Shipley snowdrops

You know winter is coming to an end when the snowdrops start to appear.



There are lots of places that open their grounds especially for the snowdrop displays but my favourite place is Shipley Country Park near Heanor.





Shipley Hall is no longer standing but the driveway that led to it is still lined with snowdrops.

To review or not to review........

I assume most people reading this blog know that elsewhere, in another life, I review books - generally ones sent out specifically by the publishers but also old favourites and ones I track down myself through the library. So, having heard a new debut novel having its praises sung all over the web, I ordered it from the library and looked forward to reading it.
It turned up last week and I started.... and hoped it might improve.... and thought I'd get into it further on... Sadly I found it not to be the magical bewitching tale I'd expected but dull and flat.

Now the big question is: Do I review it?

If it had been sent for review, there's no question - the publisher/publicist/author has taken a risk and sent it for review, they expect an honest opinion and after all no one can be expected to like everything ever written.
If it had been by an established author or a winner of major awards I'd be quite happy to say my argumentative bit - after all I make no bones about not liking Terry Pratchett's work or that I found The Life of Pi to be a drag or that I've never really understood the fuss about Harry Potter. No author can suit all of the people, all of the time no matter how popular they are.

But to knock the work of a debut author, all flushed with the wonderful reception their novel's received? Is it fair to burst their bubble? I've learned through talking to them on Twitter and Facebook that authors, perhaps contrary to popular opinion, have very fragile egos - a misplaced word can darken their mood for days; a bad review lingers in their mind a lot longer than all the complimentary ones.

For now, the review is written - but saved. In 5 years time when this novel has broken all sales records, I might come clean and say I didn't see its appeal - till then it's my little secret.

February Snow

Missing Sherlock

He's only been gone a week - and wasn't with us for long - but I'm missing Sherlock already. I know a lot of people criticised the series as not true to the Arthur Conan Doyle originals but I loved it. Obviously it wasn't intended as a word-for-word remake just with a modern setting, but more as a homage using the classic text as a starting point to re-imagine the stories from - in much the same way that Clueless or Bride and Prejudice do for Jane Austen's novels.
Anyway, sigh, no more Sherlock for now, so what was I to watch on Sunday evening?

Well, the BBC thought Birdsong would make a suitable replacement.Er, sorry, they didn't manage to convince me. I haven't read the book by Sebastian Faulks but have heard lots of good things about it - I just hope it's better than the televised version. I watched about 15 minutes - in which the most interesting thing was women's fashion - and gave in to boredom, even the horrific blowing out of a soldier's chest felt unrealistic.

I turned over and continued my search for entertainment with 127 hours - for a mere minute or two, till the trapped climber started playing with his penknife and thinking of chopping his arm off - too realistic and believable! Not for me.

A lot of channel hopping later I found myself half an hour into Working Girl - Melanie Griffiths wanting to make it big - with hair to match - in corporate America. Tired old rom-com or feminist statement? I didn't care really but settled down to watch it - yet again!

I hope there's something better on next weekend.....

Sherlock or Watson?

I've been avidly watching the latest BBC series of Sherlock - and following the on-line chat that follows. What surprised me most was that alongside discussions of plot twists and Conan Doyle's original stories was a thread debating Sherlock's sex appeal. Now, I've enjoyed the series immensely but Sherlock as sex god? No thank you!
No doubt under the nerdy exterior he's very clever but he's selfish, opinionated, arrogant, rude.... the list of undesirable qualities could go on for ever! The most important person in his life will always be himself.

Sidekick John Watson on the other hand has the appeal of a cute cuddly dog - loyal, trusting. Equally caring and useful he's the sort of guy who would bring breakfast in bed, get up in the middle of the night to settle a crying child and know how to unblock a drain or fix the car. Sherlock's behaviour in a domestic crisis doesn't bear thinking about!
I know which one I'd pick.

The only snag is John's attachment to Sherlock - how can any woman, or man, come between him and the genius sleuth?

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My thoughts on the latest Sherlock Holmes movies with Robert Downey Jr

Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes: a Game of Shadows

A series of bombings is shaking Europe and Sherlock Holmes believes the mastermind behind them is Professor Moriarty, intent on creating instability and starting a war - purely for his own profit. Despite his intentions to leave crime-fighting and settle down to quiet married life, Watson finds himself dragged rather forcibly into the quest to expose Moriarty.

I haven't seen the first Guy Ritchie-directed version of Sherlock Holmes, so I wasn't sure what to expect - and now I'm still not sure what to make of it. Certainly it's an adaptation like no other, but I'm not sure that's a good thing. Holmes, as portrayed by Robert Downey JR is no longer a quiet thinking man but one of action, parading around in a variety of bizarrely comic disguises and beating up all his enemies. Jude Law, meanwhile, who normally has such amazing screen presence was incredibly self-effacing as Dr Watson.

I wasn't at all impressed with the constant use of "bullet time" in action sequences. In The Matrix it seems appropriate and integral to the plot, in The House of Flying Daggers it beautifully captures arrows flying, turning a fight sequence into a ballet - but here it just seemed to be used for the sake of using it. There was definitely too much rapid panning and swirling with the camera - as we had seats quite close to the front, I was left feeling dizzy from it all.

I think BBC's Sherlock wins. If it's not going to be a close adaptation of Conan Doyle it may as well have a contemporary setting and re-worked plots.

Acid test - would I buy the DVD? - No

- watch it on TV? Maybe, if nothing better was on. It was entertaining but just not Sherlock Holmes.

Tudor Christmas at Haddon Hall

We paid another visit to Haddon Hall this weekend - this time for a Tudor themed Christmas. The house was decorated with evergreens and clove-studded oranges and the Tudor Group were there with dancing, singing and food.

Banners in the Great Hall

The Chapel

Food preparation in the Tudor Kitchens

Real mince for the mince pies!

Tudor feast on display in the Dining Room

A proper roast!

pies...

a jam tart looking like a stained-glass window....

...and a wonderful centre-piece, modelled from marchpane (a coarse marzipan) and decorated with edible gold leaf.

Cosying up by the fire in the Long Gallery

Entertainment from the Tudor Group in appropriate costume - dancing and singing from the period including a rousing ballad about fighting - and beating- the Spaniards!

Just as we left, the sun came out and lit the castle walls briefly in the midst of an otherwise dull day.