Last weekend I visited the "
Sensational Butterflies" exhibition at the National History Museum. Like many people I'm fascinated by butterflies. I love the idea of the growth cycle from hungry caterpillar to hibernating chrysalis to beautiful butterfly - a spectacular metamorphosis! The artistic process for me is similar. I spend a lot of time at the beginning of a new project devouring all sorts of things including books, films, travel experiences, people watching etc - then comes the hibernation phase with a lot of work taking place behind the scenes - leading to the final reveal in a performance of my new creation. For "Spellbound Stories" the chrysalis/hibernation phase took much longer than I would have liked. But everything happens in its own time...
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| The amazing transformation in action! |
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| This one was a poser and waited patiently while we too pics |
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| Loving the zebra stripes - animal print never goes out of style! |
The weekend before last was all about rural touring. A full house greeted David and me at Calver Village Hall - over 100 people (which is more than fits into most village halls) welcomed us warmly and sent us on our way with two encores!
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| Calver Village Hall |
Unfortunately, some annoying rain the next day put a stop to my shopping plans in the market town of Chesterfield. However, I made a new discovery - Derbyshire Oatcakes! Sort of a
Derbyshire version of the French crepe but even more fattening. The
topping of sausage and cheese that smothered the dish was so abundant I
could almost feel my arteries hardening just from looking at it. I have to
admit that it was was very delicious although I wasn't able to eat very
much of it.
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| Derbyshire oatcake with sausage and cheese |
We were treated to more delicious food before our show in Stanton. It was a smaller hall and a much smaller audience but what they lacked in quantity they more than made up for in quality. A lovely response for what was their last
Live & Local event as the promoter was moving to another part of the county. And what was more - we were even allowed to take a doggy bag containing the delicious apple cake baked by the promoter Tim with us when we left - fortification for the long drive home.
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| Gilbert Sheldon Hall, Stanton |
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| Delicious apple cake baked by Stanton promoter Tim |
