Mrs. Miniver

found via mrs. miniver | Tumblr

Watched Mrs. Miniver in film class yesterday... it was a wonderful movie! 

Sunday

I am quite excited! Sunday I get to go see the new Winnie the Pooh Movie.

Yey!

Someone Who Knows How...

Found via Frivolous Whim

Spellbound

found via He might do something stupid

Thus Far

Goodness! It has been ages since last I wrote!

Lets see, what has happened since then...

I finished school for the year...

I am enrolled in the local community college for the fall...

My dance performance came and went...

We spent several days picking strawberries for jam....

I am currently taking a summer intensive for ballet and jazz dance, three times a week from 9 to 12:45.

My Mother, little Brother and I will take a vacation up to Colorado later on in the month, which is exciting.

I have a job interview in the near future...

I am going on a picnic with my best friend Saturday. :)

 The garden is doing splendidly, I have already put up a batch or so of herbs for the winter.

My little brother and I have been watching quite a bit of Winnie the Pooh and Jakers... two favourites!

... Well, that is all the random events making up my summer holiday thus far. Hopefully from now on I can be more diligent in posting. :)

Have a lovely day!

Period Movie Weekend

(I was going through my old drafts, and came across this weekend movie review that I forgot to post! So here is what I watched and drank one rainy weekend in February...) :)

Cold and rainy weekend afternoons call for only two things: Tea and Period drama!

Three days, three movies, two different types of tea.

The first movie watched was the 1995 version of Persuasion, with Amanda Root And Ciaran Hinds.

Based on the novel by Jane Austen, Persuasion tells the story of a woman who was persuaded to break off an engagement to a man whom she loved dearly, but posessed no money. Now eight years later he comes back into her life, and she finds she is as much in love with him as ever.

It was a very sweet movie, with beautiful costumes and cinematography.

The tea chosen for this movie was Twining's Looseleaf Earl Grey Tea with Scones and Mock-Devonshire cream.

The second movie that I happened to watch was The Remains of the Day, starring Emma Thompson and Anthony Hopkins.

The movie is ultimately about life, and the decisions that you make.

Or fail to make.

What I liked about this movie was its portrayal of life and the decisions that one can make, and how those decisions are vitally important. 

The tea chosen for this movie was, again, Earl Grey with leftover Scones.

The third and final movie that I watched over the weekend was Horatio Hornblower: The Duel, starring Ioan Gruffudd.

I truly felt sympathy for Horatio's struggles, and it was inspiring to watch him through the progression of the movie rise in character and in rank, when he had many chances to back down and submit to the injustice.

I look forward to the rest of the series with interest.

The tea chosen for this movie was Twining's Irish Breakfast tea; chosen for its strong flavour to go along with the hard life of sea.

______

Captain Wentworth: "I come on business, Sir Walter."

Sir Walter: "Business?"

Captain Wentworth: "Yes, my proposal of marriage to your daughter, Anne, has been accepted and I respectfully, sir, request permission to set a date.

Sir Walter: "Anne? You want to marry Anne? Whatever for?"

Miss Kenton: "What's in that book? Come on, let me see!"

Stevens: "This is my private time. You're invading it."

Miss Kenton: "Oh, is that so?"

Stevens: "Yes."

Miss Kenton: "I'm invading your private time, am I?"

Stevens: "Yes."

"I maintain the charge against Mr. Simpson, Sir! However, since I cannot prove it other than with my body, I have no choice but to accept his challenge." -Horatio Hornblower

Boiled Eggs

"But I do know how to boil an egg." - Julia Child, played by Meryl Streep 

... Guess what I had for lunch today. :)

Stuck in a Lift

found via Well, well, well, look what we have here. ♛

Keep calm and...

found via keep calm and carry on | Tumblr

via Random ramblings

via Keep Calm, Keep calm and fake a british accent

found via Kaleidoscope Heart (Yes Please.)

via Keep Calm, Keep calm, they’re taking the Hobbits to Isengard

found via Keep Calm, Keep calm and drink tea

found via keep calm and carry on | Tumblr


via keep calm and carry on | Tumblr

via keep calm and carry on | Tumblr


via keep calm and carry on | Tumblr


via keep calm and carry on | Tumblr

Eyre on a G String

Today I immersed myself in the music of  Dario Marianelli, who wrote the soundtrack for the recent adaptation of  Jane Eyre. 

It is quite a beautiful score, to a movie I quite enjoyed. 

(Yes, some argue that it failed to impress... but that is another matter. I enjoyed the movie for what it accomplished: a new take on the classic novel.)

The score conveys the thought of the English moor... and that of loneliness. 

It truly is a beautiful score... to a beautiful movie.

Tea in Green...

     




both pictures found via Have a Cup of Tea

A Royal Speech.

found via http://dardeile.tumblr.com/post/5040348879/my-head-is-not-a-good-place-to-live-in-its

Royal Wedding

"In a sense every wedding is a royal wedding with the bride and the groom as king and queen of creation, making a new life together so that life can flow through them into the future..."

"Marriage should transform, as husband and wife make one another their work of art. It is possible to transform as long as we do not harbour ambitions to reform our partner..."

"I pray that all of us present and the many millions watching this ceremony and sharing in your joy today, will do everything in our power to support and uphold you in your new life. And I pray that God will bless you in the way of life that you have chosen, that way which is expressed in the prayer that you have composed together in preparation for this day..."

-The Bishop of London. Excerpts from wedding sermon, April 29, 2011

pictures found via  http://enchantedserenityperiodfilms.blogspot.com/2011/04/royal-wedding-of-william-and-kate.html

Two Days and Counting!

Two more days until the Royal Wedding!

Quite Exciting, if you ask me. :)

I am taking the morning off Friday to watch the coverage when it appears on the TV at 4:00 am.

I will hopefully make mounds of scones and quite a bit of tea to start off the festive occasion.

-

For those anxiously waiting for Friday and have nothing to do for two days, here's a list of what you can do to get in the "English-Royal-Wedding" mood.

1. Watch the 1995 Pride and Prejudice.

2. Read Pride and Prejudice

(or any Jane Austen, for that matter!)

3. Drink Tea (or stock up on it for Friday)

and 

4. Bake Scones

(to perfect the recipe before Friday)

5. Watch The Young Victoria

(Which includes a Royal Wedding! :)

6. Listen to various English Period Drama soundtracks.

(on repeat!)

7. Watch Royal Wedding

(An older MGM Musical starring Fred Astaire and Jane Powell.)

8. Shop for Royal Wedding Memorabilia!

That should satisfy until Friday...

if not, either book a ticket to England, or watch the King's Speech for the umpteenth time. :)

Waltzing on Grey Clouds

Today it is cloudy, warm yet cold, and there are chances of rain.

This video sets the mood for today... it is as if waltzing on grey clouds, a cozy-sort of feeling.

The clips and song, of course, are from the musical "Singing in the Rain," one of my favourites.

The artist singing the piece is Emma Wallace.

Simply captivating.

My Intent

After a month's hiatus, I have decided to resume blogging.

And also decide what the blog will be about.

Up to this point I have just been "dabbling" in different areas, from movies to tea, testing the water of blogging and getting my feet wet.

After a small amount of consideration, the essence of the blog will be as follows:

 Unique. Tea. Movies. Daily Life. Books. 

and anything that I find interesting, unique, or special.

And perhaps that is the real idea of this blog:

The thought that one person's ideas, likes and experiences have the ability to touch other peoples lives and enrich them.

That is my intent.

To inform, express, and (if nothing else) have a creative outlet.

Brigadoon

Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse in Brigadoon, 1954

Wellies in the Mail

My Wellington Boots, ordered through Victorian Trading Company, arrived today!

They are comfortable, fashionable, and waterproof.

Sigh... how wonderful.

A Brief History of the Wellington Boot

The Wellington boot was first made of leather for the Duke of Wellington, a famous Prime Minister and war hero.

  

Durable for battle and comfortable for the evening; the boots were dubbed Wellington after the man for whom they were made. 

The boots were later manufactured out of rubber; and by the end of WWII, Wellington boots became the boot of choice for many people around the world.

In Britain, there is even a sport called Wellie Wanging. The contestants throw a Wellington boot as far as possible within the boundary lines, with either a standing or running start.

The Wellington Boot have a variety of names. The boots are known as "gumboots" in New Zealand; and in Ireland they are called "Wellies." In Australia, they are called "gumboots," "gummies," and "Blucher Boot." Blucher was a colleague of Wellington at the battle of Waterloo.

In honour of my new Wellies (as they say in Ireland),

 I decided to drink Irish Breakfast Tea from Twinings.

With just a bit of milk.

What a wonderful day this has turned out to be!

She has dancing eyes and ruby lips

Delightful boots-and away she skips.

-Frederick Locker-Lampson

Bright Star

Last night I had the opportunity to watch Bright Star for the first time.

It was simply beautiful.

The cinematography and art direction of the film was visually stunning.

The colours and costumes were beautiful.

The music breathtaking;

With John Keats' poetry sprinkled throughout.

Being somewhat of a dancer, I also enjoyed the ballet lesson in the movie.

I also appreciated the idea of Fanny making her own clothes. 

It rekindles the desire within me to start sewing again. 

Before I watched the movie, I was sure that I was going to cry.

I knew Keats was going to die.

Then I reached the last thirty minutes of the film; and a strange thing happened:

I thought I would cry, I wished I could cry; but no tears came.

The film touched my soul, and I mourned inwardly.

Deeper than tears can show.

Fanny Brawne: "I still don't know how to work out a poem."

John Keats: "A poem needs understanding through the senses. The point of diving into a lake is not immediately to swim to the shore but to be in the lake, to luxuriate in the sensation of water. You do not work the lake out, it is an experience beyond thought."