Here There Be Yetis...

It's Wednesday.  The daily chore of getting to and from work has been successfully accomplished - for another day, at least.  I am not going horse-riding tonight - I've no desire to put myself or my car at risk tonight.  Molly will, I'm sure, be tucked up in her stable rug, and munching hay, oblivious.

Last night, I finally watched the last two episodes of Remembrance of the Daleks.  It's a great Dr Who story - I'd forgotten just how good it is.  I hope the BBC hurries up and releases The Happiness Patrol and/or The Greatest Show in the Galaxy - I'd love to get hold of them.  My Christmas present from my husband also arrived safely - a boxed DVD set of the 2002 Metropolitan Opera version of Wagner's Ring Cycle.  It's the best one I've seen to date - the Valkyries look like they've come straight out of Norse Legend, and everyone looks comfortably medieval.  It's so much better than the various versions I've seen which feature Wotan in a dinner suit...

Not that I'm allowed to watch it yet, mind...  I've got to wait until Christmas Day  - that is, if my poor husband's willing to let me inflict Wagner on his poor ears for about twelve hours...

And now it's back to Ayrshire...

Yesterday, I made a return visit to Alloway, and the Burns Monument.  I'll move on from there and give you a more detailed tour of the monument, which was designed by the architect Thomas Hamilton, who also built a number of very worthy mansions throughout Ayrshire, including the glorious Dunlop House, which inadvertantly inspired a poem by ysabetwordsmith 

The Burns Monument is arguably Hamilton's best known work, visited by the hordes of Burns pilgrims who make the long journey to Alloway from all over the world.  It was his first public monument, and it opened to the public in 1823.

Here's a better view, which sits in beautifully tended gardens:-

 

The monument pays homage to the architecture of Ancient Greece in particular, with the tripod finial at the top of the 'temple' representing Apollo.  According to the Listed Building Survey, the circular temple was associated in the Romantic imagination with eternity. 

I was going to post some more photos of the monument, but Photobucket is being very uncooperative tonight, so I'll leave it for the time being and hopefully get them uploaded tomorrow!

Here There Be Yetis...

It's Wednesday.  The daily chore of getting to and from work has been successfully accomplished - for another day, at least.  I am not going horse-riding tonight - I've no desire to put myself or my car at risk tonight.  Molly will, I'm sure, be tucked up in her stable rug, and munching hay, oblivious.

Last night, I finally watched the last two episodes of Remembrance of the Daleks.  It's a great Dr Who story - I'd forgotten just how good it is.  I hope the BBC hurries up and releases The Happiness Patrol and/or The Greatest Show in the Galaxy - I'd love to get hold of them.  My Christmas present from my husband also arrived safely - a boxed DVD set of the 2002 Metropolitan Opera version of Wagner's Ring Cycle.  It's the best one I've seen to date - the Valkyries look like they've come straight out of Norse Legend, and everyone looks comfortably medieval.  It's so much better than the various versions I've seen which feature Wotan in a dinner suit...

Not that I'm allowed to watch it yet, mind...  I've got to wait until Christmas Day  - that is, if my poor husband's willing to let me inflict Wagner on his poor ears for about twelve hours...

And now it's back to Ayrshire...

Yesterday, I made a return visit to Alloway, and the Burns Monument.  I'll move on from there and give you a more detailed tour of the monument, which was designed by the architect Thomas Hamilton, who also built a number of very worthy mansions throughout Ayrshire, including the glorious Dunlop House, which inadvertantly inspired a poem by ysabetwordsmith 

The Burns Monument is arguably Hamilton's best known work, visited by the hordes of Burns pilgrims who make the long journey to Alloway from all over the world.  It was his first public monument, and it opened to the public in 1823.

Here's a better view, which sits in beautifully tended gardens:-

 

The monument pays homage to the architecture of Ancient Greece in particular, with the tripod finial at the top of the 'temple' representing Apollo.  According to the Listed Building Survey, the circular temple was associated in the Romantic imagination with eternity. 

I was going to post some more photos of the monument, but Photobucket is being very uncooperative tonight, so I'll leave it for the time being and hopefully get them uploaded tomorrow!