Tiki touring in Dorset...

So the weekend before I headed off to Scotland I went down to Dorset with Nicola to do a one day glass blowing course at the Dorset Rural Skills Centre. Nicola has a car so we had a lovely day on Saturday making our way there.

The last time I was in Dorset (I think) was New Years in 1996 and it was absolutely freezing! It was the coldest winter, we had a house booked which didn't have central heating and generally it was miserable.

This time I was muchly impressed with the county and would love to go back...

We drove down to Poole and took the chain link ferry over to Studland Beach. This is all owned by the National Trust and is a lovely piece of coast. We had been considering going to Lulworth Cove, but we went for Tyneham Village instead, which was just fascinating. The beaches around Tyneham were being used by the military during WWII, and in November 1943 the villagers were told they would have to leave. They fully expected to return after the war, but the land was compulsorily purchased and they were never able to go back. It was very sad, and very eerie - you can only get to the village on the days that the MoD are not using the land around it.

After Tyneham Village I went and had a look around Corfe Castle. Aside from the scaffolding it was great! It was deliberately destroyed in the 1600s, and the ruins are amazing - lots of fab photo opportunities :-). As well as the couple below I've posted lots on Flickr so take a look.

Tyneham Village - Post Office

Tyneham Village - Post Office
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Corfe Castle

Corfe Castle
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Glass blowing - or glass mangling...

I was terrible!! Had a great time doing it, but I was rubbish! Nicola was much much better than me... Once I've got my pieces back I'll take some pictures and post them for everyone's amusement!

It is much harder than it looks - and our tutor Emsie made it look very easy indeed. I got so frustrated as it seemed so simple, and I just couldn't do it. Nicola took much more time than me however and I think that will be reflected in her pieces vs mine... It involves a lot of multi-tasking, which I had always thought I was ok at - little did I know! It felt like trying to pat your head and rub your stomach at the same time...

Ah well - I won't be giving up my day job just yet. But now I do understand why hand blown glass is so much more expensive.

Adding colour to the glass

Adding colour to the glass
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Back later...

Well I was hoping to get this up-to-date before heading off on my epic West Highland Way trek, but that ain't gonna happen... So I'll be back around the 6th/7th!

Fab sculptures

I've been enjoying these Klaus Weber sculptures at Southbank - the industrial material looks like scoria, and where they've got water coming out of is very entertaining! The vomiting man is one of my particular favourites!

Klaus Weber sculptures - Southbank

Klaus Weber sculptures - Southbank (2)
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Note the vomiting man on the far right...

The perils of being a single gal...

Scary beasty of Lovelace Gardens
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

The latest beasty I've had to deal with in my lounge... This one freaked me out!

Flight of the Conchords - on the Beeb

So am sat here watching a special before the series of Flight of the Conchords starts next week. Very funny - very reminiscent of The Front Lawn. Very NZ as well - will be interesting to see how it goes down - but I'm liking it :-).

Holiday blogging resumed soon!

And there's more...

I've updated a bit more - see below. Sorry for the delays - but I'm getting there!

Oh yes - I've been on holiday....

But just haven't updated my blog for ages... Been a busy bee (doing not much) since I got back. But I am now starting to - read on!

I've added my photos to Flickr so check them out - and I'll keep updating this over the next few days...

Elvis!

Elvis!
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

First statue (of many!) that I saw of the man...

Me outside the Grand Ole Opry

Me outside the Grand Ole Opry
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

I'm the wee figure in red!

Where unforgettable moments happen every night...

The strapline of the Grand Ole Opry - and our show certainly had a couple! The thing I hadn't really realised was that the show was broadcast live. The acts got to do two songs each and in-between the compere would do the radio adverts for whichever company was sponsoring that section. And the ads really were like ads from the 1920s - very funny.

We didn't have any huge names (I've just noticed that Charlie Pride was on this weekend...), although we had a couple of old guys who had been in the Country Music Hall of Fame for a wee while - Jimmy Dickens and Porter Wagoner. We also had Legacy Five - a fundamentalist christian group. I won't link to their site... But they had a huge contingent of fans who just went crazy when they came on. Very odd to listen to happy clappy songs about the Book of Revelations and how we have to make sure we're on the right side of the dirt when the Lord comes down...

The finale was Jimmy Wayne - who also turned out to be on the Lord's side. While that is not a bad thing I just wasn't expecting so much Christian music at the Grand Ole Opry...

And my holiday was ended with the lovely experience of being upgraded on the flight home the next day. Brilliant!

Cheesy - never!

Cheesy - never!
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.

Me, Fleur and some new friends :-)