Hello to all our friends.
As you have probably realised by now, D and I enjoy doing many things together, and we wanted to make 2024 a year when we returned to spending more time reading. We discussed some of the books we had read at school, and of course, Shakespeare came up in the conversation.
Although we read several of Shakespeare's plays in school, it was never for pleasure. We wondered if we would feel differently now, so we have made a start on our first play, Henry VI Part 1.
To help us with this, D found 'The Hollow Crown' film series based on some of Shakespeare's historical plays. While it is not the same as seeing a live performance, it gives us a better understanding of these plays.
How many plays can we read this year? I enjoyed this first play and look forward to the next one.
And on starting other new tasks, I finished another project I hinted at last week.
A kernel of an idea had been swirling around in my brain for nearly two years: a coaster bought on one of our short breaks, and I wanted to do something special with it.
During the past few weeks, D and I have been reorganizing things in the kitchen, including the location of the kettle and hot drinks, which led to starting this project.
I needed a frame with some depth to hold the items, and this box frame was perfect. After giving it a quick coat of medium oak varnish, I used background papers from my card stash and a few teabags from the tea caddy. D wrote the message to add a little humour to the piece before we added the final touch: the teaspoon!
We also have more good news about the kittens and cats my son and his fiancée foster.
Dolly and Quincey were the first two cats my son and his fiancée fostered. They have been with them for about a year and are now three years old. This week, the cats have found a new forever home together.
On the same day, a new tiny kitten joined the fostering family.
Meet Eddie. He is a tiny ginger ball of fluffy mischief, much like Toby.
Three weeks into 2024 and both D and I are looking forward to the rest of the year. We hope that you will have a great week and stay safe whatever your plans are.
B and D x
I like your display - great fun. I do admire people who foster animals. Selfishly, I would find it so difficult to give them up, even to the most suitable of homes.
ReplyDeleteThank you . The tea display will make me smile every time I put the kettle on. We don't have any pets but enjoy being part of the fostering kitty family. I think I would find it hard to let go as much as you. Have a good week.
DeleteI do like your display and like the words 'in case of emergency break glass' :)
ReplyDeleteEddie does look a cutie.
All the best Jan
It was a fun project to do and brings a smile on the dullest of days. I think that Eddie is the seventh kitten that my son has fostered in a year and all have found new homes where they will be loved. I'm sure Eddie will be adopted very soon. He is very cute.
DeleteOh, the tea case is too cute!
ReplyDeleteAnd so glad the kitties found their furrever home!
hugs
Donna
Hello Donna. It took a while to get from the idea to the finished design but I am very pleased with the result.
DeleteFinding loving homes for all the kittens is heart warming. Good that they will have happy lives now with new family who will love them.
Well done getting to grips with Shakespeare. I studied Romeo and Juliet at school and we were taken to see Hamlet in Stratford upon Avon, and I think it's put me off for life. A shame really. I do like your little display and the humour. Awww, if I were to get another cat it would be exactly like Eddie. I remember a big lazy ginger tom cat that my auntie had when I was a child, he was gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteI read Merchant of Venice and Macbeth at school. I have been surprised by how differently I feel about Shakespeare's works now to how I felt as a teenager. I thought I would just give them a second read and so far I'm positive. D feels the same. Eddie is a real heart- melter isn't he :-)
DeleteShakespeare can be a bit of a mystery. We, too, read the plays all through public school: Romeo and Julie, Julius Caesar, and Macbeth. In college we read the history plays and with little understanding. But in grad school I loved the Shakespeare class and as a college lecture taught two plays. Once I attempted King Lear, one of my favorites. I don't think the students like it all; instead then, I chose Much A Do About Nothing, ending the semester on a happy note as the play ends with song and dance. The highlight of my life had to my trips to England when we got to go to the Globe in 2001 to see Macbeth, a different interpretation, but still wonderful. Then at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre we saw Hamlet, a modern version, not very satisfying. And long. In 2006, we returned to England and the Glove and saw one of Shakespeare's least popular plays, Titus Androndicus, a bloody brutal play. Find a good study guide to help you through the plays--my best advice. And I enjoy his sonnets, but part of loving Shakespeare has to do with knowing the context in which the play or sonnets were written. I love your little shadow box. It's a nice way to preserve and enjoy little mementos. I'm glad you stopped by the Dollhouse; that is an adventure all of its own.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your advice. It is interesting to hear people's thoughts on Shakespeare's plays and how our views now may have changed from the initial encounter. Both D and I have an historical interest so those particular plays seem a good place for us to start. I know there are other plays which are more popular but this feels like a good starting point for us.
DeleteYour tea bag frame made me laugh. I’m in awe of anyone fostering kittens. Sadly I couldn’t do it as I wouldn’t be able to let them go and my house would gradually fill up with cats lol! B x
ReplyDeleteAt the moment my son has two young cats they have adopted and one new little kitten, Eddie who is being fostered. He is very sweet. They have had five cats at one time but all have gone to new homes now thankfully. I would find it hard to let them go but it is for the best. Glad you liked the tea bag project :-)
DeleteI hope you are enjoying reading Shakespeare more than at school. It helps to see a performance too. I've always loved Shakespeare especially live at theatres or outdoors. The new kitten is gorgeous and I'm glad the other two foster kittens have found their forever home. I love your tea display it would make me smile every time I went to put the kettle on:)
ReplyDeleteBoth D and I are very much enjoying the Shakespeare, thank you Rosie. Perhaps it helps that we are reading it because we want to and not because we have to read it that makes the difference. It will be good to see Eddie starting to grow before he finds his new home. Putting the kettle on will bring a smile now to who ever is on tea making duties in this house :-)
DeleteMore reading is what I need to do. I remember our English teacher put on a play, The Merchant of Venice, and I was to play a maid. It never came to pass though as for reasons unbeknown to us, it was cancelled. I remember being relieved at the time. I do like your tea art and the cute saying. Wonderful that the kitties were adopted and the new little addition certainly is a cute one. Bless your son and his fiancé for fostering.
ReplyDeleteThe Merchant of Venice was one I did at school. I'm hoping I will enjoy it much more this time round. I will pass your kind words on to my son when I see him at the weekend. My next project will be another cross stitch but the weather has been much better today and I'm feeling the need to get outside for a while. Have a lovely day x
DeleteLove the Shakespeare reading project. I had a slightly mad but wonderfully enthusiastic English teacher when I was at school, and we had some amazing trips to Stratford-on-Avon (I lived in Bristol at the time) to see the likes of Glenda Jackson (in 'Anthony and Cleopatra') and Judi Dench (in 'Othello') bringing Shakespeare to life on stage. We were also taken to see Zefirelli's gorgeous film version of Romeo and Juliet at the cinema, travelled to attend a talk by Terry Jones (of Monty Python fame) about the Canterbury Tales, where he read aloud in old English dialect, and I also remember seeing a very spotty, very young, Daniel Day Lewis in a play at the Bristol Young Vic! You've inspired me to revisit my tatty old copies of these plays, complete with 6th form notes in the margins - and reminded me of how we used to laugh about the "Exit, pursued by a bear" stage directions in 'A Winter's Tale'! :-)
ReplyDeleteThank you. Both D and I are so pleased that our new reading venture has brought back memories and inspired a revisit of Shakespeare for you, too.
DeleteI always wondered how I would feel now about those books we had to read at school, not for enjoyment... I'll be following your experiment with Shakespeare. There was of course no Shakespeare in my education (Swiss schooling) and the thought of reading it terrifies me. Have a wonderful year, both of you x
ReplyDeleteThanks Christina. So far so good with the reading. There were a number of other books we read but I need even more courage to revisit them. Have a good rest of the week and weekend x
DeleteI don't believe I've read Shakespeare, maybe bits and bobs back in school. I've seen a fair number of the plays; as a group performs outside in German Village (Columbus, Ohio) during the summer. Will be interesting to see what you think as an adult vs having to back in school. LOVE the framed tea square. Very cleaver. I'm a coffee drinking except when I don't feel well, and then I always want tea.
ReplyDeleteTwo out of three regularly drink tea in this house. For me coffee is the drink of choice although I will still drink tea. It was just a fun project to do and makes me smile. The reading is going well at the moment!
DeleteI love what you've done with the coaster. What a great idea!
ReplyDeleteEddie is a little cutie! :D
Thank you Nikki. It was a fun thing to make for the kitchen.
DeleteAhh sweet Eddie!
You made beautiful kitchen decorations.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea with the spoon.
I also like to read an old classic every now and then, here for me it's Goethe, Johann Wolfgang - the rather unknown stories. It's fun to learn more about the language of the time.
I hope you have fun with Shakespeake... we can often see his plays in the summer theater.
Viola wishes you a happy Sunday evening
Thank you, Viola. The tea project makes us smile every time we put the kettle on.
DeleteBoth D and I are enjoying the Shakespeare reading.
Have a great week x