Rocking Your World Friday - 15th of 2019

Welcome it's Friday so time for 

So last Friday hubby managed to leave work a little bit early, I'd checked with him in the week if he was happy to miss seeing the Mausoleum of the Giants exhibition in person, however he said he would love to have seen it in person so we made plans.

I checked out the closing time on Friday which was 8 p.m. and said leave work early let's queue until you get to see it so that's exactly what we did.  He got home for about 2pm and then we went up on the tram to Sheffield my sister came along as well and we queued for just under 3 hours.  So I have officially stayed in that queue for longer than anybody else because I've seen it twice and had to queue twice to see it (unlike said 18 year old whose second visit was at a set time for college and so he went straight in!).

There was some pretty fab art pieces on the outside of the building of which this one was my favourite

It was something that captured the imagination of a lot of people and I think the locality really did misunderstand how many people would want to see the exhibition so after 2 hours and 40 minutes of queuing outside we were finally in the Courtyard we grabbed another coffee (my sister had already been and found some whilst we were stood in the queue).

We had 20 minutes in the exhibition which isn't a huge amount of time but most definitely worth going and seeing.  

So this is what we saw

The guardian of the giants

The first glimpse of the giants themselves (if you looks far left you can see people to give you some idea of perspective).

And the other giant sat under his canopy of light with me and my sister as perspective

In the side rooms were more of Phlegm's characters

Hubby managed to get a few photos of me next to the pieces

I was adamant this time around I'd find the eye and I did

Some more of the pieces

It really was magical to see

The exhibition led me to writing this poem


Sleeping giants

There was a word and then a whisper
That the giants had been found
They surface every now and then 
finding final places to rest

In old derelict factories 
Having lived for many thousands of years
Through changes the likes of which we won't see in our lifetime 
They are tired and weary

Eye witness works marks the spot where the giants sleep 
A first failed visit proved that word had got out
So we tried again on Friday to see if we could see them

The queue was long but everyone was in good spirits 
The chance to see them, too big an opportunity to waste
An hour or two did pass as the queue shuffled down 
And soon we were in the courtyard 
The smell of freshly brewed coffee from the little van did tempt us.

Lights strung from the roof drew our eye skyward
Large blackened chimneys protruding from the old factory
Ladies beckon us into a dark poorly lit corridor
The guardian of the giants stood poised midway along 
Glowing vibrantly in black and white his eyes peeping out from the patterned jumper that he wore.

Down into the belly of the factory 
We had our first glimpse
Laid curled up on the cold grey floor
Knees scrunched up 
Fingers Curled around the concrete step lay the giant
His weary eyes barely open 
We crept around not wishing to disturb him from his mighty slumber

Another sat, head tilted towards the pitched glass roof
Seeking warmth and sunshine on his face
His hands hugging his knees as we wandered below
Small rooms off from this open space filled with creatures from the giants' land

A sad forlorn giant body in our world whilst the rest languishes in his own 
holds out long arms holding a skull adorned with flowers
A giant of yesteryear with floral tribute no less

A long nosed bird like creature sulks below bird houses that he will never fit
The beautiful tiny stacked homes
A sad reminder of his enormity

We jump back as a horned creature with forked tongue and three eyes stares at us from the next 
Guarded by two guardians of the giants
We are warned not to venture too close

Oversized chimneys atop tiny roofs
Bedecked with talking heads 
Gathered in a semi circle 
To tell the tales of the giants

The thumbprint bird sings quietly 
A song of changing mountains and moving rivers
Surrounded by totem heads representing the relatives of those who've gone before

At the base of one giant 
A creature with long limbs and neck stands forlornly by his crooked legs
A familiar no less, saddened at his master's demise

We stand and soak up the atmosphere straining ears to hear their heavy laboured breath
A gift they chose our town to say a fond farewell

The ladies beckon us 
It's time to leave
With a glance back over our shoulders we say a sad farewell

Leaving them in their mausoleum awaiting the final few people to come and stand in awe of these mighty creatures 
Destined for only a little while longer 
We once more go in search for gateways 
To see these mighty giants

Back outside we discovered the new Phlegm piece on the side of the building (this is the one he was creating when said 18 year old came across him working on the same).

Next grateful if the planned canopy actually works, I bought waterproof fabric and basically created pockets for the wooden slats to fit through.  Hubby attached hooks and carabiner clips and some high tensile wire and it was soon up.  We've also got some short chain to clip it back when its really windy, but overall it does the trick and is actually really nice to sit under. 

Next up spending time sitting and reading, for those of you who know my blog you'll know we normally fill our lives wall to wall with things to do, but sometimes I lose sight of some of the other delights, such as sitting and reading curled up on the sofa with a spring fire as the evening draws in. 

I've had this book for a few years, hubby bought it when it first came out, I have never read a script book before and tried and failed at my first attempt (not helped by said 18 year old borrowing it whilst I was midway through and it not seeing the light of day for some time).  

Anyway the book was a brilliant, quick read and now I desperately want to go and see the play, but the ticket prices are astronomical, so we are going to have to put our thinking caps on for this one.

Last Friday also marked said 18 year old's girlfriend's 18th.  She had lots of plans for the day, so said 18 year old headed over in the morning for present unwrapping and he came back with a mountain of beautiful cake, all different colours, this was only half of the cake he brought back and it was delicious!

 The rest of the week has been busy with work (year end and all that), business planning etc which I won't bore you with.  I hope you've had a fabulous week, if you fancy joining in pop a post together, pop back and link up and we can come and visit.