Skip to main content

Madam Butterfly and the Missing Thimbles

We have an exchange student from Japan staying with us at the moment and one of the things that she wanted to see whilst here in Cornwall was the Minack theatre.  It's an open air theatre perched on the side of a cliff just a little way up the coast from Lands End near a little village called Porthcurno.

T, Eldest, Youngest and I have never been to the Minack Theatre so we thought this would be a prime opportunity to put that right.


We went to see Madam Butterfly.
A very sad tale of betrayal and lost love.  Now, the play itself was pretty good.  I couldn't understand all the singing.  It was a bit high pitched and the sound kept dropping out if the actors moved away from centre stage, but that didn't really matter as you can pick up the general idea of what is going on by just watching.

I can't really say that I was impressed by The Minack Theatre though.  There are signs as you enter the Theatre part which say that the site can be a bit dangerous.  If you ever go there - they are not kidding. The walkways are steep.  The terraces that you sit on are narrow.  There is no room for bags and don't take a picnic - you won't have room to eat it.  They pack as many people as possible onto each terrace so that you are literally touching shoulders. If you move your feet too far forward, you run the risk of kicking the person in front of you in the back of the head. Nice.

But it isn't the cramped conditions that have left me feeling betrayed.  It wasn't even the chilly sea breeze or the lump of cold granite we were sitting on. Oh yes - you will need to take your warm winter woolies or better still some arctic proof clothing.  Sorry but, an open air theatre in the UK?  Really?  With our summer weather?

No, my woe and dispair was caused by something far simpler. I always check out the gift shops for thimbles whenever I visit somewhere new.  Well I walked round the gift shop at Minack 3 times and never saw one. Plenty of pens, book marks and sweatshirts but no thimbles.  I think this must be the very first place I have ever visited where I couldn't buy a thimble.  I feel so betrayed.  *sob* *sniff*

Anyway, even though I don't have a Minack Theatre thimble, I do have some butterflies to share with you:





Yep. That did the trick.  I feel so much better now.

Bye for now

Olly


Facebook.com/olwenwhite/
instagram.com/olwenwhitewrites/
Twitter @OlwenWhite

Labels

Labels:

Comments

  1. Paula's Postings28 July 2011 at 22:14

    Hi there just popped onto your blog for a peek your photographs of the theatre are lovely and I do like you butterfly thimbles I used to collect them myself but gave up I do however have a couple of butterfly ones myself.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Paula's Postings28 July 2011 at 22:14

    Just noticed your frog thimble I have the exact same one.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thimbles Silver Hallmarks

  Did you know that before the 1880’s silver thimbles did not need to be hallmarked? No? Well, although the silver used was the correct grade to be classified as sterling, the amount used per thimble was too small making the duty payable for the hallmark more than the thimble was worth. This changed in 1884 when applying for a hallmark became mandatory. Hallmarks or any other kind of marking on a thimble helps to date it. Even the little dimples can help you tell how old it is.   This thimble is hallmarked. They are a bit tricky to read sometimes as they are incredibly small and sometimes are worn, especially when the thimble has been well used like this one. I inherited this one from my mother-in-law, who probably inherited it from her mother. This hallmark gives the makers mark, CH for Charles Horner; the Lion symbol, indicating that it is sterling silver, the mark for Chester Assay office and the date letter. The date letter is for 1897. I mentioned in an ear...
5 comments
Read more

A Passage of Time

Hi all, Time flies doesn't it? Seems like only yesterday when I last posted to this blog. Can't believe it was March 2015! I think I must have been asleep because I have no idea why it has taken so long to post. These thimbles show the passage of time. All of it a lot before mine, I hasten to add. These little ladies show the changes in fashion in the United States from 1900 through to 1947. Originally part of a collection from Avon in the1980s. The four above are from left to right, 1910, 1900, 1928 & 1927. These four are 1923, 1938, 1942 & 1947. The 1920s must have been a great decade for fashion in the US, with 3 examples from that era included in the collection. In fact the 20s were a time of great change and not just for clothes. It was the interim period between two world wars. People thought that with the end of the First World War, conflict was over and there was a new, vibrant, buzz for the future. It was the age of bobbed hair, the Char...
14 comments
Read more

The White Steamer

I quite like vintage cars. I also like vintage sewingmachines . So imagine my surprise when I found out that the White Steamer was made by the same company that made White Sewing Machines. How cool is that? When Thomas White, the founder of the White Sewing Machine Company bought a steam car back in the 1890s, it inspired his son, Rollin White to develop a steam generator which was made up of stacked coils.  Water was pumped into the top of the coils with steam being produced in the bottom coils closest to the fire. Not only did his design allow water input to be regulated, it also allowed temperature control. He patented the design describing it as being a quicker, safer and more economical way to generate steam power. Even with the improvements though, the engines still had to warm up enough to start producing steam. That’s probably why the combustion engine became more popular. It was a lot quicker to get going. Eventually, when steam power could no long...
10 comments
Read more