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June 2015: Life Happenings Happened

It's been a busy month, with lots to celebrate including both of our birthdays, our housewarming, trips to the circus / lighthouse / beach / scavenging / cycling and Jaws Day. Here's some of the things that have happened:

On display at Wild-Schacht Gallery this month... John Abell:





My social media statuses of note:


Somebody make us a badge saying 'We survived IKEA.' Applause. Applause. Bows.


Wore a new dress that I bought and a new haircut, Torben wore a new shirt that I bought... went to Chapter to eat nice food and drink pints because Why Not? There was a pop-up love party happening, with food, the world is full of copycats... now home to dance with fizz.


Is not going to pursue a new career in furniture moving. Somehow, mainly down to T, the sofa bed from Gumtree address round the corner is now moved by hand and in the 'library' / 'spare room' and Torben has a pint of home brew. There are few people, 1, that I trust to stand beneath a sofa on a staircase and not think they will drop it on me.


I declare Marking done. [and a lovely three semesters teaching on the MA in Creative and Critical Writing at the University of Gloucestershire. Fly my pretties.]


The garden is full of wild (roses) and (blooming) passion.


The witness relocation scheme is going well.




I am loving these long post-work evenings. From out foraging in nature yesterday night to tending the domestic gardens tonight, more planting, some weeding (me), some window washing (T, it involves a gadget therefore more fun). Strawberries are changing colour. Seedlings are sprouting. Front is swept tidy, ready for visitors. And I bought some dinky lanterns. House almost ready to warm. I'll be at Terry Hetherington Awards tomorrow if any Swansea folk fancy buying me an early birthday drink / celebrating young literary talent... Next up, samphire for tea.






Some snaps I took:






JAWS DAY 2015!
Outdoor Cinema in the Bay







I went along to the excellent opening party of Elysium High Street Studios... and somehow I still made it cycling the next day - the second time ever in my adult life...



& foraged Elderflower for cordial for birthday Prosecco and Gin cocktails...



and Samphire for tea...








Strange findings in Taff's Well included:




The garden is growing:






and we had birthdays...








Housewarming Buffet Inspiration may have been influenced by...





Torben's work gained more fans, as it should:

'It is in two acts, totalling about 90 minutes — the first, depicting Edwardian Kensington, much shorter than the second, set in Neverland — and is meant to be accessible to children as well as grown-ups. (Children’s tickets for the show are only £1.) It certainly has much simple spectacle: pirate battles, a cuddly giant nursemaid dog (Aidan Smith), a hologram tiny Tinker Bell fairy, a crocodile to rival Wagner’s Fafner (and one that has swallowed not just Captain Hook’s watch but an entire grandfather clock), rumpus on rumpus, and lots and lots of flying. You barely see the wires attached to Peter and his new friends as they swoop through the air. It is almost as good, I felt, as the film of Mary Poppins.' More praise (from Sunday Times) for über-talented Torben.

'a show-stealing crocodile / clockodile.' - Birmingham Post on WNO'S Peter Pan. Gold stars for Torben Schacht


'Altogether, a stunning achievement for the entire Welsh National Opera team, and a production which surely sets a new benchmark in Pelléas interpretation.'

The making of the Pelléas and Mélisande skull by Torben Schacht...






















& I have been reading:





















Next, we're going dinosaur hunting...

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