Operation Mincemeat BBC 2

They forgot to mention the father of forensic science, Sir Bernard Spilsbury who after
viewing many possible cadavers for this mission to be able to deceive the Germans he picked the right body.

Apart from that, the programme was a treat and curiously enough, it demonstrates how
the human mind concentrates in details rather than the overall picture about what was really happening when it comes to deceit. The Germans knew how crucially important it was to control Sicily if they wanted to avoid an allied invasion yet at the last minute and after viewing some purported papers contained in a corpse that appeared from nowhere, as the speculation was that the body may have come out of an airplane crash (but no airplane wreckage nor other corpses were seen nearby) others said it came from a sunken ship but again, there were no signs of a ship being sank there either, nor other bodies to make this tale more believable. I mean.. this is only ONE body that comes from nowhere which has purported 'classified' 'Secret' information which is, by all reasoning too good to be true. ie (plans for an invasion) According to the papers found in the corpse, the allies were going to invade from Greece (a highly improbable proposition to do) as this meant the allies would have had to bypass Sicily first in the narrow stretch of the Mediterranean Sea, where they would have been spotted right away by the Germans from Sicily on their way to Greece and cornered right there. Common sense tells you, there is no way the allies could have made it much further into Greece before being ravaged in Sicily first, yet the Germans moved their troops from their safe strategic position in Sicily to Greece only because they believed the papers that came from a corpse that came from nowhere. Common sense and reasoning should have told them: In whose interest was it to move German troops from Sicily? It wasn't in Germany's interest since this would be leaving the door wide open for an allied invasion from Sicily, which is exactly what happened.

Egyptian Art

Went to the British Museum on Monday to see one of the most advanced and sophisticated early societies that flourished over 3,000 years ago. The average Egyptian life-span was short, usually less than 35 years old so naturally, all their thoughts and time was spent in the after-life as for most ancient Egyptians, death was not an end, it was merely the entering of a new phase of being. However, the way to eternal paradise was littered with obstacles, dangers and challenges which could only be overcome by means of magical spells. The bodies were buried with a collection of these magical spells written in what is called: the Book Of The Dead, to empower, protect and sustain him in the after-life. These books written in papyrus rolls are often beautifully illustrated, they provide a fascinating and graphic insight into the ancient Egyptian beliefs about the life after death. The Egyptians believed that through these spells the soul ( ba ) could re-enter their dead body at will. Among the known spells are those for obtaining air, food and water; for transforming the body into another form, for warding off hostile snakes and crocodiles; for preventing the heart from disclosing all your sins in a final judgement.

The Egyptians used images which were believed to serve as receptacles for supernatural power as well as magical words of a spell were chanted that would cause whatever was desired to happen. The same magical potential was also contained in the written word. When these images and words, were inscribed in the walls of a tomb or on an object placed inside it, the words perpetuated the magical effect of a spell, or gave the dead the means to use the magic for themselves. These latter texts made the dead the masters of their own destiny, freeing them from total dependency on the living to keep their spirits alive. The purpose of the spells was to ensure that the dead were fully equipped with the powers and sacred knowledge which they would need to obtain eternal life.

Spells, gave them control of every part of their being - not only the physical body but also the spirit aspects, particularly the ba, which was the Egyptians' nearest equivalent to the modern notion of the 'soul'. The ba or soul had the freedom to leave the body in the tomb and to visit other parts of the cosmos - the world of the living, the sky, before reuniting itself with he mummy each night. The texts provided details of places which the dead would come to and divine beings whom they would meet. All these encounters were rites of passage - quite literally, for the dead had to display their knowledge of sacred matters to prove to the gods that they were worthy to pass on to paradise. The ultimate test of this kind occurred in the hall of judgement where the gods examined the deceased's conduct during his life.

Advice on a lasting marriage or relationship

During the 30 years now that I have the inmense privilege of knowing Peter Birchwood and be his wife, we have known couples who get married or are in a relationship only to end it all within the seven year itch.

In schools and universities they instruct you in all kinds of subjects but not in the most important of all: How to find the right partner for a long and loving relationship or marriage. It always surprises me that seemingly intelligent people cannot work out what makes a relationship or a marriage tick. It takes more than just a shared interest to glue down a relationship and that is love above all. If that doesn't exist there is nothing to be done. It doesn't matter how many interests you share. The success of a good marriage depends on a mutual life-long project, and see it through to fruition. Having -differences- in interests helps in what the other one lacks, and this way, the couple complement each other. I work on the Spanish and Latin American cases in our company because I speak Spanish and my husband doesn't but he has the necessary expertice and knowledge to solve a case if he understands the problems, so not knowing how to speak Spanish is not an obstacle for him to solve a foreign case. This is our lifetime project now joined by our son who has now come to work with us and our dear co-workers in this project. On the personal side, we do not have very many shared interests, whilst Peter likes golf, I don't, he likes Harry Potter I don't, I like Woody Allen's films, he doesn't. Peter loves car races and I don't but we have found Top Gear and suddenly I now enjoy expensive cars and Jeremy Clarkson is solely responsible for my new developed taste in cars and that when it came to choosing a car I bought a black BMW! before the Top Gear programme, TV motoring was very boring with programmes that would show you how to change some spark plugs and a guy with a bonnet open, really uninteresting stuff, enough to make you yawn. Jeremy Clarkson, the cool James May and the chirpy Richard Hammon have suddenly made motoring exciting, fun and interesting not only for myself but lots of other women too. Thank you guys! I hope to see you in person in your show soon.
Anyway, a basic advice when choosing a partner or husband is to see if your interests or life-style doesn't clash with your own personality. For instance, for a woman, if you HATE parties and late night evenings and entertaing people and would prefer to stay quietly at home every night watching TV. Do not date nor marry a diplomat where there will be endless important social events and late-night evenings. Equally, if you adore dancing the night away till dawn and coming home always late, do not marry a professional foot-baller who has to be early in bed for morning trainings the next day. It is not about shared interests or the lack of them that makes a relationship flounder. Its how your life-style complements each other's personality and tastes. I'm always surprised how seemingly intelligent, university educated people miss on this simple principle. But there you go..

The ' new ' house

Moving to a new house involves getting rid of the old. All those things that you do not wish to carry with you into your new life. The first thing I'm going to get rid of will be all of Peter's extensive collection of Jack the ripper books, these have to go. There is no way that I'm taking that aggro to our new home. (for the exception of Stephen Powell's book) all the rest will be donated to Oxfam.

Ideally, I would like to put them in a bonfire on Guy's Day. Specially the Skinner, Lindler and Morris Hoax Diary. I think is bad luck to take whatever has caused you nothing but unpleasantness and getting rid of this collection will be for me a way to exorcise the demons out of my brand new life. The old clothes have now been neatly packed and are ready to go, then the rest is looking through drawers and ruthlessly throwing away whatever is no longer useful, taking as little as possible to our new home.

Work is advancing there and Peter and I have already chosen the new kitchen and bathroom and its so exciting to be finally able to see this project coming along after all the endless planning permissions from the council that involves having to go through in a listed and historical home as this one. Finally, the archeological excavations are also done and the house is shaping up nicely so by the spring we will be able to move to the prettiest market town I've ever seen. I can hardly wait.

Hygeia ( Health )

Hygeia is the daughter of the first doctor Aesculapius, considered the father of Medicine. She appears with a snake, the symbol of healing, still part of the emblem of the doctor today. She is also an aspect of the goddess Athena and therefore shares her ability to speak to animals and raise the heroic dead.

Reflections on Reading

There are books so alive that you are always afraid that while you weren't reading the book has changed, has shifted like a river, while you went on living, it went on living too, and like a river moved on and moved away. No one has stepped twice into the same river. But did anyone step twice into the same book ? Marina Tsvetaeva.

Our life is a pilgrims progress - that we are strangers in the earth, our life is a long walk or journey from earth to heaven. Vincent Van Gogh

Reading is one of the most rewarding endeavour, with a book our mind can travel to places you have never been to, or feel sentiments that you have never experienced before. At around October I reflect on the books that have given me joy during the year.

MYTHS Pomona and the nature god.

There is a wonderful thought-provoking quality about myths. Something that rings true interwoven in a fairy tale which is timeless. A sort of mixture between a dream and reality.

This picture is about Pomona and Vertumnus a nature god who could assume any shape, and here he is wooing the nymph Pomona. At the beginning he tried to befriend her by disguising himself as an old woman but when this failed, he revealed his true identity as a youthful god; here he is, at the moment when he has just removed his mask.

I liked the idea of painting this myth because I love the story, plus I wanted to paint figures in a landscape and this seemed to be the perfect setting to do both. On the right Cupid sits on the ground next to her and his arrows lie on the ground.

Lincoln

Sometimes you come across an enchanting and unexpected experience and one of those moments was when we visited Lincoln a few weeks back. What a pleasant surprise we had, whilst walking down through the oldest part of the town, with its old fashioned shop-windows just past a corner there it was, this enormous and awesome cathedral bathed in golden light that I never knew was there. For beautiful buildings you think of Oxford and Cambridge but this town rivals any of them and to me, it seems like a well kept secret as the atmosphere is not so crowded as the other two cities are. The cathedral is massive and magical, almost unreal during the night with its finely-kept intricate wooden carvings in the entrance and although we couldn't see it from the inside, it was impressive enough from the outside. Some day I hope to visit Lincoln and its castle with more time to explore inside them. The Cathedral and the castle were built by William the Conqueror. Wonderful buildings that were made to last through the centuries. A real treat.

Back from Ireland !

Our Friend Frank Sobiecki Motorcycle Diary

With kind permission by our friend and best neighbour ever I wanted to share this fascinating trip that he wrote.

A 1,000 motorcycle run through California, Nevada and Arizona By Frank Sobiecki

Well, I did it. A 1,000 mile motorcycle butt run across the Southwest.

When I started out the weather was fine, however when I reached the desert areas the wind began to pick up. Riding my motorcycle with a luggage bag behind me, made me somewhat top-heavy. I basically had to lean into the wind as I was riding. The 30 mph winds were manageable, however the unexpected 50 mile an hour gusts were a little unnerving. My first stop was for lunch in a small mining town called Randsburg, California. Not much there, but I was able to get the local history from a ninety-eight-year-old bartender. After lunch I headed out to Olancha, California, which is located just west of the entry road into Death Valley. Stayed at the Rustic Hotel (aptly named as this is the worst hotel I've ever stayed in, in my entire life).
The next morning was cool and very calm. I headed east on Highway 190. I was practically the only person on the road that morning and it was just the perfect day to be riding a motorcycle across the desert. Climbing to about 5000 feet in elevation I came to a ridge line overlooking a vast desert valley. At first I thought I was looking into Death Valley. Later I realized I was looking into the Panamint Valley. I stopped for coffee at the hotel/restaurant near the bottom of the Panamint Valley. I was very excited making it this far and very much enjoyed my coffee while looking at the austere and beautiful surroundings. I received many stares and glances as the locals and tourists realized I was all alone riding through the desert. Riding out across the Panamint Valley and crossing over the easterly rim and seeing my first glimpse of Death Valley gave me any natural high that I have never felt before. Being able to see 50 miles to the north, 50 miles to the south and 50 miles to the east with nothing obstructing my view, was pretty amazing. The glimmer of the white salt flats was expected but nonetheless an awesome site. With a gentle wind at my back, I literally felt like I was floating down the highway into the valley of death. It was an undescribable feeling. I visited Stovepipe, Furnace Creek, Devils Golf Course, Badwater and rode the Artist Drive on my way out.

The rest of my trip through Pahrump, Nevada, Las Vegas, Kingman Arizona, Laughlin Nevada, Joshua Tree National Park ( via old Route 66 ) was also a memorable experience. Just thought you'd like to know how my Death Valley experience went.

Naomi Campbell

Which is a woman's worst enemy ? Answer, another woman. You only have to read Jan Moir from the Daily Mail to see what I mean. Jan Moir writes: " However, what I recall most about that day -when she met Naomi- apart from Naomi's whiny self-justification was the fact that she ate only a plum and went a bit bonkers when she discovered she had lost one of her emerald earrings. ' I'm going back, I'm going to retrace my steps every inch of the way of the way. I've only had those earrings for two days', she cried, as her limo did a screeching U-turn on Park Lane and we sped back to her hotel suite. ' I'm going to my hotel room to walk over every inch of carpet to find it', she declared - which is exactly what she did. Everyone else just had to sit downstairs and wait for hours. So don't tell me that Naomi is not a woman with a keen interest in jewels or who does not appreciate their value or worth. Then Jan Moir writes: 'One might have thought that Naomi would have been pleased to assist in such a serious and solemn matter'

First of all, I haven't met a woman who doesn't like jewelry. I haven't met one who doesn't.
In fact, there is a song that says: ' Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend' because we love them. To point her out, as if she is sinful for appreciating jewels is silly. Maybe is cheer envy why other women write such bitchy articles because Naomi can afford to get the most fabulous jewels that anyone can imagine but in Naomi's case, no doubt companies will fall over themselves to sign her to model their jewels. Don't be surprised if Naomi suddenly appears modelling for Garrard's or Tiffany's or any of those powerful companies. It is after all, those companies who should make sure how those diamonds are extracted. No use critisezing her.

On Jan Moir's last bit ' One might have thought that Naomi would have been pleased to assist in such a serious and solemn matter.' Well, no. A powerful man like Charles Taylor no doubt still could send around one of his henchmen to kill whoever testifies against him. So I can understand why Naomi wouldn't have been thrilled to testify. In cases like such, the police usually change the name and addresses of the witnesses.

FRIENDSHIP

People come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime. When you know which one it is,
you will know what to do for what person.

When someone is in your life for a REASON, it is usually to meet a need you have expressed. They have come to assist you through a difficulty, to provide you with guidedance and support. To aid you physically, emotionally or spiritually. They may seem like a godsend and they are. They are there for the reason you need them to be. Then, without any wrong doing on your part or at an invonvenient time, this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end. Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away. Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand. What you must realize is that your need has been met, your desire fulfilled, their work is done.

Some people come into your life for a SEASON because your turn has come to share, grow or learn. They bring you an experience of peace, or make you laugh. They may teach you something you have never done and they usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy. Believe it, it is real but only for a season.

A Life time friendship teaches you lifetime lessons, things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation. Accept the lesson, love the person and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life. It is said that love is blind, but friendship is clairvoyant.

Thank you for being a part of my life, whether you are a reason, a season or a lifetime friend.

What is your most annoying thing ?

For me it is anything to do with the council. Look at what happened only yesterday. I went to the town just to post a package at the post office, parked my car in the only space available there, walked to the parking metre to insert a coin and it swallowed it without giving me a parking ticket. I was in such a hurry that I hadn't noticed that this particular car park machine wants to have your last three letters of your car registration. Like if I'm likely to know it by memory, so I had to camel a long way back to where I had managed to find a tiny space to park my car to read whatever those letters are.. whilst a lady behind me had to patiently wait until I came back with my car registration letters. Anyway, I push the correct buttons for each of the three letters, inserted the 50 pence coin and nothing ! No ticket. I was incensed the machine had swallowed a pound by now without producing the blessed car park ticket. So.. I thought I would encourage the machine by giving it a good karate kick, then another one but the machine wouldn't budge ! Theoretically I had already paid for two hours of parking without having my ticket, so this meant that if the car-park inspector came and see my car didn't display the proof of payment he could slap me with a fine ! Also I would be damned if more of my money would go into this hungry cash-cow machine. When I looked back, I already had a crowd of people around me. So rather than find another machine, I walked out hoping I wouldn't get a parking ticket in the meantime whilst I went to the post office to post my parcel. So this meant I had to do everything in a great hurry to avoid a parking fine. Another annoying thing that the council has done is that they have narrowed the white lines which separate each car, so you can park your car within the white lines but these are so narrow, that there is no room to open the doors ! So needless to say I had to squizze out of my bearly opened door without my handbag and with great difficulty I had to yanked it out of the car... all this I had to do, whilst minding not to scratch the next door car, parked beside mine. It is very lucky that I'm not a fat woman and I was able to squeeze out of a narrow 50 cm space gap. The council does this, in order to be able to squeeze in more cars like sardines in a can. A canned car park. Phew !

Our New House

Well, this space that you see here, is where the stables used to be and it will be our living room.
Yesterday we went to see the oak being placed. Then there will be wooden arches inside the structure. The door will lead to the kitchen and where you see the small window will be Peter's office. Its beginning to shape up after the stables were pulled down. The builder said that it was on schedule for October so maybe we will have a warming house party. Although we won't be moving over there until the spring.

Invation in Afghanistan

After nine years of this invasion and approaching 2,000 coallision soldiers dead, little has been achieved and the stalemate is taking its toll in blood. On this invasion one trillion dollars have now been spent and its taken a year to move 20 km. The experts say it will take another 4 years to march 70 Km to take Southern Helmand. It has lasted more than the Viet-Nam invasion and the second World War. Take a look at this film at: guardian.co.uk

Filming ' Heir Hunters '

This is the beautiful town of Hungerford we were lucky to stay at The Bear Hotel this is one of the oldest and most historic Inns of England it is said to date back to the 13th Century. Standing on what has been called " the Crossroads of England" it has witnessed many famous events in our history.

It is recorded that in 1537, Robert Braybon, landlord, gave evidence against three highwaymen who had stayed at the Inn and were accused of robbing a merchant between Bagshot and Windsor.
Three years later, Henry VIII gave the hostelry to Queen Anne of Cleves and in 1541/2 to Queen Katherine Parr who survived him. Queen Elizabeth I visited Hungerford and it is said that one of her coachmen died at The Bear.

During the Civil Wars, Hungerford was embroiled in the fighting and Charles I made The Bear his Headquarters.

The two famous diarists of the 17th Century, John Evelyn and Samuel Pepys, both stayed at The Bear and were impressed by the quality of the fish.

From the 6th to 8th of December 1688, William, Prince of Orange, later King William III, stayed at The Bear and on the morning of 8th in his bedchamber he met the Commissioners of James III, stayed at The Bear and on the morning of the 8th in his bedchamber he met the Commissioners of James II last of the Stuart Kings, Lords Halifax, Nottingham and Godolphin bargained with the Prince all morning and in the afternoon he retired to Littlecote House. Within a short time, James Stuart had fled to France and William and Mary jointly ascended the throne.

I really feel fortunate to have been able to stay in such a wonderful place, so steeped in history.

Fame Or Infamy book by Stephen Powell

Okay. I have had to open another second thread because Victoria could not get in her post about her Jack the Ripper walk with Don Rumbellow and more comments on Stephen Powell's book. It is just now that it becomes crystal clear the motivations of Caroline Morris as to why she is trying her level best to convince people that Victoria doesn't exist. Tell me Victoria.. did you introduce yourself to Don Rumbellow ? I would like to know if you did.

Fame Or Infamy book by Stephen Powell

I have been reading this book and I'm savouring each page. It is not a book to devour in one go. I have to say that Steve's early experience as a musician has a real pull; it draws you in and it would strike a chord on anyone who wants to do something with their life, specially in the music field. It gives a very interesting glimpse of how it all works from his personal experiencies, that is, from the eyes of a musician. Steve writes very well and I have been impressed about his style of writing since it is not about whether a comma or an apostrophe is in the right place but more importantly how it makes the reader feel when you read it and that for me is the mark of a real writer. I know many people who can put their commas and apostrophies in the right place but who have absolutely nothing INTERESTING to say.

It is not important either, if its a Jack the ripper diary hoax or the Hitler diaries hoax that his misguided friend Park was trying to forge as that was in itself stupid, dishonest and not interesting. The best part of this book is when Steve Powell describes the juncture that every human being has to cross in their lives as he was striving to succeed in his devotion for music, that I found really interesting, and his music is very good, with a lot of people admiring it in real life. Maybe Steve should try to market his book to the music industry. It really is a very interesting Australian story.

Cruise 2010

Hola ! Notwithstanding the horror of the virus in the ship which didn't thankfully affect us, we did have a good time. We had a pretty room with enormous French windows at the back of the ship where we could see other boats on the high seas or when our ship docked at each destination. The climate was colder than here in Britain and on the excursion to the Etruscan mountains we got wet from tip to toe in a torrential rain that didn't give us a respite and my beautiful summer straw-hat was left as limp as a rag doll ! Maybe I will be able to fix it, if I spray it with starch. If you could see me at that time, I looked like a cat that had been dipped in a swimming pool but the excursion to Tarquinia was really interesting, especially the visit to the museum where they have funerary paintings and ancient stone sarcophagi which are intact and date back long before the Roman era. Afterwards, we were taken to an ice-cream establishment. The five ice-creams would have been very welcome on a hot summer's day but not when we were cold and shivering, dripping rain from head to toe but even so, they were absolutely delicious and I am happy that we didn't catch neither pneumonia nor the blessed virus that was circulating in the ship. On that same excursion a lady recognized Peter from the Heir Hunter show and she yelled out: Peter Birchwood from Celtic Research from her table to ours. She was fascinated talking with him afterwards. There were other people who recognized us from the show, Peter and I were surprised to see this whenever we shared a table with other people.

The excursion to Naples was cancelled, the captain told us the pilots were refusing to come out to direct the ship because of bad weather although an Italian lady whose family was expecting her at the port, telephoned her to tell her they had enquired about it to the port authorities and they were told that the ship was not allowed to dock in Naples as there were too many passengers in quarantine. They couldn't risk unloading people from our ship for reasons of health and hygiene so could not allow them to roam freely in the Napolitan streets. We didn't have any problems with the other countries. Although we didn't get to see Monte-Carlo as the excursion was cancelled due to the Grand-Prix going on, the reason being that the roads would be too congested to get back in time before the ship sailed again. Maybe we will make it another time.

Next, was Cannes. Really pretty with its yachts moored in the harbour. We got there in time for the Film Festival: Palm D'or. We saw the white marquees as we strolled along the beach where the film stars were being interviewed by the T.V. channels. It was very exciting! After that, we were taken by bus to see the red rugged cliffs washed by those intense blue ink waters of the Mediterranean; something really beautiful and impressive to see.

Afterwards the ship headed to Corsica where Napoleon Bonaparte was born: his statue was prominently displayed in the main square and his birthday is celebrated every August. In Corsica they make good use of the plants they grow there, turning them into essential oils. Plants like Myrrh , sea weeds, lemon, rose petals etc are turned into perfumes or potions for different remedies. I bought lemon oil, for sea sickness, then we were taken to a nougat factory where they produce a special Napoleon nougat which includes chocolate and other secret ingredients in the recipe that of course, was not even whispered to us. I had more than my share during the tasting time ! It’s not polite to do this but I couldn't help it. We bought about 5 different nougats. Then we went to sample their wine at another location. The weather was balmy and very pleasant. The roses were already in full bloom. It was a really enjoyable day.

In the ship, there were s

Fame Or Infamy book by Stephen Powell

I'm looking forward to reading Fame or Infamy about the JTR dairy saga. With credits to Celtic Research. BTW... yesterday we had the meeting with the producers for the fifth series of ' Heir Hunters' and we were informed that the viewing was high so this is why they will produce another series. Also, the BBC has the ability to monitor when people see the programme at the beginning, middle and end. The good news is that people watched it from beginning to end without flicking the channel for another one, that is excellent news, to have people glued to the television when we appear. All in all, the horizon is looking good. In this series we will be allowed more time to shoot it which will begin soon and this new series will be shown by the end of January on BBC 1 so.. put it in your calendar. Anyway... going back to Stephen Powell's book I will be interested in reading the contents.

Women Painters

Hello ! Well, as you can imagine with the volcano cloud, our flight to Spain was cancelled but it wasn't bad at all, if you are going to be left without travelling, its good when you are left stranded at home rather than abroad so we had a nice night in Liverpool in a room where... oh no ! horror of horrors, Tony Blair had stayed at and a few other people from the world of music who I did not recognize apart from the Beatles. Anyway...we headed to The Walker Gallery in Liverpool the next day, where they are currently having an exhibition from their own collection of ' Women Painters ' which I found very interesting there was a painting of Andromache fainting at the unexpected sight of Aeneas on his arrival by ANGELICA HAUFFMAN who was the daughter of a Swiss painter, she was the first female artist to chanllenge the male monopoly over History painting. History painting took subjects from the bible, history, literature & classical mythology. These subjects were usually deemed too challenging for women. Despite such discrimination, Angelica Hauffmann became a highly respected professional painter with Royal patrons. In 1768, she was one of two female founding members of the Royal Academy of Arts. No other woman was elected as a full or associate member until 1922, when ANNIE SWYNNERTON came to the scene, there is a beautiful painting of hers on show called: ' The Sense Of Sight. Annie was born in Manchester. ( 1844-1933 ) She founded the Manchester Society of Women Painters with the artist SUSAN ISABEL DACRE. In 1895, she was the second, and last woman to sit on the Liverpool Autumn Exhibition Hanging Committee in 1922 and at the age of 78, she was the first woman to be elected as an associate member of the Royal Academy since its foundation in 1768. Her painting ' The Sense of Sight ' ( an angel overwhelmed at the wonder of what they can see, perhaps relates to the importance of sight to an artist and the joy of the visual world.

ELIZABETH- LOUISE VIGEE - LE BRUN (1755-1842)
This artist was taught by her father and financially abused by her art-dealer husband whom she later divorced. She was official painter to Queen Marie-Antoniette but in 1789, the French revolution forced her into exile for 16 years. During this time, she travelled Europe receiving commissions from aristocratic and Royal patrons as a celebrity artist known for her sensitive portraits of women, she was the obvious choice to paint the image- conscious Emma Hamilton, Emma is shown in Naples performing one of the dances that made her famous. It was painted a year, after Emma's marriage in Naples to Sir William Hamilton and 1 year before she met her lover Lord Nelson.

I also found The Dictionary of British Women Artists by Sara Gray, where they had written the name of my ancestor Maria Spilsbury wrong.. they had her as Mary Spilsbury.

Then there was ROSA BONHEUR her father was a social-reformist painter who believed in art education for women. She specialized in painting animals and won fame in her native France with her 5 metre wide painting ' The Horse Fair' it proved so popular, that it toured the U.S. several times, selling thousands of printed reproductions and in Fef 1856 it was exhibited in Liverpool. She gained her sympathetic knowledge of animals by keeping a small zoo and visiting slaughter houses & dissecting animal remains. Mmm. It looks like she took to heart Leonardo's advice ! Then there was ROSALBA CARRIERA she came from an artistic Venecian family. Her father was an amateur artist and her mother was an embroiderer and lace-maker, she started by painting miniature portrait paintings on snuff boxes but moved to life-size portraits in pastel, for which she became internationally reknowned. She was particularly famous among British tourists such as the author and collector Horace Walpole ( 1717-1797) who visited Venice in 1741. So great was the demand for her work among British visitors that she once complained of ' being attacked by the English. ELIZABETTA SIRANI - her artistic skill and beauty brought her European fame and female students. She fed her celebrity with self-portraits, one shown there which was owned by the curator of the Ufizzi collection in Florence. She also entertained visitors to her studio in Bologna with conversation and song. Her father was a painter and all three of her daughters became successful painters, she specialized in religious art. Her early death aroused her father's suspicions that she had been poisoned by her maid. In fact, she probably died from a stomach ulcer brought on by overwork. Or it could have been lead poisoning ! There are paints like White Flake that contains lead. LAVINIA FONTANA she was one of the most successful female artists in the 16th century ( 1552 - 1614 ) and she was the first woman to paint large alterpieces. She was chiefly noted for her portraits. She was trained by her father, a painter from the city of Bologna, known for its support for woman artists. The painting that its on show is based on a drawing by Michelangelo called ' Silentium ' There were a few more. The exhibition is worth seeing.

The Lost Mona Lisa by R.A. Scotti

Sometimes you buy a book that turns into a real gem. Well, this happy feeling happened to me when I bought the ' Lost Mona Lisa by R.A. Scotti. This is a really wonderful book. The author takes you through the extraordinary true story of the greatest art theft in history. The account of this tale reads better than a fictional one. There were weird and strange happenings when the Mona Lisa disappeared from the Louvre, for instance, when the museum finally opened its doors without their star attraction, hundreds of grieving Parisians queued up to view the blank space where the Mona Lisa had been smiling the week before. They didn't queue up to see the other 3 thousand paintings but just to stare at a blank dusty space ! As incomprehensible as this may sound, this is exactly what happened. The queues stretched several blocks where there had never been a wait to enter the Louvre before. Some say, this was the beginning of Modern Art. I also loved the way the author wrote nuggets of historical information in the most entertaining and amusing way. It sets the atmosphere in Paris in such a manner that you can imagine yourself being transported exactly in that era of the afternoon of Sunday, 20 of August 1911 when the painting vanished from the walls of the Louvre. It describes, with a wealth of interesting information what was happening in the inner sactum of the Louvre and who were the people who run it and where they were at the time. The failings that took place. It really is so good, I could not recommend it enough. It is thoroughly well researched from many sources, including newspaper stories of the time. Well, that is my humble opinion.

Black poodle

I have just finished painting this black poodle. Very tricky to paint. If you paint it too black, then you do not see any details and if you paint too many highlights then it would have looked grey instead of black. So it is a fine balance between the two. It is a commission work, so I hope the lady is going to be pleased with her dog's portrait.

Sunday

I'm not a writer nor pretend to be one, sometimes it is simply nice to record something you have lived like let's say...yesterday. Peter and I really didn't wish to travel too many miles we just wanted to go for a Sunday lunch somewhere near, that wouldn't involve a long journey. Where could we go? was the question. I had seen, as we often travel through a picturesque road, a really sweet looking white pub with a chimney stack, puffing blue smoke, so I ventured to suggest maybe going there for lunch, not knowing whether this was a risk worth taking or not, but we stopped there anyway. Once inside, the pub was really charming with wooden beams on the ceilings, velvet red covers on the dark mahoganny carved seats; very inviting we thought and we were right. The name of the pub was the Aleppo Merchant. Intrigued, I enquired about the name of the pub to the bar-man since Aleppo, is not by any stretch of the imagination in the U.K. so why this seemingly exotic name ? He told us that a very wealthy Welshman beyond the dreams of avarice from Llangollen had stopped there over night and he had made his wealth in Aleppo... the second oldest city in the world, located in Syria. He told us this merchant had made his fortune in the silk route selling sheep wool, and that Aleppo was not far away from the Mediterranean sea. It was really, very relaxing to hear this interesting tale as we had our drinks over lunch.

Heir Hunters Fourth Series

We have had the news that the BBC beat all the T.V. ratings for this time of day and so they have commissioned the Fifth series of Heir Hunters. Filming will start in the late Spring. The fourth series ends Friday 12th February with Hector's story. Last Saturday when I went to a new hair-salon, the hair dresser asked me if that was Mr. Birchwood from ' The Heir Hunter ' show. I said: "Yes"
Then the stylist said that Hector was his favourite from that show. I replied: " I'm Hector's mother at which point he said: " You are kidding me, right ? " I said: " Nope, I'm really Hector's mother" I have seen the last story which will be shown Friday week and he comes out better than the other episodes. At this rate... I can probably have a raise on my salary to sort out all the mountains of fan mail that will come here. Heh,heh.

The American Leonardo da Vinci

The story of this painting starts in 1919 with the marriage of a car salesman from the midwest of the U.S. named Harry Hahn to a young Frenchwoman, Andree Lardoux. Miss Lardoux's godmother Louise Montaut, gave the painting to the couple as a wedding present. At the time, the painting was thought to be by Leonardo. Even so, the couple decided to sell it to the Kansas City Art Institute for at least $250,000. When a reporter from the New York World got wind of the transaction, he telephoned the notorious art dealer Joseph Duveen. It was one in the morning, and a sleepy Mr. Duveen answered the phone. When asked what he thought of the portrait, he instantly pronounced it a fake without ever having seen it, claiming that the picture "was a copy, where hundreds of these have been made and other Leonardo subjects and offered in the market as genuine." His hasty response set off a much-publicized legal battle between the Hahns and the Duveen. There is a book about it called " The American Leonardo" that was published last year and chronicles the history of the painting. The case went to trial in New York Supreme Court on February 6th 1929 and according to " The American Leonardo" it was a media zoo, with reporters and members of the public lining up each morning to get into the courtroom. On Mr. Duveen's side, were experts who argued that the painting was a fake, while the dealer himself said that his opinion was formed by "his study of all the great pictures of the world". The Hahns tried to prove their point with their own battery of experts and with what scientific tools were available at the time. But the case ended in a hung jury, and Mr. Duveen finally settled out of court, paying the Hahns $60,000 in damages. Last year, the can of worms was opened once again, when the Hahn's daughter, Jacqueline, curious about the painting that has been so much part of her family history, took it to the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles so conservators and experts could examine it. The curator at the Getty Museum Scott J. Schaefer said that the painting he had read so much about and thought to be Lucrezia Crivelli, a mistress of Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan- was not what he expected when it was unwrapped. He thought it was much better than what they thought it would be and he said it wasn't just some copy of a painting but a skillful interpretation. Pigment analysis also revealed the use of lead-tin yellow, a colour employed in the 17th century that re-appeared again only in the 19th century. These findings suggest that the painting called : " La Belle Ferroniere " was probably painted before 1750. An expert Mr. Watchter informed the curator of the Getty Museum that after that date, it would have been hard to believe that lead-tin yellow would have been used: " because the formula for it was lost " When learning about the pigments, Mr. Scott J. Schaefer, curator of the Getty Museum said: "Suddenly I had to re-think things. It has been painted earlier than I imagined" still, he said, the mystery of the portrait only adds to its romance. " It's still a conundrum"

Haiti Earthquake

France has accused the U.S. of occupying Haiti on Monday as thousands of American troops flooded into the country to take charge of aid efforts. Medicine Sans Frontiers was warned that is running short of vital medical supplies in the ground after five of its cargo planes were barred from landing in Haiti by the U.S. authorities. The U.S. military who are controlling the airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital have agreed to prioritise the landing of humanitarian aid flights, over military reinforcements as the needs for supplies grows ever more desperate. France has critized U.S. relief efforts in Haiti claiming the aid programmes should be about helping the country, not occupying it.

Yupee !

The year is surely starting really well. Has anyone heard the latest news yet ? Jonathan Ross has quit the BBC. About time too ! There is much speculation about what is going to happen to the corporation if there is a change of government this year. Would the Conservatives tolerate the huge, costly bureaucracy, where there are job titles which do not exist in any other broadcasting system in the world?

What the BBC needs really desperately is a Director-General who fulfills the function of an editor, as the job was originally envisaged by founding Director General, John Reith. He/she should be answerable as it was in the past, before Tony Blair tinkered with useless reforms to a chairman and board of governors.

HAPPY NEW YEAR !

1st of January 2010, the beginning of the first decade of the new millennium. It is so perplexing looking back to realize the subject of " time flying " as these 10 years feel like if it was yesterday. So where does the time go ? and why does it seem to speed up with every passing year ? Some people say that when we are young, a day is a huge amount of our life.
With each day and year that elapses, however, that day becomes a tiny fraction of one's life.
It sounds simple enough. Perception of time is also distorted when we do out-of-the-ordinary activities. Some neurologists say, to make time seem longer, introduce novelty into our lives. Take a different route to do the shopping or shop at another place, use your other hand to move the mouse in your computer and if you are adventurous travel somewhere different, you could also try writing with the left hand or vise-versa. I hope you all had a really good turn of the year!