Thursday Doors: The Fitzwilliam Museum

Today I’m opening a new door so to speak and having a go at Norm’s Thursday Doors #ThursdayDoors which ‘ is a weekly feature allowing door lovers to come together to admire and share their favorite door photos from around the world. Feel free to join in on the fun by creating your own Thursday Doors post each week and then sharing it, between Thursday morning and Saturday noon (North American eastern time), by using the blue link-up button on Norm’s blog:

https://miscellaneousmusingsofamiddleagedmind.wordpress.com/2016/03/31/thursday-doors-march-31-2016/

This week Norm is doing a special Anniversary addition with two parts:

Special Anniversary Edition – Church of the Holy Trinity (Part 1) – Toronto and the second part is by his blog buddy Joanne Sisco over at My Life Lived Full. So do pop over to their Norm and Joanne’s blog to find out more.

I’ve been meaning to do this post for ages and I’ve had just the door in mind.

It’s the magnificent entrance door to The Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge:

I’ll think that you’ll agree that’s a pretty striking door.

I went there just recently with my eldest daughter to go to see The Death on the Nile Exhibition and indulged in a very fine Chelsea Bun just before the museum visit – in Fitzbillies Cafe, more about that scrumptious delight here:

Chelsea bun heaven: https://mjmallon.com/2016/03/24/hughs-weekly-photo-challenge-week-18-sweet/

I’m looking forward to walking through the magical portal of the Fitwilliam Museum again soon http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/– I’m stewarding for one of the Cambridge Literary Festival events there during the Spring Festival this April. I’m looking forward to taking part in this – I’ve never been a steward before – I’ve been to many book festivals but never as a helper. So that should be interesting. The event is ‘A very special event to celebrate the life of feminist trailblazer and literary visionary, Charlotte Brontë who was born 200 years ago this April. Claire Harman joins us to discuss her acclaimed biography, Charlotte Brontë: A Life. Audience members can also enjoy a display of Charlotte Brontë’s personal letters from 1845 to her death in 1855 and cover the period during which Jane Eyre, Shirley and Villette were published, as well as her marriage to Arthur Bell Nicholls in 1854.’

As well as this I’m stewarding at a couple of other events at the Festival so no doubt there will be more about that later on my blog. Do check out the following link to the festival: http://www.cambridgeliteraryfestival.com/

Doors hold such fascinating potential…. In fact I’ve opened a new door just recently on Wattpad. The prologue and the first few chapters of my novel The Curse of Time are now on Wattpad so do click on the links to find out more. Please feel free to comment, add feedback, share, I would really appreciate it.

https://www.wattpad.com/myworks/67166165-the-curse-of-time

Bye for now.

I’ve been a busy bee today, trying to catch up on the daily grind… cleaning really is a curse!

Marje @ Kyrosmagica xx

Sharing Options:

March 31, 2016 17

Hugh’s Weekly Photo Challenge Week 18 – Sweet

I’ve taken the perfect photo for Hugh’s Weekly Photo Challenge, except it’s not Easter related, so no Easter eggs, bunnies, or such like. Never mind, you can’t get more sweet than this sticky, tasty Chelsea bun which I had the pleasure of eating at Fitzbillies in Cambridge. Ooh, I’ll definitely be going back…. Look at that – doesn’t it make your mouth water?… heaven. Talk about sweet perfection. Yum.

Fitzbillies Chelsea buns are famous, now I can see why. It’s so glossy, and beautiful it’s almost criminal to eat it – but I did and it was de -li- ci-ou-s!

I went to Fitzbillies with my eldest daughter, adding to the sweetness of the day. She’s just back home from university. I took a lovely photo of her but she asked me not to put it on my blog as she didn’t like it! Humph. So instead I thought I’d put up this old photo of my two daughters taken many years ago looking particularly sweet. My youngest Georgina is on the left posing for the camera and Natasha is on right looking all sweet and smiley. This cute photo graces my desk as I write.

Here’s me looking hungry just before I was about to devour my Chelsea bun.

I’m so glad I visited Fitzbillies: http://www.fitzbillies.com/

The café features in the novel I am currently editing. As well as my daughter’s lovely company, a visit there gave me an opportunity to check out the ambiance, the buns, the décor and perhaps add some finishing touches to that particular chapter… Wannabe authors are always up to something! Obsessed, we are obsessed! But that’s okay as my daughter Natasha writes too. She understands!

Now I am personally acquainted with Fitzbillies scrumptious Chelsea buns, it’s bound to add a certain something to the writing mix I reckon.. Don’t you?

It was a lovely day, and we followed it with a visit to the Fitzwilliam Museum to see their current exhibition: Death on the Nile: http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/news/secrets-ancient-egyptian-artisans-show-death-nile

Very fascinating.. Death on the Nile: Uncovering the afterlife of ancient Egypt runs from now until 22 May 2016. Admission is free. Before you go don’t forget to have a Chelsea bun!

I came across a review of the Death on the Nile exhibition on WordPress.

Here’s a link to that:

https://semperexplorandum.wordpress.com/2016/03/11/exhibition-reviews-ancient-egypt-special/

Do pop over to Hugh’s blog to join in his photo challenge: http://hughsviewsandnews.com/2016/03/22/hughs-weekly-photo-challenge-week-18-sweet/

Do you have a favourite sweet that you like? Or a café that is your no. 1 haunt? I’d love to hear your views.

Bye for now.

Marje @ Kyrosmagica xx

My links:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Marjorie_Mallon/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kyrosmagica/
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/kyrosmagica/
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/20419289-marje-mallon
Tumblr: http://kyrosmagica.tumblr.com/

Sharing Options:

March 24, 2016 19

My Friday Secret Images: The Corpus Christi Clock

In my earlier blog post today, Secrets and Lies, I mentioned that I would be revealing one of my secret sources of inspiration. Well here it is, The Corpus Christi Clock in Cambridge, a stunning timepiece that is featured in my writing. The clock is a very popular tourist attraction that’s frequently photographed. People tend to respond to the clock in many different ways. I found the grasshopper thought provoking and weird looking. What do you think? Are you enticed by its fine gossamer wings, or repelled by its stinging tail?

I discovered a couple of interesting videos on Youtube about the Corpus Christi Clock and I’ve shared these on my Tumblr site, here’s the link: http://kyrosmagica.tumblr.com/.

I’m not going to tell you any more about the grasshopper other than to say he plays a very interesting part in the mysterious Crystal Cottage.

I’m excited to say that writing inspiration can be found everywhere, all you have to do is look with a keen eye. Museums, Art and Photography displays can provide such a wonderful source of ideas. In fact, I’m desperate to visit the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge to view the Silent Partners Artist & Mannequin from Function to Fetish exhibition. Sounds weird but interesting! It’s free too, where else can you get entertainment for free? Ok, libraries you say. C’est Vrai. Absolutely.

Here’s the link and trailer about the Fitzwilliam’s Silent Partner’s exhibition: http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/whatson/exhibitions/silentpartners/

Enjoy. Have a very Happy Weekend, and if you’ve been shopping this Black Friday hope you’re aren’t too exhausted. I’ve ignored the Blackest of temptations and stayed well away from the shopping queues. How about you?

Photos: My own.

Sharing Options:

November 28, 2014 2