Showing posts with label moments. Show all posts
Showing posts with label moments. Show all posts

Friday, 7 August 2020

An afternoon trip to the Leonardo da Vinci exhibition


Howde Peeps.

So the news is not good. The Virus is taking control. We are trying to cheer you all up the best way we can. We were scrolling through last year's posts when we found this one from March. It was just after her Cyprus hols. She was intrigued by this exhibition at the Museum and tootled off into town. We followed our Lady M with amusement, later she scribed this account for you.  Incidentally, those trams have been replaced with new blue ones. She does not think they are as pretty as these! Please enjoy this post, and remember nothing lasts forever. Not even Covid19. Stay positive, safe and strong. Love Sofia and Donald xxxxx

                                                     ***********************

Hello Everyone!

Now, we all know that Lady M likes riding the trams particularly as it is free for her. One of those privileges that accompanies senior years. She loves presenting her concessionary pass and watching it click on the reader and then she watches others pay for the privilege of riding. She is frequently amused as she watches peeps behaviour and ponders over what kind of life they have. Such a fascinating hobby. She thinks about their ages and then is reminded of her own and asks the question, how did I get here? Memory lane can be wonderful. 

Anyway, last week she tootled down to the tram stop at West Bromwich Central and hopped on board or to be more precise she carefully stepped on board and almost fell into the nearest seat. The tram filled up on the way into Brum and all seats were occupied when another senior with a stick boarded. She was really impressed when a young person, not seated in a priority seat, politely got up and offered the senior her seat. There is so much bad publicity regarding the youth of today linked with crime and anti-social behaviour. This was a reminder that not all of our youth are miscreants. On her return journey she witnessed a similar situation where another youngster willingly gave up her seat for an elderly person. 

So, where did she go for her afternoon treat? The Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery to see the Leonardo da Vinci: A Life in Drawing exhibition.


"In February 2019, to mark the 500th anniversary of the death of Leonardo da Vinci, 12 of the Renaissance master's drawings from the Royal Collection will go on display at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, as part of 12 simultaneous exhibitions across the UK.
Leonardo da Vinci: A Life in Drawing, a nationwide event, will give the widest-ever UK audience the opportunity to see the work of this extraordinary artist, with 144 of his greatest drawings from the Royal Collection forming the 12 exhibitions.
Twelve drawings, selected to reflect the full range of Leonardo's interests – painting, sculpture, architecture, music, anatomy, engineering, cartography, geology and botany – will be shown at each venue.
Visitors to Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery will see the intricacy of Leonardo’s work through works never seen in the city before. 
Leonardo da Vinci exhibitions across the UK
The exhibitions Leonardo da Vinci: A Life in Drawing will include examples of all the drawing materials employed by the artist, including pen and ink, red and black chalks, watercolour and metalpoint. They will also present new information about Leonardo's working practices and creative process, gathered through technical research using a range of techniques including ultraviolet imaging, infrared reflectography and X-ray fluorescence. The findings will be brought together in a ground-breaking new book, Leonardo: A Closer Look, published by Royal Collection Trust in February 2019.
Following the exhibitions at Royal Collection Trust's partner venues, in May 2019 the drawings will be brought together to form part of an exhibition of over 200 sheets at The Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace, the largest exhibition of Leonardo's work in over 65 years. A selection of 80 drawings will then travel to The Queen's Gallery, Palace of Holyrood house in November 2019, the largest group of Leonardo's works ever shown in Scotland. This will take place 22 November 2019 – 15 March 2020."
Taken from the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery website,
Was she impressed with what she saw? Definitely. The name 'da Vinci' tends to be associated with two things these days, Dan Brown's novel and The Last Supper the masterpiece painting by the artist Leonardo da Vinci. It was that painting which she had in mind when she walked into the gallery. She gasped in amazement at the sight before her. Twelve intricate but small drawings which have survived the test of time. To behold such work which had been penned by a hand 500 years ago in itself is remarkable... to imagine this individual working to produce them at a time long before computer images had been invented. Her mind can be over active. Naturally, she took pics before leaving the gallery in awe of this great man's mind and imagination. She would now like to share some of this pics with you and suggest that if you're in the Birmingham area you pop along and see them in the next month or look for the other museums where more of his work is on show.









Just remember, peeps, this work was produced 500 years ago!
Before she left the city she popped into Costa for her fav panini, well one of them, (brie and bacon) and a latte. She thought it was nice of Costa to place one of their coffee houses a few yards away from the tram stop at Grand Central. That was an afternoon which will stay in her mind for a long time. She is a believer that life is what you make it and should be enjoyed. She likes 'firsts', taking opportunities and enjoying experiences. That afternoon was definitely a super experience. So, peeps, go and get yourself some memorable moments this week. 
Have fun, Lady M

Friday, 17 October 2014

ONE LOVELY BLOG AWARD

                                                             


Howde Folks,

Yes, Sofia still here. Lady M is on cloud nine. She has received the ONE LOVELY BLOG AWARD from Lillian Nader and will be nominating others for the award later. She's still in dreamland about that trip to Chilwell ten days ago and all the fun she had. AND on Monday a courier arrived with the proof copy of LOVE YOU FOREVER. She took it to the library and proudly displayed it on a stand for everyone to see during the afternoon tea session. Hopefully, she will have her first copies for a launch at the West Bridgford Book Festival on 25th. But, she's still waiting for the press release and the company to make it available to the public. So, it's fingers crossed.
However, tomorrow, Saturday 18th, she will be one of the five authors signing books at the Wellington Library in the Civic and Leisure Centre for their book festival. She's just praying that SatNav doesn't let her down. She's not been there before. This is Wellington, Telford in Shropshire. If you fancy joining her the postcode is TF1 1LX or if you're in the area and see a red Micra going round and round in circles please point her in the right direction. Anyway, for one week only she is coming back to do her own blog while Donald and I pop across to our favourite New York place. So, I'll hand you over to Lady M.

Love Sofia  xxx

Hello Everyone,

Yes, I'm back for one week only to follow the rules of this award.

A big thank you to my friend and fellow singing horse, #12, our paper mare, (stay tuned!) who has nominated me for the One Lovely Blog Award. I met Lillian when we both entered the Next Best Author Contest last year. I am both surprised and delighted to be among those nominated for this award.

One Lovely Blog Award Rules:
  1. I need to thank the person who nominated me. check!
  2. Share 7 things about myself that you still may not know. check!
  3. Nominate up to 15 bloggers. check!
  4. Notify the nominees that I have done so. check!
  5. Put the logo of the award on my blog site. check!
Seven things about me you may not know:

I gave some considerable thought to this and decided to share seven of my momentous magical moments with you.
  1. In 1976 a friend and I flew to Moscow for New Year's Eve. We stood outside the Lenin Mausoleum, when the temperature was -30, waiting for the changing of the guard and then truly experienced "Midnight in Moscow". That was followed on New Year's Day with a troika ride in the snow in a forest just outside Moscow. A magic and momentous time.

     2. Not so pleasant but something I feel everyone should do. Not exactly magical but definitely   
         momentous. In 1984 I took a party of people to visit the Holy Land. On the tour we visited the 
         Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem. I will never forget the feeling I had or the sad hollowness in   
         the eyes of  those victims. Our guide was Jewish and didn't go in. He'd seen it before. We
        were all stunned but not one person regretted seeing it.
  
 
      3. Enjoying a steak and soaking up the atmosphere of Bourbon Street in New Orleans in 2003.

    
      4. Princess Margaret conferring my B.Ed. degree at Keele University in 1973.
  
  
      5. My favourite hymn is "Dear Lord and Father of Mankind" after a magical moment singing it
         by the Sea of Galilee in 1975.  "O Sabbath rest by Galilee, O calm of hills above, where
         Jesus.. 

    
     6. My Groundhog Day, the one I could happily live every day for the rest of my life, is September
         17th. After the magical day in 1969 when I left home for College.


     7. September 16th, 2000. I received the first copies of my first book, TIME & TIDE.
    



It is my pleasure to nominate:

Richard Denning  has a blog named Richard's Ramblings http://news.richarddenning.co.uk/?p=274062 This takes you to his blog at the Wellington Festival. Richard is a member of the New Writers UK, writes children's historical/fantasy books and is a games enthusiast. He is a director of the UK Games Expo. I once asked him when he slept. His reply, "What is this thing you call sleep?"

Lisa Fender, Lisa lives in Colorado and has released her first book, The Lorn Prophecy. She is working on the second book. Her blog is Lisa's Djen Den -She gives a lot of help and advice on writing and keeps readers abreast of her family life.

Lizzie T Leaf,   http://lizzietleaf.blogspot.com/  Lizzie is a prolific writer who manages to juggle several projects at a time as well as an active family life. She, too, lives in Colorado but loves visiting England and thinks of it as her second home.

Cindy LapeƱa, Cindy and I met through the Next Best Author Contest and she is another one of my Singing Horses, #00 and a dancing queen. She is a writer and an artist. Just one of her blogs! http://mimrlith.wordpress.com