What a Difference...
5 November


a couple of days makes.

After all the uncertainties of the last week, I feel more back on track.

The central heating isn't falling apart; the floor in the hallway looks great; and I've just put out a large amount of money to ensure that I have a really good kitchen installed before Christmas.

I've done it through Magnet and the style I've chosen with Ross's agreement is one called Koblenz - pictured below.

Magnet catelogue illustration of Koblenz

Don't get too carried away. My kitchen is about a tenth of the size of the one in the illustration. However, the design we've come up with will fit and will look good.

Now all I need to do is to sort out the floor tiling, and the insurance, and the water bills, and the Council Tax, and buying a microwave to tide me over til the kitchen is installed, etc, etc, etc.

Before I forget, I should let you know about the last operatic treat of the year - Welsh National Opera's new production of Gluck's Orphée et Eurydice in its 1859 incarnation reworked by Hector Berlioz in order to provide a starry rôle for the mezzo Pauline Viardot.

In the event, I don't believe that Katarina Karnéus really justified that choice. I enjoyed the voices of Natalie Christie as Eurydice and Jeni Bern as Amor far more. Early music specialist, Paul McCreesh led a spritely and spirited performance. The production by Patrice Caurier and Moshe Leiser used modern equivalents of 18th Century stage practice (flats, drop curtains, gauzes, etc) with (mostly) 20th Century costume. I'm not sure the juxtaposition worked. For all its faults, I think I find the ENO production of the first (1762) version more satisfying.

I should also have gone to see Carmen by the same directors. Ross and I saw this back in 1997 and were much impressed. But I felt knackered and gave the show a miss. No-one at work wanted a free ticket. Phah!!