A weird day

Being under the influence of a cold is in some ways like being under the influence of other mind-altering things; my brain has been acting in a very strange way the last couple of days and it was all building up to a head full of cotton wool and some sneezing fits. So I write this in a semi-aware state and hope it makes sense. The last couple of nights' dreams have been a germ-induced muddle of strange images: rhinos, sharks (marine life, always marine life), gypsy children and general angst. And yesterday's trip out was also heavily influenced by the germ, I am sure, as neither of us could think straight and seemed lost in a world of vagueness. It wasn't a usual trip, I can tell you.

It started off with a visit to a spring at Bratton, for moss collection - a different venture to normal but one that was necessary. Bratton church had a (later) carved font which was tastefully decorated for harvest festival. Turns out the area is known for big cat (or dog) sightings, and the way the day developed the only surprise is that we didn't see one.

Onwards to Devizes, for a long awaited trip to the Italian cafe, Dolcipani. If you haven't been, then you must go, and you will never look back. I just wanted a decent espresso.  It was, as always, very busy. We both had a "Sicilian sunshine" ciabatta (enough for 2 meals) and I noticed, for the first time, that there were lots of references to Sicily. So when we finally dragged ourselves away, I asked (not in Italian, to my shame) the guy where he was from. "Sicily," he said. "Where in Sicily?" "Catania!" came the reply. No way! I could not believe it, having spent the last year in the very same place. The guy seemed less surprised by this coincidence and of course asked me how I'd liked it, etc. I said I missed granita and arancini, which he, of course, understood.  It was too busy to stand chatting to him, so I couldn't even get on to Etna.

A bit surprised by this coincidence the pair of us went on to our next stop, one of the churches in the centre of Devizes. Apparently we've been before, but I don't remember what was inside. Sadly it was shut this time, but I don't mind as it's a good excuse to go back to Dolcipani. We went on to a village just outside Devizes, except I wasn't looking at the map (there are too many in the car, I can never find the right one) and my sister got confused and took a road in the wrong direction. So after going in a big circle we ended up in Etchilhampton, a very quiet little spot. Outside the car, hundreds of bees were busy going in and out of holes in the bank. Further investigation is required as to what sort they were. Etchilhampton was a small church with a nice, simple font, with a band of carved semi circles. It was noticeably wonky and the design sloped down a little to one side.

We drove next to a place that was circled on the map, called Patney - not a place of note in Pevsner, but one that supposedly had had something of interest about it online. My sister could not remember what so we thought we would just turn up and see. As she went through the gate, I noticed it said "Private" but ignored this as we both headed up the path. Both of us were thinking the same thing, that they'd made a real effort with the flower beds as there were lots of flowers. A glance into the window of the building and R saw a standard lamp, I saw a sofa.  It was a house.  A church converted into a house. We beat a hasty retreat. I bet others have made the same mistake.

The day did not seem to be going to plan and we both felt a bit vague. So we decided to head back. The route home went near Old Dilton, where there is a disused church which is kept up by the The Churches Conservation Trust.  It was quite interesting as it was full of large box pews, where a whole family could sit together. It had escaped all the heavy Victorian features so it was quite plain. We had to get the key from a nearby house and it always makes it more fun when you have to unlock these heavy oak doors yourself.

We headed back via Upton Scudamore, where we have been before but then it was locked. This time we were in luck as a woman had gone in just as we were arriving. Except when we got out, two rather large dogs that were with her were guarding the gateway and barking at us. I was still feeling a bit weird and I did not like the look of this dog; its owner was too far away to call and the way the day had been going instinct was telling me it would probably take my leg off if I opened the gate. Probably it would have been fine, but I didn't like to risk it and so we gave it a miss. Sometimes you just have to trust your instincts, even if it means missing out on interesting Norman things.

rehearsals continue

Rehearsals are continuing and I find them very absorbing - you can forget about all the job hunting and cares of the world when you are concentrating on something different. Last night a small "bump" was produced from somewhere and I duly tried it on under my jumper to produce a pregnant look. It might need a bit of tweaking but it gave me the idea of how it will be. I will need to think about how I walk, move etc. No running around the stage, not that I do anyway.

It was interesting to have a drink with a few of the cast afterwards and find out a bit more about them. Despite everyone coming across as confident and very able, they expressed the same worries about learning lines and so on that I might feel as a beginner. But I assured them that they had come across as very confident and professional, to which they looked astonished; but having a lot of experience between them, I am sure everything will be fine.

I have to do some thinking about the background of my character, Pattie. Who is she, what happened in her past etc? I realised that each of us plays as vital a part as any other, and so everyone is reliant on everyone else (literally) playing their part; we are all responsible for a small part of the whole and those parts will come together to make something bigger. Well, we can only hope so anyway. The play is a bit different to things they have done before, because it has a lot of conversations happening at the same time, so two conversations intertwine on different parts of the stage, which might make it a bit trickier remembering cues. Last night we were "blocking" which meant working out our positions and movements. I am right near the front of the stage for one scene, so I hope I don't take a step to the left and fall off(!) Two of us have a lot of "business" which is doing things with props, so that will be interesting and hopefully easier to do than imagining doing it while we don't have props available.

It sounds like the various theatrical groups in the town all know each other, in fact people take part in productions in the different groups, so there must be a large number of people who know each other from that. So it will be a good way to meet different people.

Treading the boards

Having always harboured a secret desire to be an actress, I have finally joined a theatre group in my local town. I went along to the auditions a couple of weeks back, not knowing what to expect. I explained that I'd never really done much acting before, apart from a dalliance with the camera a few years ago when we re-did "Dinner for One" and when I was at school, hundreds of years ago. I say when I was at school, as if I played the lead role in all of the school's weird productions. I didn't. All I can remember is Mr Grossman making us pretend to be motorbikes, and telling me I had a nice voice. But this remark has stuck with me.

I was a bit nervous at the auditions but everyone was friendly and they made me feel very welcome. We had to read out a bit of the play which is being put on at Christmas: Alan Ayckbourn's "Season's Greetings", a mixture of the usual seasonal arguments and wine-fuelled liaisons that do actually ring true. It's quite amusing in places. I only wanted a small role so read two of the smaller characters - except actually most of the characters have about the same amount to say really; there is one central woman around which everyone interacts.  I realised that most of the women at the audition had performed before and were very good, so although I had enjoyed it, I could not imagine that I would be chosen for a part with that much talent in the room.

However, the director must have seen something worth taking a risk on, as he offered me the role of Pattie. A woman with three kids who is seven months pregnant! Naturally, I accepted the challenge.

We have a busy rehearsal schedule and I have been to two rehearsals. I am quickly realising there is so much to learn - not in terms of lines, although I do have many - but in terms of the theatre. The stage is bigger than I expected. It is as much about movement, where you are standing and where you are facing as how you say the lines. Saying the lines is not the same as reading them out of a book. I will have to learn to project my voice. How, for example, do you convincingly cry or get angry? Maybe it's not so easy. And I need to learn terms like "upstage" and "downstage", "business" and probably lots more. But I can clearly learn a lot from the others. The woman cast in the main role told me she hadn't done any more acting than I have when she joined a year ago, so she has clearly taken to it like a duck to water. And I see that the director will of course be guiding and advising the whole way through. So it doesn't feel quite as terrifying as it might do. In fact, it felt strangely right to be standing on the stage. But I can tell that it will be a journey of challenges and ups and downs, and that sometimes I will wonder what I am doing there. But all in all I think it should be good fun.

Everyone seems very nice and as we will be spending a whole lot of time together, I am glad because it will mean knowing local people. The nicest thing is having something else to focus on other than job hunting and I have found myself feeling a little more productive the next day as a result.

A predictable and probably often-to-be-repeated misunderstanding occurred last night, as I chatted with a woman who had missed the first rehearsal.
"I haven't done any acting before," I told her. "And I'm pregnant, so that will be weird!"
"Ooh," she said, glancing at my figure, "how far is it?"
"It's 7 months..." (She looks confused), "No, I'm pregnant in the play! Not in real life!"
Much hilarity. She thought I looked a bit thin...
I'm looking forward to having the baby bump put on (well, not actually because I imagine it is going to be very weird, having not been in that condition before) - But I might put the picture on Facebook and see how many people I can fool...

Leominster Priory

Following a trip to Shropshire, we found ourselves, as usual, passing through Leominster on the way home. Now always thinking about nearby fonts and tympanums, we wondered if we should stop off (just quickly) to see what Leominster Priory had to offer. We could see a spire from the nearby petrol station. Could that be it? It was, and it wasn't far to go.  Walking up to it, I was amazed how large it was but how well hidden from view when you were in the town.

So, Pevsner mentioned some carved capitals with various animals, people and plants... Sounded promising. We wandered up to the west doorway. And gasped. Six columns each with a carved capital - all different and all remarkably well preserved and intricately carved. Wow, it must have been like cinema back then to the people - you could really enjoy looking at the pictures, as we do today, and working out what they were.  There was one of some sort of cereal - we have seen something similar - one of foliage and snakes, one with two men (which is quite unusual) who looked like they were wearing striped pyjamas; two birds which were definitely in the same style we have seen before; and two animals sharing a head - again, something we have seen before at... hmm, where was it... Avening in Gloucestershire.

So there is a definite and recognisable style - and these carvings fall into the "Herefordshire school" style, examples of which we have seen Stottesdon (in Shropshire) and Castle Frome. We have seen birds (pigeons? doves?) like that at Durnford and Hinton Parva as well. They are quite pleasing and always seem amused, to me. They have real character.

Pevsner briefly mentioned some carvings inside, so we went to look for those. Once we'd got over our surprise at the sheer size of the place, including enormous fat Norman columns the like of which I've never seen, we were excited to discover that the carvings inside were equally as detailed and pleasing as those outside. They were basically in the same position, on the inside of the doorway, with another 4 columns each with carved capitals, and some other details further up. These had some interesting faces, perhaps Green Man-ish, one with a plaited beard? and the other with the "raspberry" type fruits (or maybe, more realistically, grapes?) that we have seen in other carvings.

All in all it was well worth stopping off at Leominster, which we'd done on a whim.  A couple of other people came in while we were there, took a cursory walk and glance round the place, missing out the carvings and left. I think they missed the best bits.

More catching up

Another trip fonting took in Berwick St James (some previously unseen criss cross designs above the door), Winterbourne Stoke (a very pleasing font, small but chunky, sadly with the most hideous and out of place but apparently historical Jacobean font cover. We did not include it in our drawings). The archway over the entrance had some nice blob shape designs. We had a disappointing trip to Amesbury, where the priory was closed (what happens if you are religious and seeking solace, or persecuted and seeking sanctuary? Not much good if the church is shut), we stopped to enjoy the clear waters of the Avon where some ducks were having a good time. Some keen walkers strode over the bridge, making it bounce rather uncomfortably. Another example of when people walking seem to think the point is to get from A to B in the quickest possible time, instead of actually looking at what is around them.

On to Durnford, described rather simply by Pevsner so that we were expecting merely a font with some sort of design on it. (All our trips are based on the information taken from Nikolaus Pevsner's architectural guides. He and his wife spent many years going from church to church across the UK, while he documented everything. From this my sister has extracted the bits about Norman and Saxon architecture. How he had time to look at everything we marvel to comprehend. But then again he does sometimes miss things out or gloss over the most amazing features. And we can understand why - just doing 4 or 5 churches is sometimes exhausting).  This was the case in Durnford. We weren't expecting much. But it was quite amazing. Over the doorway were some wonderful and unusual shapes that look like shuttlecocks. I pushed open the big heavy oak door (I love some of these old doors! They are from centuries ago).  I looked round. I gasped. The font was amazing. So intricately and elaborately carved with a design covering all of it. The design looked like little faces. That would be hard to draw... I looked round again. Gasped. There were carvings in the wall. Looked more. Gasped. Remnants of paintings on the wall.  Went further in and looked at some capitals - gasped - 2 perfectly preserved and hilarious animals. Read about the church from their information. Gasped. The back pews were 16th century. Drawing the fabulous font was of course tricky but fun, specially sitting on the ancient pews.

Durnford font

Durnford, a smiling bird

Catching up

It is slack of me but I have failed to blog about the previous fonting trips we have been on, so rather than forget them entirely, I will mention them here. There were, after all, many things of interest and a few moments that elicited gasps.

The Minute Face

The majority have been around the Stonehenge area. It was quite amusing when we drove past it to see the crowd of tourists who come, presumably daily, to marvel at this ancient sight. We had sights of our own to seek out and marvel at. The first trip back took in Longbridge Deverill and Brixton Deverill, with two pleasing fonts. Our next trip was towards Yeovil, where we spent a little time in Milborne Port (a tympanum with 2 affronted creatures and a woman who gave us a start inside the church); Maperton, home of the minute face (a tiny but compelling face stuck halfway up a wall in the belltower), and a Saxon-esque scrolled design in the porch. On to Blackford - a pleasingly chunky font; All Cannings (bat droppings and some impossible to draw column capitals), and Stanton St Bernard - just the cutest font you will ever see - and finishing at Marden, by which time I was too weary to draw much.

The simplicity of the font at Stanton St Bernard was deceptive - ah, just two lines of zigzags, you might think. But try drawing this and you will soon see that simple is often the most difficult, at least to draw. I had to really look and not let my brain draw what it thought was there. This font had real character and part of this appeal has to be its unevenness, which speaks of its carver and somehow the actual creation of it. You are taken back to those days 900 years ago when the carver might have taken a step back and realised his font design was getting out of kilter. But then, that doesn't seem to matter. The essence of the carvings are in their asymmetry, this refreshing difference from the mass-produced, identical and perfect soul-lessness of modern things.

Stanton St Bernard font. Who wouldn't want a font like this?

The search for gold

Job hunting is a time-consuming thing. Good job I have all this time to do it in, then. Although of course, there are many other things I would like to be doing, like writing. You think that it should be relatively straightforward. You look for a job; you find a job; you submit an application. But no, there are sometimes things which take you hours to do, when it should take a few minutes. Even more frustrating when you end up not hearing back from people.

For example, the other day, I was applying for a job. Everything now requires you to sign in to the job site and create an account, so I did that and then began filling in the application. Oh good, you can just upload your CV and add a covering letter. The least painful method. Although I remembered to tweak my CV before posting.  Then I wrote a wonderful letter about how marvellous I would be for the job.  Then I scrolled down. The site wanted, in addition, the usual information filled out in their boxes about my education, experience, and why I wanted the job. So basically everything on my CV. I filled this out dutifully and then went back to change my cover letter so it didn't include everything I needed to say again.  Then I pressed submit.  It told me I must fill in all the asterisked boxes. Ah, ok: it needs dates. I put in the dates. Submit. No, still no good. I looked again. Ah, they have little calendar icons; I must use these to select the dates. Done. Submit. Still no good! I looked at the top: "please put the date in the format DD/MM/YYYY."  OK! Now I get it. But when you select the date from the calendar it put the date in the format DD-MM-YYYY.  So I had to go back and change it.  Sigh. Finally it accepted it.

Then this morning. I am applying to a well known and large organisation. "Please address any queries to XXX".  OK, I have a query. I will ask her. I emailed the woman.  An email came back: "I am out of the office until Monday, please email ZZZ with any queries."  Ok, fine. The closing date is only tomorrow but I'm sure ZZZ can help in your absence.  I emailed ZZZ. An email came back. "I am out of the office until a week on Monday."  Ah! Very helpful. So the person you put down as your cover is not there himself. Does this look good for your company? I think not. But then we're all human and things like this do happen. It's just that as a candidate applying for things, you are asked to show how marvellous you are, because that is the only sort of person they want.

And then to top it all this morning, as "Homes Under the Hammer" comes on (or whatever it was, please note I was not watching it), I see Dion Dublin is now one of the presenters. Dion Dublin. Ex-Aston Villa and England footballer. Tell me, what experience and qualifications does Mr Dublin have, exactly, which have led him into this career? Oh but I see I am wrong. He has had lots of presenting experience for the BBC (Football Focus etc). And I expect he has a lot of experience of posh houses. So I am wrong. And should get back to job hunting.