Re-opening of the Transporter Bridge 2010

The re-opening of the transporter bridge was met with much enthusiasm for those of us who have lived in Newport for many years and for people born and bred in the town/city. A few days after the opening my friend and I went over in her car. It is all done electronically now and we were giggling like school girls when recalling the days when it was operated from the gondola itself and we cranked our way over. This is so different. We reached the other side in about 45 seconds. well that's progress I suppose, at least its running again!

I went again as a foot passenger when another friend when we did the dragon trail. It was a blustery day, but I managed to get these photos (below) of the SDR bridge and a view down the Usk from the middle of the river, which you cannot get unless you use the transporter bridge or are on a boat of course!





There is a notice on the Pill side of the bridge showing the charge for the crossing 50p for a car 20p for a foot passenger. Each time I have done it there has been no charge. I wonder why?





Both trips, although very different, were super experiences and long may this wonderful monument stay open!

Revival!

Having made a decision not to continue with this blog I stood by it for two and a half months! Then friends (followers) persuaded me to start up again. Why? There is nothing controversial ever written here, well nothing that couldn't be challenged anyway, rants about MU and tales of the valleys can get a bit monotonous. Pictures of my very armature pottery is mostly what is on here anyway. Sooo, I will give it another go for a while. It will give me a chance to practise writing as I
am still plodding on with the college creative writing course!

On Tuesdy I did the dragon trail with a friend. What is that,I can here people who don't live in Newport asking their PC screens? Well,it is a celebration of Newport's vibrant art scene (yes, we have one apparantly) and the dragons pictured on this blog, showcase a cross section of work from some of the areas leading artists.







Newport superdragons is the result of many months of hard work from a truly amazing group of people. Sadly after they were placed around the city, seventy of them I believe, some were very quickly vandalised. Predicable in any city I suppose.




I wonder how the sculptors felt about that, and the school children who designed the smaller ones? In society today there is always a small element of people who will spoil it for the rest. It spoiled the trail too. A super idea for locals and tourists to follow the map of where they are situated and read about them or photograph them. But because the vandalised ones had to be removed, repaired and then were put back in safer environments, meant that the printed trail map was not correct. It must be disheartening for the organisers of this event, which is part of the Newport Festival summer, a fore runner to the Ryder Cup. One wonders what will happen when that comes to town. You can bet there will be someone out there waiting to try and disrupt that too.

Raku 2010

An internal Raku day at pottery yesterday provided three pieces of Raku which are satisfactory. If I don't give up this summer, then next term I need to revive some interest and become more creative. I dislike large pieces (unless they are very large and very good) so I was disappointed that this pot was on the primary list to create.



The blend of water based Raku finishes has worked worked on this piece,giving it a copper lustre look.




The three 'poured pieces' for yesterday session (Pics of the other two to follow).




Above is the mould used for the pouring. It is filled with liquid clay (slip) then left for twenty minutes before the residue of the sli is poured out. The remainder left for a week to set before being carefully extracted from the mold.

The facts of predication.

The swans taken in February in the snow.

I visited the Wetlands today with Anne my friend. As this was her first visit I was keen to show her the family of swans that I had been photographing over the winter. They were nowhere to be seen. In the coffee shop on the way back I asked where they were. One of the Reserve wardens told me the whole family, with the exception of the cob, had been wiped out, eaten by foxes.

Swans are elegant creatures. We grow up with them on the pages of books, especially fairy tales. Their pure white feathers compliments the lovely curvature of their neck. However, swans can be aggressive birds, and their beating wings can break a mans arm so we are told. They protect their territories from other swans, and from strangers, but it appears that this family could not defend themselves from the urban foxes that prowl the wetlands area at night. They were all wiped out, the pen and the six cygnets. The cob survived the attack - just. We were told he was miserable for a few days but is now making good ground and back on the water.


Anne and I were sad to hear this, but reasoned that predication is all part of the animal kingdom. However, I was surprised to hear that a fox can kill an adult swan, but then I know very little about these things. The Reserve warden explained that if a fox gets the swan by the neck it disempowers the swan. Whatever the circumstances it's a fact of life I suppose, but a terribly sad one.

Cabage leaf bowl

I was rather disappointed with the way this project turned out. The leaves are super and the colour has come out well, but not the 'whitish' stalk in the middle of the main leaf. Never mind, this is what pottery is all about isn't it - trial and error? At least I got this project fired within a two month period.

Scriffito Dish

This is called scriffito work. A Sudanese design that was not difficult to do, but time consuming and painstaking.

I finally picked up my sciffito dish from pottery class today. It has been hanging about for five months! Three weeks to make it and four months waiting to go in the kiln!


It makes me quite annoyed that a professional tutor so blatantly puts work forward for firing for those more talented, long serving pupils; leaving those of us that are less popular with her, and not as talented as she would like, to wait at the and of the queue.


My friend has already left the class for this reason after writing to the tutor saying why. She was promptly asked back with promises of more attention. She refused as she felt things would not change. If I leave for the same reason, things might change, but I doubt it unless I write to the Education authority. If I do that she could loose her job and I don't know if I can live with that. Why is it some people have to make things difficult for others and ultimately get away with it? This lady knows exactly what she is doing.

Political Reform?

These are exciting times in politics - so I keep hearing on the radio and on the visual news! There is much talk about Political Reform (see yesterday's posting)and that such reform must include the alternative vote.

I think the way this whole post election week has panned out is political reform in itself. Even prior to the election there was reform in the shape of the Television debates. There will never be another election in this country without them.. What Prime minister will say no to fighting for his place on National Television? Political Reform in this country has already began. Politics will never be the same for us after this election, its result and aftermath. So what is Nick Clegg asking for? A change to the AV system to give his party a toe hold that they would never otherwise have?

The winds of change.

I don't know that I approve of the proposed Alternative Vote System (AV). I am unsure about all this. This is how I understand things:

Under AV, candidates are still elected, as at present, from single-member constituencies under the Alternative Vote (AV) system.

Instead of putting a cross next to one person on a ballot paper as at present, voters rank candidates in order of preference. If none gets a majority of first preference votes the candidate who comes last is eliminated. The second preference votes on the loser’s ballot papers are then given to other candidates. This continues until one candidate has more than 50% of votes and is declared the winner.

The main concern regarding the current first-past-the-post system (FPTP) has been the “waste” of votes in those constituencies regarded as being “safe seats”. The “Winner Takes All” system, it is argued, effectively disenfranchises all those people who did not vote for the winner. Most winning Parties will come to power elected only by a minority of the electorate.

I am not a political person, I have no particular knowledge of Politics, but I am worried about these proposals. I can see that with out some kind of reform the Lib Dems will never get anywhere, but perhaps that is just as well the way they are holding the other two parties to ransom this week. A disappointing performance when the country is in crisis. Shabby.

Gothic fiction

This is St. Brides castle in Pembrokeshire where I am going to set my Gothic story set in the 1990's. It looks delightful in this sunny setting and in a delightful situation (which it is) but I am setting it in a dark late Spring time with foul weather to make it a lot more creepy!

My recent short trip to the area has provided me with all the atmosphere and buildings that I require to commence this writing term. while I shall endeavour to make this lovely place into classic Gothic, it is well worth a visit to the area if any one is planning a short trip. The castle (circa 1874) has now been converted to holiday flats.

Ramsey Island

Ramsey Island is home to many seals. I was privileged enough to be asked to go for a boat trip around there during the week. I managed to get some good photographic shots, but I had to be quick, therefore they are not all as I would have liked, but seals won't pose!





Ramsey Island is a dramatic off-shore island just one mile off the Pembrokeshire coast.




The caves and beaches around Ramsey are breeding grounds for the largest concentration of grey seals, who give birth to white coated pups during the autumn.



It is hard to think when you are back in the city of Newport that these scenes are just two and a half hours drive away.



The weather we have been having recently was just perfect for the trip!

Volcanic Ash Cloud

This is the cloud that is Travelling over Britain, disabling our air crafts and isolating us from the rest of the world. It's a weird feeling. It is now passing to Northern France and Scandinavia. I feel sorry for those poor souls that are travelling, but my main concern is what happens to the residue of the dust? We are being told it is harmless to us who are 3,000 feet below it,that it will dissipate but I wonder if that is correct? It has to disperse into something surely.

This was a surprise ...........

When we pulled it at Membury Services on our way home from Southampton on the weekend, I was surprised to see Waitrose selling their wares in a service station! How the mighty hath fallen - but not so their prices. A sandwich was well out of the reach of a young family of four (or a pensioner for that matter), perhaps that's why their store was nearly empty on a busy, sunny Sunday afternoon.

Beautiful Bruge?

Yes, Bruge is still very beautiful, but -oh dear, it seems to exist solely for tourists these days. I first visited over twelve years ago and although the carefully cherished architectural treasures from the past are still - well, just that, somehow there is a sense of sadness about it all.

These photographs were taken from a tourist river boat. Since 2000 this City Centre has been on the World Heritage List. The photos I have posted on the blog certainly support that, but commercialism is rife there. To try to get a meal served without chips is near impossible! All the restaurants in the main square are advertising the same menu, Moules Mariniere with chips! It gives a feel of the place being tacky somehow.

There are some wonderful Belgian chocolate shops, all sporting grand window displays like the one posted below and are all in competition with each other.

This was my fifth visit to Bruge and possible my last, as I have no wish to see it again and to witness its disintegration from beautiful heritage to abject greed.

P.O Ship - Ventura

The photograph above is about the best I could manage while trying to take the 'Ventura' this weekend. This vast cruise ship could not be taken in it's entirety with my small camera!

Above and below are some of the decks. There are 19 decks in all on this ship which was overflowing with people on this weekend cruise. Couples, singles and families were all milling about on their celebratory weekends, and all the the 12 lovely bars were very plush and tasteful. There is an oriental restaurant, flower shop, high class jewellery shops, hair salons, dress shops, gift shops, a small hospital (complete with attached morgue), a wedding chaple and even Marco Pierre White has a restaurant on board. Not that A. and I went to any of these (thankfully with regard to hospital and annex!) but we twice visited the 785 seater theatre to see two shows and the smart casual night and evening dress night, were both catered for by on-board P.O chefs and were superb.

There are self service buffet restaurants and silver service dining rooms both of which we sampled, and both were excellent. There is even a 'Frankies Pizzerias' if that's your choice. Sadly there was not enough time to select one of the 5 swimming pools to have a swim as our schedule did not permit. From Spa's to Bars we were spoiled for choice, but not my favorite way to spend a weekend. A country cottage in Pembrokeshire is far more to my taste, but am I grateful to have had this experience? You bet I am!

P.S We met up with a couple from The Isle of Wight and formed our own team to take part in a Quiz night Friday and Saturday night. We won both nights - to the sound of huge boo's and jeer's the second night!

Medieval/Gothic Writing

Medieval Castle

Leaving college this morning put me in a reflective mood. This term has been by far the one that has passed the most quickly since I started this writing journey. Today was about planning for next term - Gothic or Medieval Crime/Insanity with a dash of passion! We have all been issued with a set of guidelines for characteristics of a Gothic story. I haven't a clue where to start!



I have no doubt that over the coming weeks and months something will pop into my head. It should include an element of some of the following: bad, nasty, evil, controlling, dominating, lustful villain (often the lust is perverse) who has the power, as king, lord of the manor, father or guardian, to demand that the female character do something intolerable. No pressure there then!

Shutter Island

It's the first time since 'The Omen' was released in the 1970's that I have left a cinema feeling scared! Me, and dozens of others leaving the Newport cinema on Saturday, were frightened for our own sanity. This was a very powerful film, a physiological mystery thriller directed by Martin Scorsese and based on the novel by the same name, written by Dennis Lehane.

The film has received mainly positive reviews, but I think the ordinary man in the street would need to see it two or three times to fully understand it - but it has to be said - it's a brilliant piece of writing, a work of art. Disturbing definitely and it messes with your Psyche.

I went to see it with my friend thinking it was a piece of cross genre fiction for my next module at college - Gothic crime. It might fit that genre, but I could never write anything remotely like that - or want to. This was real creative writing.

An Ice Ring!

I was downloading some pottery pictures this morning and had completely forgotten these photos were on my camera. This is an ice ring that had formed on the top of a bucket of water in my garden. This must have been in February as my friend is holding them and I haven't seen her since then.



It is absolutely beautiful, we were both quite entranced by the sunshine reflecting on it and the formation was something that couldn't be manufactured.

The pattern is so intricate and delicate. Nature is a wonderful thing.

It is almost time to put the garden up together for the summer - that's a nice thought, sun umbrellas instead of ice rings!

Past ghosts and new horizons!

Bridgend Designer Retail Park

A shopping day in Bridgend. I dislike clothes shopping anyway, but to go to the town where my former husband conducted his affair and lunch next door to the hotel where the liaisons took place (so I was informed in my divorce proceedings) is a statement to women everywhere. You can get over these things, not that anyone would have thought it of me five years ago, its a matter of determination and strength of character over emotion. Oh yes, why was I shopping in Bridgend - or why was I clothes shopping at all? Bridgend because my friend wanted to go there and she is more important these days than the ex, and clothes shopping because I am going on a weekend cruise shortly! This is a last minute thing with the cruise - to Bruge- and I needed some new smart clothes to go. I am really looking forward to it and shall be taking lots of photos to post on the blog at a later date! Who needs a man? A girlie weekend on a P&O cruise will be just as much fun! It will just be different ....

Pleased as punch!

This is my latest pottery effort. I am delighted with this dish, it shows how much I have come on since last year. I can't say that is due to the tutor, it isn't. It is more self - taught with help from other students. But nevertheless, I am pleased with this spotty dish - and it's all my own design, not another one in class! The spots by the way, were painted on with a rubber attached to the end of a pencil!

Old days, old times .....

The Mavron String Quartet

Another lunchtime concert. I can't believe all this is happening to me!

I was taken to a lunchtime concert in St. David's Hall, Cardiff by an old friend I had met again recently. It was a 'catch up' after not seeing each other for twenty one years (so I am told). The string quartet was called The Mavron Quartet and they were excellent musicians. The first two parts of the concert they played Hayden and Schubert, but the last piece was by Alfred Schnittke. Not a composer I have ever heard of before and neither had my friend. It was heavy going Blog Followers, I can tell you.

We then went to a very nice (if somewhat pricey) restaurant next to the Theatre and most of the lunchtime concert goers were there too, but it all made for a super atmosphere and another lovey afternoon was spent in Cardiff - and the lunch was a treat from my friend for some long forgotten deed I had done for her over twenty years ago! Wasn't that kind?