Sunday, October 22, 2006

Two weeks

I notice that it's two weeks exactly since I last posted. Thinking back over the two weeks I realise that the first of the two weeks I seem to have spent a lot of time battling the weeds that have appeared in the garden since the drought came to an end. It's odd but despite spending quite some time outside it still seems in need of more attention. We have had a lot of rain over the last couple of days and the sooner I can get outside again the better.

The Friday before last (13th) was an interesting day as the Husband and I went up to London as we had tickets for a film premier. We started the day though with a trip to Tate Britain (the origial Tate) where we saw the Holbein in England exhibition. This was really good, and we both loved his portraits, especially the two of Erasmus and the only one of Henry VII definitely painted by Holbein. Then we noodled around the main galleries for about 30 minutes, got something to eat and then walked across to Piccadilly to see their current exhibition of Rodin sculptures. I've always loved Rodin's work and although The Husband wasn't originally very enthusiastic about visiting the exhibition he said that he enjoyed it as much as I did. Whet I found most fascinating was that in addition to his most well-known works - like the Kiss (two version of this), the Thinker (ditto) - outside in the courtyard of the RA were a reproduction of his Gates of Hell, made after his death but something on which he had worked various elements throughout his working life. It was incredibly imposing.

After this we went to the cinema. I've mentioned several times here of the fact that the Husband has been a film star(!) One of his friends and former colleagues from work has an absolute passion to become a film maker and started by making two small 3 minute long films, one this year and one last, each filmed on a sealed container of Straight 8 film that could not be edited at all. The Husband "starred" in both these films. The first film was called Earth to Earth, I am not sure if this will work but you may be able to see the film here. The second film was made in january/February this year and is called "Go, Got, Need". This has been successfully shown on a tv channel from Holland and can be seen here. Anyway, that's the background. Nick Scott the passionate film maker wanted to try and break into the film beusiness and with a lucky windfall (he won £5,000 on a £3 bet while playing internet poker) he has made one. The film is called "Breaker", 10-15 minutes long and last Friday was shown at the Curzon Soho cinema. He used professional actors for this one, so the Husband didn't have the opportunity for more acting. More about Nick's production company at http://www.thewinnersproductions.com/.

Then came the week just gone. I spent it either in the dentit's chair, waiting for my dentist to ring me or just waiting with trepidation for the problem to be sorted out. The latter was the worst. I had an absolute butcher for a dentist as a child and this has left me with a real terror of the profession. However I do have a very good dentist at the moment and so when a few days ago I lost a crown I went to see him. I had two options to sort out the problem: a new crown using the new wizzy technology he now uses and costing me almost £300 ; or to remove the tooth altogether which as I don't have many other teeth up there would cause me difficulty eating. After spending Monday and Tuesday waiting for the dreaded work my first appointment was first thing Wednesday morning. The next appointment should have been an hour and a half later (once the bleeding was under control) but I had a phone call to say that they had had a power cut and they would ring me when they could fit me in. So spent the day hovering, waiting for a call then finally came at 8.30 at night to say sorry and could I come in for two appointments on Friday instead. I said Yes, put down the phone and within 30 minutes the temporary dressing in my mouth dropped out. Thursday wasn't a good day for me, waiting.... Fridayand by the afternoon it was all over. And I felt like an overcooked piece of spaghetti.

Saturday (yesterday) was a visit to the in-laws in Whitstable, Kent. A good day.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh, you poor thing with the dental problems! It is such a comfort when one has a good dentist. It took me until I was in my 40s to find a good one; and, he had the audacity to, maybe four years ago, use the excuse of a neck that was bothering him to retire from the profession!! He was wonderful. I'm still seeking a replacement. Good luck with your tooth. We need all of them that we can conserve.
Cop Car
P.S. And, wonderful on your trip to see Rodin's work. I'm not familiar with the Gates of Hell piece, so will need to search for it.

Anonymous said...

I'm back from looking at The Gates of Hell. You are right--it is massive! Thanks for the reference.
CC

Adele said...

CopCar,

The trouble with the Internet is that although you can see pictures and sculptures you don't get a feeling for their emotional impact on the viewer. The Gates of Hell are not only huge and tower over you which added to their emotional impact.

Adele said...

CopCar,

It's amazing just how many people are looking for a decent dentist. Over here there is a tremendous shortage of NHS dentists and, as a result, there are hundreds of thousands not on the list of a dentist at all. Our own dentist is very, very good and when he decided to give up NHS work we both decided to go private purely so that we could remain on his list. Even though he is so good I was very anxious last week as I knew he would be doing things like "trimming" my gum (which means cutting it a lot).

Good luck with your search for a good dentist. There are less of them around than we would all like.