ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY - 10TH OF 2022

Good morning 'tis Friday time for 

Well last Friday the weather was decidedly unpleasant so to make a change we booked to go to the cinema to see Unchartered, hubby had wanted to see it for a while and given the inclement weather it seemed like a perfect day to do it.  So we headed off bright and early and thoroughly enjoyed it.  A bit of a cross between Indiana Jones and Goonies and I would describe it as a good Sunday afternoon film in all honesty. 

After the film as we were in the local shopping centre we popped and had a tapas lunch they do a 'mixed table' dish which is a selection of breads, cheeses and meats and is just enough for lunch.  It felt very naughty but wasn't overly filling which is a positive. 

On Saturday we had a wood load dropped for the wood burner, me and hubby spent an hour moving it into the store, it is always lovely to see it replenished the we decided to blow the cobwebs off and head to Wentworth Woodhouse gardens for a wander around to see the snowdrops before they disappear.

  It was lovely to wander for a few hours and wasn't overly busy which is a bonus and the snowdrops were still at the height of flowering and we discovered some new artwork.

We chilled for the rest of the day as we had decided to postpone our visit to York until Sunday as the weather appeared better.  We travelled up to the park and ride (as York has a fantastic park and ride system), and were in York within the hour (I forget sometimes how close it actually is).  Then we set off to find the 40+ ice sculptures around the city (before they melted). 

It was supposed to take place in February, but when the Covid cases were rising they took the decision to postpone it another month, which was brave given that March is normally warmer temperatures. 

We had a fabulous time and in about two and a half hours we had managed to find all of the sculptures around the city.  Some of them were in full sun and so were not looking at their best when we got to them, but overall they did an amazing job and the city was full of people finding the sculptures and ticking them off the map.  We managed to find all of them (even the one that had been moved due to the floods a few weeks ago). 

Here is s selection of what we saw, needless to say the Alice sculptures were my favourites, the mad hatter one in particular as the sculpture's teapot was dripping into the tea cup which was genius. 

The rest of the week has tripped along at a merry old pace as usual, work has been incredibly busy and I declared a 'drowning not waving' status to my boss who was brilliant and spent a day clearing down my 'to do' list into a much more manageable state which I am incredibly grateful for. 

I hope you are all well and keeping busy, will catch up with posts over the weekend. 

Hugs

ROCKING YOUR WORLD FRIDAY - 9TH OF 2022

 Good Morning lovely people tis Friday time for 

Well thankfully last week the weather calmed and the sun came out with some blue skies thrown in for good measure, as we seem to have been stuck in the house for such a large period of February we decided to make the most of it. 

On Friday we headed to the town of Barnsley for their small (7) elephant trail around the town, it was brilliant and we explored areas we probably wouldn't have otherwise. 

We found this one in front of the town hall

Inside the town hall we enjoyed the museum and the current exhibition, based on a stone head being found next to a church building, the inspiration led to the creation of these wonderful wooden heads, using local wood. 

Onwards on our trial, we headed to the Cooper gallery to find the next elephant. 

and here it is, based on the children's book Elmer 

Down to the bus station 

I had to get the other side of this one as I loved the bridge. 

Into the main town centre this is the first Covid 19 commemorative piece that I've seen, very poignant and beautiful. 

We found the one that looks like Elmer in the library (of course)

And this one in the market. 

This one was in the new Glass Works shopping centre

This one in the original Alhambra shopping centre

Outside the Glassworks is this sculpture of Kes, the story based on a local lad and his pet kestrel

Then we found another museum/art gallery area, providing artistic responses to the pandemic, I loved this piece

The love Barnsley neon sign was beautiful

And is engraved in the stone plinth of the Covid 19 statues.  

On Saturday we were hoping to head to Wentworth Woodhouse to enjoy their snowdrops, but it was closed due to filming of the Crown.  So we booked and headed instead to Brodsworth and saw new sculptures designed in response to telling the story of the link between Brodsworth and the slave trade. 

There were two ships linked with the house that were slave ships, Liberty and Lottery. 

We wandered the garden, grabbed this blustery selfie

and discovered more sculptures. 

Brodsworth looked particularly pretty in the sunshine

We found some snowdrops in the sunken garden. 

Some of them were really pretty

Another sculpture with sugar cones, rum barrels and a tea pot, which confused me a little because it mentioned coffee,  I'm assuming a teapot is seen as a British 'thing' potentially. 

This one shows a large house at the back and a small rudimentary slave home in the front. 

We found a carpet of snowdrops

And hubby got a close up

There were also lots of aconites. 

The carpets of snowdrops were spectacular. 

Sunday arrived and two new art exhibits at YSP and a fine blue skies day forecast we set off bright and early. 

First stop the restaurant for a naughty breakfast 

with my breakfast date

David Nash has artworks on display in three areas, the upper space in the main centre, the Weston gallery and the Bothy, we enjoyed exploring all three which predominantly showed his artwork which he isn't as widely known for as his sculptures.  The information really was fascinating to read, I liked his 'red' work namely this piece

and this piece

Another exhibit had opened, linked with the shop (because you could buy them).  They had opened yesterday, artist Yukihiro Akame, I really did love all of these

the tallest one is actually the largest piece he has done

I also loved how the light caught them

I think there were 16 on sale and 14 of them were already sold

Genuinely loved these, originally he was an architect and now works with clay, stone, wood and other natural resources to create these works of art. 

The rest of the week has fair tripped along at a merry old pace as always and I find myself at Friday once more, I hope you've had a grand week. 

Biggest hugs