Take a Break – It’s Sunday!

bbc- testcard, that good old standby!

As usual it’s that time again.  I have been so busy today that I’m writing this fairly late, though I’m scheduling.  I have loads to write about next week, Bronte stuff, teapots and Favorite art……………… and I’m sure there’s a certain artist’s birthday coming up that I want to celebrate…

Nights (and days) on the Toon (Newcastle) Beamish Shops

You can go into all the old shops in Beamish.  Here’s a few pics;

 

Beamish chandeler's shop

Even the prices were right!

The assistant in the Co Op was a lovely German student, who spoke excellent English and was very informative!  All the food labels are printed from the original!

 

Beamish in the printers shop

All the buildings are amazing, and the Print shop is no exception.  You can really get a sense of the past in these buildings!

 

Bygone ware some of these are still going strong

There’s something quite charming about old packaging.  Although the colours are limited, it was still possible for the personalities of these items to shine and jostle with each other.  Some of these brands are still going strong too!

My previous posts about Beamish and the Newcastle trip

More pics from Beamish

Still Beaming about Beamish

Beamish

Art at the Baltic: Sarah Sze ‘Tilting Planet’

St Nicholas Gothic Cathedral

Out and about

Bessie Surtees House

More HERE

Beamish – More pics from the Open Air Museum!

Beamish town

Still continuing with the pics from our Newcastle trip and more pictures of Beamish the open air museum set n the rolling countryside of County Durham.  We stopped off here on our way back to Manchester.  Although we spent most of the day there, we didn’t see half of the place, – it’s just vast and there wasn’t enough time.

Beamish kitchen range

The town part is amazing and you can go into all the buildings and shops.  There’s a bank, a printers, confectioners (who make home made sweets on the premises), unfortuately this was so packed out that we couldn’t get pictures.

making firelighters

There’s a bank, a printers, a working pub, a Co Operative store.  There’s a garage and a tea rooms!  So much to see and not enough time to see it in.

Beamish typical Victorian Parlour

As well as the town, there’s also Pockerly Manor.  I would have really liked to see that!  Also the colliery village, a home farm, a Waggonway, as well as a railway and museum!!!

Coming tomorrow – ‘Inside the shops of Beamish’

My previous posts about Beamish and the Newcastle trip

Still Beaming about Beamish

Beamish

Art at the Baltic: Sarah Sze ‘Tilting Planet’

St Nicholas Gothic Cathedral

Out and about

Bessie Surtees House

More HERE

Nights (and Days) on the Toon (Newcastle):Yet Still Beaming about Beamish!

Beamish a trip down memory lane literally

Continuing with our visit to Beamish, the open air museum, set in 300 acres of County Durham countryside……………………….

Beamish step inside these houses

It was all aboard the tram to see the town.  All the buildings are real, the houses are real houses and you can go into them and the shops.  Inside are people dressed in period costume talking about their trade, like Mr Jones the Dentist.  His house was a little more opulent than the others.

the nursery in Mr Jones house

In one house a woman sat near a huge fire range baking bread, another making peg rugs from rags.   The attention to detail regarding the wallpaper and furnishings in these houses are astonishing.  Even the flowers for the cottage gardens have been chosen carefully!

Beamish step inside the past

 

More tomorrow!

More posts about our Newcastle trip;

Beamish

Art at the Baltic: Sarah Sze ‘Tilting Planet’

St Nicholas Gothic Cathedral

Out and about

Bessie Surtees House

More HERE

Happy Birthday Man Ray!

Man Ray with Dali

It’s American Surrealist photographer Man Ray’s birthday today.  Born in 1890 -1976: original name Emmanuel Radnitzky, is best known for his work as a photographer though he thought of himself as a painter.

Kiki 'Queen of Montparnasse'

He contributed to the Surrealist and Dada movements and was reknown as a fashion and portrait photographer.  He liked to refer to  these as his ‘photograms’ or ‘Rayograms’.

manray_noire-and-blanche

This avant- garde artist has been highly influential in a number of fields including  film, sculpture, collage and even performance and conceptual art. 

Man Ray glass tears

For more of his work, including his biography see HERE

For more of my birthday blogs;-

Rubens

Gauguin

Dali

Leonardo da Vinci

Hart Benton

Turner

Van Gogh

Morris

Pollock

Chagall

Kahlo

Modigliani

Degas

Hopper

Marcel Duchamp

Aubrey Beardsley

Bread is back on the Menu!

Here's some I didn't make

I’m making bread (in my Breadmaker, I may add).  The idea has been fermenting in my head for the past couple of days….so I am now rising to the occasion lol! (yes I know, very BAD and very Lame……….but I digress).

HOVIS...and it still tastes the same today

I used love my breadmaker, and made all sorts.  I must say though, I never really liked the texture of the loaves.  A much better method for me is to use the breadmaker just for the mixing kneading and risings, then turn out and shape into loaves, buns etc.  This is the method I’m using at the moment.  I hope this recipe turns out, as it’s not one from the breadmaker book.  If they come out OK I’ll take a pic……………if not, here’s a link to the Hovis advert anyway HERE

Days (and Nights) on the Toon (Newcastle); Still Beaming from visiting Beamish!

Beamish all aboard! This is the only way to travel back in time

On the way back from our Newcastle trip, we just had to drop off at Beamish.  Beamish is an open air museum dedicated to portraying the history of working class people of the North East. Set in 300 acres of countryside in County Durham, Beamish is a time travel trip – backwards!  We’ve always wanted to go, and we wasn’t disappointed!  We went quite early and already the queues were long.  Fast moving though: I would estimate we queued for about 40 minutes.

Beamish a trip down memory lane literally

At first glance it appears quite expensive to get in, but there are so many different places, shops and houses to go into, not to mention tram rides that if you were charged for each one, it would add up to considerably more.

Beamish step inside the past! Unbelievably you can go into these houses and see what the past was REALLY like!

It was a lovely day.  The sun was actually shining for once as we waited for the tram.  The expanse of the place is massive and you certainly do need the tram to get to the fartherest places.  My only regret is that we didn’t get to see some parts of Beamish because of the lack of time (we had to travel back to Manchester and didn’t want to get stuck in the rush hour).  You need a full day really, or even a couple to see everything.  Special discounts and tickets were available; ideal if you live closer.

 

 

Beamish Mr Jones the Dentist gives a talk and would have given a demo...but no one volunteered!

One of the many fabulous features about Beamish is the people dressed in period costume, giving talks and demonstrations, placing the whole place in context and adding greatly to our understanding of the past.

amazing attention to detail everywhere (Mr Jones the Dentist's house, who was quite well off compared to others)

More Beamish pics tomorrow

Read about the fabulous open museum that is Beamish HERE

More of my Newcastle trip posts;

Art at the Baltic: Sarah Sze ‘Tilting Planet’

St Nicholas Gothic Cathedral

Out and about

Bessie Surtees House

More HERE

Cool Design: Tord Boontje

Beautiful Midsummer Light by Boontje

These unusual designs are from Dutch born, London based product designer Tord Boontje.  His influences are nature itself.  In his earlier work ‘Rough and Ready Furniture he recycled from old wood giving the furniture a very organic feel.   Amidst the playfulness, there is a huge amount of craftsmanship. He uses a variety of materials including steel……  I love the way some of the cut outs cast their shadow!

petit jardin 2006 laser cut steel indoor and outdoor

His designs are unusual and pay a lot of attention to surface.  He has designed glassware, lighting, furniture textiles and even greetings cards!  I LOVE these Witches utensils!!!

the fascinating, quirky and well made witches utensils

His studio website is HERE

vessels designed for transglass by tord boontje and emma woffenden

For a more in depth view of the designer HERE

If you liked this post – there’s more where this came from!  Go to my home page and look in my Categories, click on ‘WEIRD AND WHACKY DESIGN’