A good Saturday

It was a great Saturday. Very relaxing. Soft light and the lullaby of rain. I love the rain.

I love the sound as the droplets of water dance on the ground and windows. I love the clean shining look of the world full of reflections and shimmering lights. At one point it rained very hard and the rain waster danced with fury on the ground. So I was sitting on the sofa reading my book while the rain fell. It was very relaxing.

I'm really enjoying the book "Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell." It's a real pager turner! Here is the Synopsis:

"Two magicians shall appear in England. The first shall fear me; the second shall long to behold me…

Centuries ago, when magic still existed in England, the greatest magician of them all was the Raven King. A human child brought up by fairies, the Raven King blended fairy wisdom and human reason to create English magic. Now, at the beginning of the nineteenth century, he is barely more than a legend, and England, with its mad King and its dashing poets, no longer believes in practical magic.

Then the reclusive Mr Norrell of Hurtfew Abbey appears and causes the statues of York Cathedral to speak and move. News spreads of the return of magic to England and, persuaded that he must help the government in the war against Napoleon, Mr Norrell goes to London. There he meets a brilliant young magician and takes him as a pupil. Jonathan Strange is charming, rich and arrogant. Together, they dazzle the country with their feats.

But the partnership soon turns to rivalry. Mr Norrell has never conquered his lifelong habits of secrecy, while Strange will always be attracted to the wildest, most perilous magic. He becomes fascinated by the shadowy figure of the Raven King, and his heedless pursuit of long-forgotten magic threatens, not only his partnership with Norrell, but everything that he holds dear. "

It was such a calm day :-) It's so nice to have soft light and rain falling and to spend the day reading. It's great when you are really entranced by a novel. The sent of the rain was so good. The scent of the rain and the tempestuous grey skies reminded me of the ocean. I would have loved to have gone and sat on a cold wind swept beach and watched the waves crash into the shore!

I was too busy reading and enjoying the rain to cook today :-D So I went out into the soft rain and got some traditional English food... namely: Fish and chips :-D

It was a very good Saturday! Hopefully tomorrow is as good and as relaxing. I will be making some Spaghetti Bolognaise and drinking red wine... :-) I hope your Saturday was good!

- Martin 2005

PS: Heather... have some trouble finding that story! It might be on the other computer. I'll post it up as soon as I find it! Might not be Sunday... but it will be, hopefully, be soon! If I can't find it then I will let you know :-)

Chocolate

Mmmm chocolate :-D

This photo was taken while I was in Brugge, Belgium a few months ago. I only had a few hours there, but it was great to be some place I had never been before. All around me towered gothic cathedrals with spiked spires and graceful arches. Everywhere you go there are chocolate shops selling the most wonderful range of fantastic chocolate! It's heaven for a chocolate-holic like me :-D Belgium chocolate is regarded as the best in the world and it's certainly very yum! Although Swiss is just as good. Lindt bars are great and you can find them here with ease in the U.K

YAY! It's finally Friday and I can relax ( at least for 2 fantastic days!!! ) I'm really happy it's the weekend! I got some wine and some chocolate and spent a very relaxing night at home curled up on the sofa reading my book Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell" It's a great book. I'm loving it, and am really looking forward to having a long reading session this weekend with some munchies!

Hope you all have a good weekend! Go on... indulge yourself in a small vice! Be it chocolate, wine, or something else :-D I have some more wine ( red ) for Sunday! ;-)

Heather, will post up that story I spoke of on Sunday :-)

best wishes

Martin - 2005

Poem: When?

When?

Oh what when
Discordant love
Breaks you
On a disconsolate shore
With lonely seagull screams
And burning sand?

Oh what when the night is too long
Bereft of all but the saddest songs
And the day is a miser
With charms and alms
- Yet too generous with hateful crimes
Drudgery and death?

Know then, it shall pass
Clasp a bright candle against the wind
Secure a bright candle in your soul
There is the beautiful, the good, the magical in this world
This is what you must believe in
This is what I must believe in.

Something differnt today :-)

It's been awhile since I posted up a poem. I hope you enjoyed the poetic interlude between the photographs. A little something beween the visual moments. As poems sometimes do, it just came to me as I was standing, in all places, in the kitchen doing the dreaded washing up!!! The poem isn't connected to washing up. But there you are, my brain works in strange ways!

In other news: I have created a new blog! It's an idea that has been strolling around my brain for a very long time. In fact, it's been there pretty much since I decided to start this blog up. Recently it's been in my head and I am sure that I want to do it. Also I have been reading "Grifin and Sabine" and the format of telling a story via only the written thoughts seems to work quite well.

The idea is to try and tell a story using the blog enteries as a format. The story is told and unfolded via reading diary enteries placed in a book by somebody called "Anastasia" The person she is, where she is, who else is involved, and so on are revealed by her diary enteries. Hopefully I can tell a full story using this method. The story and blog is called "The Kingdom" and can be found here: http://mysterious-words.blogspot.com/ Any suggestions and comments greatly welcomed! :-)

- Martin 2005

Good Morning Luna

Good morning Luna

My eyes flickered open before the alarm clock had a chance to rouse me. I did my best zombie impression ( Urrraaaaahhh - not a morning person ) and then did all the required things: wash, brush teeth, make coffee! As I always do, I looked out of the window to see what the sky was like. This morning she was there, the moon :-)

I always get a kick out of seeing the moon in daylight. It seems something so magical! She was only there a short moment, as my camera clicked, the clouds devoured her. Only for a moment was I graced. I suppose this is a good metaphor for life. Nature is always trying to teach us this. There is no permanence. The flowers will die, the sunset will vanish, the sunlight fade to give way to shadows and dark places. She was only there for a moment. I am glad that I looked and thank her for the smile. I hope she gives you one too.

Today morning was wonderful! It's been so hot recently. You wake up and are blasted with hot light. Temperatures have been 20.c in the morning! Today was the first morning that actually seemed like morning! Cool wind like having silk caressed across your skin. The sky full of clouds, and the light soft and inviting. I want more mornings like this! :-)

This post was created and posted using blogging software called Qumana! You can download it at their web site: It's a really great bit of software. It's very easy to use! It's so much better than Blogger's clunky interface. I have been looking for a replacement for some time now. It features lots of things. Just a few are: WYSIWYG editing and post creation, spell checker, thesaurus, wide range of fonts and sizes, easy image integration, lots of formatting options, and much more. ( Is it me or do I sound like an advertisement? :-D ) But really, I found it great and easy to use! I'm happy to find it because Blogger's own posting area is so clunky and limited.

Martin - 2005

Cloud Factory

Cloud Factory

They were sitting watching the cloud factory make beautiful white clouds. "I like Van Gogh's," She said unexpectedly.

He didn't take his eyes off of the clouds that were floating into the sky like crazy balloons. "What do you mean?" He asked as he watched.

"I Liked the way that he painted the clouds. All swirls and twirls."

The last of the Canary Wharf photos that I wanted to post up ( for now ) and hope you like it. The clouds look great reflected in the windows of the glass tower :-)

Martin - 2005