ONCE UPON A DREAM; Down The Rabbit Hole

"Curiouser and curiouser..."

 Spring is when my writing royalties come in and sometimes you just have to treat yourself to something nice, especially when you've been working hard, because hard work without reward is just no fun at all.  It's been a crazy year at the practice and I've been there throughout the lock-downs, plus studying and attending online classes for the Masters degree, and of course writing my psychotherapy column each month too.  So I decided it was high time to give myself a little reward for all this diligence.

I've had my eye on the Alice In Wonderland tea set from the Victoria & Albert museum for quite some time.   It's a lovely set, with all the whimsical charm of the original story.  Each item is printed with illustrations from the book of all the best loved characters, including the Mad Hatter, the White Rabbit, the March Hare etc.  For ages I've kept going back to it, looking at the images and picturing it in my house, and so I decided to just bite the bullet and treat myself to several pieces from the collection.

I'd been hesitating because I didn't really need a new tea set, but then again, tea sets are an additional luxury anyway. You really only need a dinner service, and I have two of those already.  A tea set is a little extra luxury on the side - a pretty set of plates and cups and saucers, designed purely for the joy of having tea and cakes and dainty sandwiches.  The truth is, I've never really grown out of tea sets, so to find one this pretty, made for grown up tea parties, was like finding treasure!  It adds to the charm that it's inspired by one of my favourite children's books too.  Part of me still wishes I could jump down the rabbit hole after Alice and share in her adventures.   This tea set brings that dream a little closer to reality.

The fine china collection is sold as separate items, so you can build it up and create a tea set that is ideal for you and your household.  Each item comes gift boxed, so it makes a perfect present for birthdays, weddings, or for someone who is just setting up home. I bought several lovely pieces from the collection, including the gorgeous gold-trimmed cake plates, with the matching cake forks; tea cups, saucers and the matching teaspoons; and of course I got the beautiful cake stand, because a tea-party without a cake stand is no tea party at all.  This will be a perfect centerpiece for coffee-table tea-parties, and girl's nights in, once lock-down is over.  

I also the teapot, even though I already have a teapot shaped like a white rabbit that I adore, I decided to get the V&A Wonderland teapot, sugar bowl and creamer jug,  just to finish off the set. As a nod to our current lock-down situation, I bought the tea-for-one set too, which is just precious!  The matching forks and spoons have porcelain handles that depict Alice and the White Rabbit, and all the pieces feature literary quotations from the books.  It's just the perfect tea set for a bookworm who loves fairytale enchantment.

Everything in this collection is so dainty and delicate and feminine. I've spent a happy hour unboxing the items, washing them and displaying them in my dresser.  I'm going to use the pretty gift boxes as organisation and storage.  I can't wait for lock-down to be lifted so that I can have tea-parties again! But for now I plan to make use of my tea-for-one set and settle down to watch Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass films.  

I feel fortunate to have such a lovely china tea set and I'm glad I decided to treat myself.  It's also one of the perks of living alone, as men really can't be trusted with fine china! They are too clumsy. This is very much a woman's tea set.  It was certainly worth waiting for and it will bring me joy on a daily basis, in the way that being surrounded by pretty things often does.  Pre-Raphaelite artist and designer, William Morris said "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful".  This tea set is both those things and I didn't even have to leave the house to get it - you can have it delivered from Amazon here.   After all, it's always tea-time.  So, would you like an adventure, or shall we have tea first?

 

BOOK NOOK; The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper

 

"When the Dark comes rising, six shall turn it back;

Three from the circle, three from the track;

Wood, bronze, iron; water, fire, stone;

Five will return, and one go alone."

The Dark Is Rising has been on my 'to be read' list for years and as the snow has been falling quietly for the last few days, now seemed like the right time.  I would describe it as a pagan adventure story, told in the same style as John Masefield's The Box of Delights, which was one of my favourite winter reads as a child.  I loved it!

The Dark Is Rising is just as magical and the pagan undertones sing off the page.  Here we meet Will,  the seventh son of a seventh son, who is born to be the last of the Old Ones.  The story begins on his eleventh birthday, at the time of the Winter Solstice, when he notices a strange atmosphere in the air and the animals behaving in a very unusual manner.

Will is given the Quest to find all six of the Signs - Iron, Bronze, Wood, Stone, Fire and Water. With them, he and the other Old Ones can push back the Dark.  But the servants of the Dark are seeking the Signs too, and they know who Will is.  They are following his every move, eager to take the Signs before he does, or to take them from him.

This is a story of our world and Otherworlds, of time-slips and portals, of Old Ways and Old Gods.  There are mad pony rides in the snow on moonlit nights, carol services in the great halls of times long ago,  the raising of an old king, long dead in his Viking long-ship and great perilous journey's to find the Signs.

Will has to summon all his courage to face the dangers that lie before him, all the while evading the Dark Rider who stalks his every step through the snow, through the portals, even through Time itself.  From the eve of the Winter Solstice right through to Twelfth Night, Will has to find and keep the Signs safe, before the Dark Rider gets to them first.  As the Dark powers are rising, a deep winter of ice and snow settles across the land and only the Light - and Will -  can break it's hold.

This is one of the best snowy books I've read this winter and although it hasn't knocked The Box of Delights off the top spot of my favorite winter books, it does come in a close second.  I enjoyed the pagan symbolism that is apparent throughout the story, the wintry atmosphere, the magic and spells.  It's a lovely book to read on a snowy day and I shall certainly be reading the rest of the series once I've finished my Masters degree.  If you enjoy books like The Box of Delights or The Lord of the Rings trilogy, then you will love the pagan magic of The Dark Is Rising.  So if you want to escape for a while and live a boys adventure tale, this book is a great way to go. Enjoy!

 

SILVER SIREN; The Aftermath

I have just finished watching The Aftermath, which is such a romantic film!  Keira Knightley is at her snotty best and the gorgeous Alexander Skarsgard is the forbidden love interest, who grabs her disinterested, distrustful attention, against her better judgement.  She plays Rachael, the wife of an English Army officer who goes to live with a German family in the months following the end of the Second World War.  

As an occupying force, they are not meant to fraternize with the locals, but are there to help rebuild Hamburg.  This film shows what happens after the RAF have swept in, won the war and destroyed lives, leaving a trail of devastation behind them, as is their trademark.  Or perhaps that's unfair - perhaps devastation and destruction are simply the trademarks of warfare, and the RAF just happened to be there at the time.  I dare say that's their take on the destruction they cause anyway.  Either way, this film looks at what happens to ordinary people once the war has been won, but everything has changed forever.  

It's not really about war though - it's about loss and forgiveness and finding a way forward. As her husband is away so much, Rachel finds herself in the company of the German widower who owns the house. 

He recognizes her unhappiness and does little things to try and help.  He brings her firewood to keep her warm and turns the gramophone so that she can hear the beautiful music he is playing, letting the notes drift down the staircase to meet her.  In short he offers warmth and comfort in the midst of her lonely existence and woos her with romance.  I'm a little disappointed that he didn't read her any German poetry, but it is still a beautifully romantic film.

Alexander Skarsgard is tall and handsome, with brown hair and lovely blue eyes, so you can understand why he turns Rachael's head.  There are a couple of steamy love scenes, so it's probably not one to watch with your granny, but you'll never look at a dining room table in the same way again!  While it does have a happy ending, it is not the ending I would have wanted - I would have preferred the alternative.  Still, it's a lovely film and I enjoyed it so much I've just bought the book on Amazon.  If you have a couple of hours to spare, you could do worse with your time than watch The Aftermath.  It certainly leaves a romantic after-glow so enjoy!