Our movie choice for this week was Brooklyn. It's adapted from the award winning novel by Colm Tóibín and tells the story of Ellis a young Irish woman played by Saoirse Ronan who leaves her ultra Catholic small town in 1951 to find work in America. A priest, ( Jim Broadbent) has found her a job in a department store in Brooklyn and lodgings in a good Catholic house run by a maternal landlady played by Julie Walters. It's a very pleasant film with many varied themes running through it. Will homesickness ruin Ellis' chance of settling in Brooklyn? Will her young plumber boyfriend be Mr Right? Or, when she makes a visit home will her head be turned by the dashing young eligible bachelor? Principally, the big question is will Ireland change from small minded Catholic bigotry to acceptance? It's good to see a film with a female central character as, Hunger Games apart, this doesn't happen often enough. Saoirse Ronan takes the opportunity well and gives a convincing performance as a clever, sensible and determined young woman in a beautifully filmed low key romantic drama.
We've been keeping up with the exercise classes up at Fram College. I've been doing eight or nine sessions a week and Marion has been doing similar with Yoga at St Michael's too. The classes are all good but a couple of them are undersubscribed and I found myself doing this week's Body Blitz with instructor Alastair (above) and nobody else. It's such a good class there should be a waiting list. Next Tuesday there's a chance to sample it FREE as part of Fram Leisure's free class promotion. Book now to avoid disappointment.
I was excited to spot this fine Japanese Satsuma bowl coming up for auction on the internet with an estimate of £80. I recognised it as by the most famous Satsuma artist Yabu Meizan and hoped that none of the big hitting collectors would spot it. Sadly I hoped wrong and it sold this morning for a massive £4,400. For a 9cm diameter bowl this is a spectacular price even for Yabu Meizan (I anticipated it might fetch about £1,200 if it was spotted). Oh well. I'll keep on looking.
The unseasonal mild weather continues so I've managed another few hours out with the detector. I didn't find a great deal this time but here's what turned up.
There's never a shortage of buttons.
These look like a couple of lumps of scrap but are probably medieval vessel legs.
This is a miniature toy knife (minus its blade). It's probably from around 1700
This is another toy. Although used for centuries this one is very similar to one found in an archeological context from around 1650-1750. It's known as a whirligig or buzz-saw. Threaded with string and spun at high speed the toys made a loud humming noise. You would need strong string as this heavy jagged piece of lead could do some damage if it flew off at high speed.
Here's another big chunk of lead. I guess that this is a weight.
Few sessions pass without a thimble turning up. This one is tiny and dates from the 18th or 19th century.
It's only a button but it's an early one from around the 17th century.
This silver penny is the oldest find of the day. It's from the realm of Edward I (1272-1307).
We're off to Scotland for a couple of weeks soon. We're looking forward to seeing the Scottish branch of the family. Let's hope that the mild spell continues while we are in the caravan.
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