It's great up North

OMG, that heat wave we’ve just had was quite something! Have you guys also had it? It was insane here. Luckily we were away during most of it in the Cotswolds (and yes, pics to come from that little trip away too!), but our house was like a sauna when we got back on Tuesday afternoon, and it was only yesterday, after Thursday night’s thunderstorm and heavy rain, that I felt fully functioning. Let me tell you as a lady of a certain age that heatwaves and hot flushes combined is no joke. Much respect to my menopausal sistas living in hotter climes!

Anyway anyway anyway. Still have some Yorkshire pics to share with you. On our second day there we went to Dalby Forest for a walk, and this section of the walk reminded me so much of our summer hikes in the Alps, but it was like someone had just photoshopped out the mountains. You can also mountain bike your way around, but it wasn’t possible to rent any bikes, because, you know, Covid.

Everyone loves a walk in the woods, whether you’re young or old, whether it be your local one or a new one. This Carl Jung quote I read at Swiss Miss the other day really resonated with me: “Whenever we touch nature we get clean. People who have got dirty through too much civilisation take a walk in the woods, or a bath in the sea. Entering the unconscious, entering yourself through dreams, is touching nature from the inside, and this is the same thing, things are put right again.”

This brook looked so tempting to dip my feet in, but I didn’t.

In one section of the path we had to step carefully so we didn’t crush tiny little frogs to death.

Using tree roots to get up.

L waiting - and seeing what wearing a face mask upside down was like while he did.

On the way back to our friend’s house we took a detour so we could drive through the North York Moors. They didn’t disappoint. That vast expanse really felt planetary, if that makes sense. I also really loved the colours; the purple of the heather against the browns and greens looked amazing. All the colours below the sky in this picture would make such an opulent colour scheme for a room don’t you think?

My guys, framed.

I felt like I was in Andreas Gursky picture here.

And of course, lots of sheep.

And finally, on the way home, probably the best road sign I’ve ever seen. Shame I didn’t get a good pic of it.

Change of scenery

We were supposed to go to Amsterdam this summer for our summer holiday, but Covid 19 had other plans. So we drove up to Yorkshire last week to stay with our friends in the north for a few nights. Driving past Drax Power Station as we get close always is always eery but quite cool, but also scary because the environment.

The first thing we did after dropping off our bags was head to York and walk along the river Ouse.

We continued into Rowntree Park in the drizzle (aaaah, the joys of British summer holidays)…

… where we witnessed this surreal moment of a dog modelling on a bench. I wish I’d gotten closer (I guess this is what zoom lenses are for), but I’m sure the lady taking pictures would have seen me running closer and then the moment would be over.

The following day we drove up to Fraisthorpe Beach, and while we waited for our lunch we very much enjoyed this scene of a dad talking to his kids playing inside this bunker.

As I was packing my bag for this trip I took out my swimming costume, thinking there was no point in bringing it, but turns out there was. Never mind.

Our friends recently got their first dog, Rae (a greyhound rescue), and I fell for her big time. I walked with her on the lead the day before and I really felt her calm which made me feel calm, which probably in turn made her feel calmer, and then me calmer, and so on. I immediately started daydreaming about getting a greyhound, and was looking at rescue websites, but then realised that there’s no way I’d demote Buddy as king pet in the house, and so getting a dog might be something we’ll do in the future instead.

Did you know that the top speed of a greyhound is 72km/hr (45mph)?! We got to see Rae sprint up and down the beach and it was really impressive.

Time to hop back in the car and move on. And our friend S did not want his picture taken.

We drove 20 mins up the road to Flamborough Head. I’ve never seen chalky cliffs before and these didn't disappoint.

Ridiculously pretty.

Oomoo spotting seals swimming down below. A zoom lens would’ve been good here too :D

We made our way down to get a different view, and as I took this the tide was coming in fast, so a quick click and then a jump out of there.

One of my favourite feelings is to feel tiny in nature. It feels like a correction, like “Dear Human, you think you’re so important, well, check this out. Are you this big? Didn’t think so. Yours, Nature”.

Random randoms

These pics are from the same trip into town on opening day of the National Gallery. Walking around the streets did not feel good. Not living in central London to see what the reality is, it was quite a shock to see how empty and closed up it still was. Our government had been telling us that the shops, restaurants and pubs were back open again, but that was clearly not the case. As people have lost their jobs, or are still working from home, there is no actual reason to be there at all. To see Piccadilly Circus this empty in the middle of the day was so strange.

I was too weirded out to have my camera head on, so I ended up coming home with hardly any pictures. Somehow this bag of tortilla chips made it on to my camera though.

At one point we walked past the Harold Pinter Theatre where I’d seen ‘Uncle Vanya’ three weeks before lockdown in the cheap seats. It was now sealed off, and will be for a while yet.

The two Masketeers. Me and D at the Marian Goodman Gallery where we went to see the Rineke Dijkstra exhibition (trying to double up on the art in one go) after a very late lunch. We had to walk for ages until we found an open restaurant, and upon arrival we had a temperatures and phone numbers taken before we got seated outside.

Rineke Dijkstra is a Dutch photographer who has done quite a few series like this. Here she took portraits of three sisters over seven years. This was the first set.

And this the last. Fascinating, and as a parent… a bit terrifying.

Afterwards we fancied something sweet, and same again, we had to really hunt to find somewhere open. I’m not one to take pictures of what I eat, but this black sesame soft ice, the first non-homemade treat in four months, felt worth capturing. My mouth is watering as I type this.

And finally, the one thing me and D have become experts at in lockdown, spotting a really cool building, and crushing hard on the first floor window.

The whole experience was so interesting though; after feeling a bit fed up with always staying local I was gagging for a change of scenery but when I finally got it, I realised how grateful I was for my ‘hood, still full of life, and feeling almost like normal. The expression “You can’t see the wood for the trees” has never been been more true ;0)

The return

On the day that I was feeling at my lowest a couple of weeks ago, I read that the National Gallery would be opening on the 8th of July, and I didn’t hesitate for one moment in booking a time slot. I texted my friend D to see if she wanted to come along, which she more than did. Gone are the days of just rocking up on the fly when you fancy it; now it’s all about keeping numbers restricted in public places which in turn means nothing is spontaneous anymore. But better something than nothing. So, me and D where there on the first day, donning masks like the majority of all the visitors. The gallery had been shut for 111 days, a record; during WW2 it only closed for TWO DAYS.

There were reminders that things are not what they used to be.

One of the things I’ve enjoyed most about lockdown is that you get to see/do the things you never bothered with BC (before Covid), whether it be walking in a new to you part of the local woods, or down a street you’ve never been down before, or reading that book you’ve been meaning to for years, and finally sitting down with it and turning the first page. There’s now a one-way system in the National Gallery, and only three designated routes (A, B, C) that you can take. We had originally planned to just walk the B route thinking you were allowed only one, but when we were told that you could do all three, as long as you started with A ( you couldn’t walk back on yourself) we decided to start at the beginning. I have ALWAYS ignored the Renaissance galleries in the past. The era just never spoke to me. But now, stuck in a one way system, I had to look at the paintings and they were fascinating and a nice change to the kind of art that I’m into. As always we played the “Which one piece of art would you take home with you?” and this painting from the 1330’s was D’s. We agreed that it would look awesome in her flat.

We then turned around to look at this picture and got the worst giggles. As in tears streaming down our faces, stifling our laughter as it was so quiet (whilst wearing masks - a very very surreal moment that I will always remember). And feeling so bad because of the subject matter. But look at Mary’s face. She is not convinced. We reckon the artist was trying to paint her looking upset, but instead it looks like she thinks Jesus is pulling her leg with a fake wound. That and the fact the she looks a hell of a lot like Putin. Oh boy.

I’m not mad on religious iconography, but the carving, gold paint and the details of this guy’s beard were so great.

This small painting of a bird was my take home piece. I thought it quite symbolic of my lockdown; becoming a bird watcher whilst stuck at home.

Everyone was making sure they were not too close to each other, and the whole experience felt a bit unreal. No one talked loudly, and it almost felt like we were all looking for comfort or answers from the cultural past.

This painting had masked figures in it, referring to the Plague. These guys were the ones collecting the dead, and this is what they looked like back then. Pretty sinister, huh?

And this painting of these two kissing made us feel slightly uncomfortable from a social distancing point of view.

But not as uncomfortable as looking at this beast. I mean… Apparently he was a cross between a bat and snake? Any which way, he’s looks pretty pissed off with whoever that is trampling on him with their fancy shoes.

This room is usually full of tourists and school classes, but alas, they were not there. I hope they can be one day soon, especially school kids, as their worlds have narrowed so much this year.

Once out of the Renaissance rooms and on to route B, we walked through the Dutch and Belgian rooms. Those dudes could paint.

I really liked this lady’s contrasting outfit to what else was going on in this room.

A lucky discovery that day was the Nicolaes Maes exhibition, who was a Dutch former student of Rembrandt’s. His paintings were out of this world. Sadly we had kind of peaked by this point, so I might return one day with fresher eyes, so I can take it all in more.

Moving closer towards the Impressionist room we spotted this tiny painting. I love love love paintings of the mundane everyday. I think I’ve mentioned it here before, but I love the fact that someone took the time to slowly capture something that we all know, and give no attention to whatsoever.

This painting by Claude Monet made me have all the summer feels. It looks so inviting - for that last cool dip on a hot evening before the sun sets. You know what I mean, right?

Ahh, hallo Vincent. Hoe gaat het? Always a treat to look closely at his brush strokes. Kusjes.

This is one of my favourites of all the paintings at the National Gallery. It’s called ‘The Little Country Maid’ and was painted by Camille Pissarro in 1882. Such a beautifully captured little moment. I loves it.

And finally, D, next to some Bridget Riley dots on the way out. It was such a well needed treat to go and feast the eyes on beautiful things made by humans for a change. What an amazing species we are; both so clever and so stupid, so strong and so delicate, such creators and destroyers. Waaaah. Went a bit deep there! Enough already. Have a great weekend and may the sun shine on you wherever you are <3