Interior design - temples

I'm studying a really interesting course in interior design, currently working on my second of 12 assignments. This one is looking at the influences used in buildings from the 16th to 21st centuries.

For instance, how many times have you seen a Greek temple? Never been to Greece?

Temple of Zeus


Chatsworth, Derbyshire


Holkham Hall, Norfolk


Marble Hall, NU's head office in Norwich


City Hall, Norwich


Not very interior, but architecture is turning out to be a fascinating and important starting point. An interesting point is that interiors tended to match exteriors quite rigidly right up to perhaps the mid 20th century. Now it's much more likely that you might find a sleek open-plan minimalist interior in the shell of an old farmhouse cottage.

I'm enjoying The Home Show on Channel 4/4OD at the moment with the yummy architect George Clarke. I'm a sucker for makeover shows but this one is really inspiring and has some great tips on styles around the world. It's great for hearing vocabulary I've come across in my course being used in context, helpful for distance learning.

The Shack

I've been off work for the two days now (flu) and, being bored and sleepy, a book while wrapped up in bed is the perfect way to pass the hours. Yesterday I finished The Shack, a book I came across by chance while looking at books in Tesco months ago for a birthday present.

The blurb says... 'The Shack wrestles with the timeless question, "Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain?"' I've rarely pondered much over that question, maybe I've never dealt with pain big enough to have to question God's ultimate goodness.

For me what really touched me was the portrayal of God. For ages now I've been stuck in what I feared God would call a lukewarm mindset. I haven't stopped believing that God is awesome and worthy of praise but I couldn't muster up any excitement or real-ness about that. God was becoming a distant being, someone who might love me a bit but would one day judge me and reject me for having such a passive and small faith.

I don't want to spoil the book for anyone who might want to read it but I think it's completely changed my attitude. I'm not worried anymore! God and I are going to take this tiny seed of belief in my heart and make it grow again.

I highly recommend reading The Shack - I'm definitely going to revisit it soon.

Bendy bus

A little bit of Norwich made an appearance on Top Gear this week!

Freaky rainbows

This was on the Telegraph website today, how cool!

My monk book - part 1

Ben laughs that I call this my monk book but he would get confused if I refered to it with its title, and there's lots of interesting things in it to talk about.

My monk book is one I came across in the library, Finding Sanctuary - Monastic Steps for Everyday Life by Abbot Christopher Jamison who was involved in The Monastery programme on BBC a couple of years ago.

The first part is Everyday Life - How did I get this busy? Abbot Jamison talks about the search for real sanctuary and how to build this in the midst of everyday life. 'Sanctuary' means a holy place of refuge. The word has been commercialised in the shape of package holidays, spa breaks etc but those things can only provide a brief refuge, and not a holy one.

Abbot Jamison reckons the entry to true sanctuary is VIRTUE. This is Psalm 15:

LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary?
Who may live on your holy hill?

He whose walk is blameless
and who does what is righteous,
who speaks the truth from his heart

and has no slander on his tongue,
who does his neighbor no wrong
and casts no slur on his fellowman,

who despises a vile man
but honors those who fear the LORD,
who keeps his oath
even when it hurts,

who lends his money without usury
and does not accept a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things
will never be shaken.

He says: 'You cannot mistreat people one moment and then find sanctuary in the next. Finding the sacred begins with the recognition of the sacred in your daily living... ...Virtue is the recognition of the sacred in daily life.'

The rest of the book talks about parts of the Rule of St Benedict. The first one is silence which I'm having a go at, so I might blog on that soon.

Ode to country living

These are pictures from our walks around Suffolk (which is a really pretty county). And thus our dream of owning a little country house of our own was born.

So we're moving back to Norwich instead!! Which SUCKS!! But we'll be able to save a tonne (well maybe just enough) money to get a mortgage on a little patch of England.

When we get fed up with the noise of the traffic and not being able to go on country walks by stepping out of our front door, and when the bin men wake us up and the neighbours bang on our terraced walls these are the pictures that will be in my mind.

We're moving back to Norwich

Is all decided and deposit paid for our new rented flat off Dereham Road.

Woe for leaving Diss :(