different fruit juices/substances and drawing prints as well as creating some skirts/dresses/costumes so has been keeping me busy, I'll post some pictures when I'm done. I also had to write a 7 page paper on 4 pieces of artwork from the non-western world yesterday, which was interesting but it took a while.

Lun-Dun

Upon traveling to London this weekend, I gave a quick semi-guided tour to a friend who had never been before; so we hopped on the Underground and hit the tourist-y places such as Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, St. Stephen's Clock Tower and Harrods(Ok, ok so that was for my personal enjoyment and creation of my Christmas list-"Dear Santa, I would like that cute 3000 pound Valentino handbag and oh yeah a few of those floral Hermes scarves in my stocking..."). I am fortunately getting much better with directions and able to locate any shopping districts and espresso bars fairly well. Call it intuition. 

No visit to London would be complete without a quick trip to a museum and I thought my friend might enjoy seeing a nice Monet or Picasso, except she had never heard of them before(!?!). On top of that, it was some sort of Trashy-Tasteless-Nudie-"art"-Day at the museum and before I saw the warning sign, BAM, it was too late and my corneas are now seared forever. Yikes. Call me a prude but I don't consider that art, not even modern. Barf and barf. 

Fellow garden-viewers.

Hi, my name is Sarah and I'm not photogenic. 

In a fuzzy alleyway near the Tate Modern.

More alleyway.

Token tourist-y photograph. 

The Queen was in at the Buck, and although I had originally planned to storm the gate, chose not to because these relatively threatening, highly-trained individuals were obviously on high alert.

Clip of a statue near Tate Modern. Watch carefully. 

360 Buckingham Palace