Traves Tangents

 "I've only packed the essentials..." I said, then found myself unpacking three hot water bottles....however, as a friend reassured me "Well... they are different shapes so I guess useful for specifically targeted warming activities". Hurrah for targeted warming activities I say!

Yesterday, a friend and I took ourselves off to the exhibition 'Colour Revolution: Victorian Art, Fashion and Design' at the Ashmolean. The premise of the exhibition was/is that invention of synthetic, commercial dyes meant that the Victorian era was full of dazzling new, vibrant colours. Apart from Queen Victoria in her many years of mourning. Here is one of her mourning outfits. We were both struck by how short she was. I loved the military details on the front of the jacket. This was also the moment when artists' paints in tubes became widely available, rather than artists having to grind their own. Here is one of Turner 's pallets. This flagon for communion wine was made around 1858 by John Hardman Powell   I love the pelican detail. The Victorians rediscovered the rich colours of medieval manuscripts, one of which was on display. I'm not quite sure what this creature is supposed to be, or how the poor thing managed to get about. Scientific discovery also infl...

I played the tourist today and visited a special exhibition in the library at St John's .  This Book of Hours was copied and illuminated between 1420 and 1434 by a John Lacy , a Dominican recluse (anchorite) of Newcastle upon Tyne. I must admit that I had no idea that Dominican anchorites had existed. This is thought to be a self-portrait. I wish I knew what he was saying. The angelic readers date from 1838....  ...got to love a reading angel :-).

 I went to visit my dear friend the Revd. this weekend. In his back garden is a lovely wooden door, which once upon a time, would have led into a walled kitchen garden. The doorway has been bricked up, and the kitchen garden built on. I keep trying to persuade him to pain a hellmouth behind it, in order to scare the life out of the next incumbent.

 A quick impromptu trip to see my Uncle today. I spent about a week there every summer as a child, and the garden still holds its magic.