Friday 23 January 2015

Into The Woods

Woke this morning to a sunrise suitable for Friday Skywatch.
Clear and frosty, 
no gardening today!
This week we have been into the woods.
What did we see?
Not a great deal in our own woods
although I looked very carefully.

Who's that?!
Earlier in the week we went to see the film of Sondheim's musical. How I love a good fairy story!
We were blasted out of our seats by the volume of the music but in all other respects it was a delight. I thought the casting excellent and it was a pleasure to see in the final credits that everyone had done their own singing. This type of film is produced in such a way as to be pure magic these days, not the string and cardboard creations of my childhood. I sat through the long credits to see where the filming had taken place and read an army of names that had been involved in creating the illusions of giants, witches, beanstalks and so forth. It was interesting to learn that the filming took place in Windsor Great Park, an area of five thousand acres known in the past as Windsor Forest. It had first been a deer park reserved exclusively for the king as a private hunting ground for deer and boar. No doubt it also supplied the castle with birds, fish and wood. These days the Great Park is owned and managed by the Crown Estate but is mostly open to the public.
The woods surrounding our home are sadly neglected, with quite a lot of fallen timber. We could do with a 'parker'.  (Prince Philip is the current 'Ranger of the Park' at Windsor although I doubt that he clears any wood!) But, like the oaks in the Great Park, we do have some magnificent old trees that must be hundreds of years old.



We got out of the woods safely.
There were no giants or witches, or princes, come to that!
(I don't think that Sondheim thinks too highly of princes, they didn't shape up very well in the film. They were amusingly vain and unreliable. As one of them said, "I have only been brought up to be charming." Naming no names but perhaps Sondheim has met one or two of our British princes and has based his opinion on them. And if so I'm inclined to agree.)

26 comments:

  1. beautiful photo sequence, from the sunrise shadow of trees to the close-up in daylight - thanks for sharing. have a lovely sky week!

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    1. Himself had a birthday yesterday and we had an altogether lovely day, with sunshine - and chocolates!

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  2. Only good thing about winter are those sunrise and sunsets.

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    1. I could quite happily hibernate throughout January, February and March.

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  3. Great pictures lovely woods to wonder around in on cold winter's days.
    Merle................

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  4. Beautiful old trees! Thanks for sharing! I saw the movie too- and enjoyed it-we had fun trying to remember all the parts of each of the fairy tales!

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    1. It's awe-inspiring to think how many centuries old some of those old trees are and the history that has gone on all around them. I'm glad you enjoyed the movie, I thought it delightful. I liked the subtleties - the way we just got a glimpse at the giant, so that plenty was still left to the imagination.

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  5. Replies
    1. Well spotted, Tom. They are the herd belonging to the hotel and it looks in serious need of culling. There should be plenty of venison pie on the menu any time soon.

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  6. Those are lovely old trees...and I really like the herd of deer. That last photo is cute :-)

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    1. I took the last photo thinking that I might add a witch or something walking along the tree trunk - then I remembered that my photoshop skills are minimal!

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  7. Adored the Fairy Tale look of your post today.
    The deer fit in very nicely.
    I usually don't go to the movies anymore (to hard for me to get around) but this is a must see on the big screen movie.
    Have a wonderful weekend

    cheers, parsnip

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    1. Do go, Parsnip, then you can sit back and become a child again!

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  8. Lovely wood pictures and sunrise! It´s cold up here, will have a look in the greenhouse, and be back in front of the fire with a gardening book....

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    1. Stay warm and get well, Janneke. By the fire with a book is the place to be!

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  9. Ah, bliss! (from the first few photos)

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    1. I've been looking at the Ellis Island programme on your blog, Wildside. It is very moving. I am a mixture of English, Scottish and Irish ancestry and wonder if distant relatives of mine had to endure such an experience. All that I know is that I have relatives who left Scotland to settle in Canada.

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  10. Wrapped up warmly, it's always lovely to get outdoors especially in winter and woods are so atmospheric. Into the Woods is one of the films that I want to see although I don't often go to the cinema as it's so expensive here in London.

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    1. I sympathise with the price of tickets, Caro. I used to be a regular theatre-goer but that is a very expensive indulgence now. We are going to Stratford next month as a special birthday treat. Tickets for the two of us for the performance add up to £60!

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  11. There's nothing like a magical forrest to let one's imagination run wild. I saw 'Into the Woods' on stage a couple of years ago and enjoyed it.
    Do you realize your setting is a 'no reply' blogger? I would have liked to email you about the tea I attended at Campbell's where you left a comment. It rather surprised me that my sandwich came with the crusts on and for an advertised afternoon tea, I expected it on a curate. Oh well, can't be choosy when they're the only tea room right now in our rural area. :-)

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  12. I was unaware of the 'no reply' setting, Judith, apologies for that. I have never heard of a 'curate', other than in a religious context. Does it infer that curates are always out and about enjoying tea and cakes in other peoples' houses?!
    I saw a Sondheim musical on the revolving stage at the National , years ago now. Judy Dench was performing and at the end of the show people in the stalls stood up and threw roses onto the stage for her. It was a fabulous evening.

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  13. Ha ha!!! Great minds think alike eh???!! I lice the fact we both did posts like this!!! You saw a bone fide red riding hood!!!
    I want to see the film but I remember when I saw our students do it, I liked the first half before it all goes wrong!! Oh and my husband hates musicals x

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  14. Don't take your husband because it will spoil your enjoyment, go with a girlfriend. I'd love to hear what you think of it. (You'll be singing, 'into the woods.... for days afterwards!)
    My Red Riding Hood was created with a wobbly hand in photoshop!

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  15. I like to look at the credits to find out the location where something has been filmed if it's not obvious. Those trees in the woods are magnificent.

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  16. I know just what you mean about the sound being so loud! Your walk in the wood reminds me of ours...:)JP

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