We Found Real Treasure!

I started my day with a 'Run' hobble, stagger. . .whatever you want to call it. . . at 6.45am.  I was still having new running shoe issues so chose to run on meadows.  The dog thought this was a most excellent idea.  Off she trotted with her tail wagging in the air.  I managed to follow the Podcast for WK2 run 1 'Couch 2 5k' and did all of the run.  My breathing is much better but I was still hobbling like an unshod horse!  That was it!  Mind made up!  The running shop can have these shoes back. . . once I had hosed the meadow off them.  Euan and I caught the train into Birmingham.  Quite a jaunt for us home bodies.  The Running shop were actually brill and I have some new, new trainers to try on Monday.  Fingers crossed they will be good.  To make our trip worthwhile we decided to go into the beautiful building above 'Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery'.  This is my kinda trip, nice and thrifty, free entry.
               Euan is always quite difficult to focus in these places he flits around like a butterfly with the attention span of a goldfish!  I look forward to the day he slows down a bit and I can take more in, but I am used to trotting around behind him by now.  We looked at artifacts from Ancient Egypt, a mummy, a mummified cat, a mummified bird and a mummified crocodile.  Very cool.  We tried on masks of Egyptian Gods and admires ourselves in mirrors.  We looked at samples of ancient Greek Pots and Pottery.  We saw a fantastic African Textiles Exhibition 'Style Africa'.  Beautiful bright cloths and woven fabrics.  I was smitten by two really bold fabrics with 'Chicken' designs on.  We looked at art of all shapes and sizes.  This was my favourite painting, you can read more about it by clicking this link.  The colour is just beautiful, absolutely stunning.  The landscape with the backdrop of a double rainbow, in contrast to the girl's blindness, really strikes a chord.

                      The Blind Girl by John Everett Millais

It is amazing to see these works in real life.  I am not an art boff, but I would have loved to spend more time soaking in some of the beautiful works of art.  Euan had other ideas and was positively disgusted by the 'Modern Art'.  Loudly declaring 'What!  I don't get it!  Somebody in Nursery could do better than that!'  This was in response to this piece by Patrick Heron.  It is one of Patrick Heron's 'Wobbly Hard Edge' paintings.  ???!!!??? I don't get it either. . . 'Wobbly Hard Edge' beats me, what they teach in art schools.

Now no offence to Mr Patrick Heron, but I gotta admit I agree with Euan a bit here, and feel confident even I could do that surely!  Splodge, splodge, splodge. . . Bob's yer Uncle!  A work of art!

               

I also liked this piece of 'Linear Construction' by Noam Gabo 1957.  It is clear perspex and fine white thread.  It reminds me of 'Parabolic Curve Stitching' we do at school, making curves from straight lines.  Fascinating.  The Galleries are packed with many many fine works of art.  I must go again and again and get educated.  Now for the 'Treasure' part. . . are you sitting comfortably?. . . then I will begin. . . 

                In 2009 55 year old Terry Herbert was searching a field in Staffordshire with his £2 . 50 metal detector.

The field had been searched many times by others, but on this particular day Terry uncovered what is now known as 'The Staffordshire Hoard'.  The largest haul of Anglo Saxon treasure ever to be discovered.  It is worth Millions of pounds.  Anyone finding treasure has to report it within 14 days and the money is split equally between the land owner and the finder. (We have got an old metal detector in the shed)!  The treasure dates from 675 AD to 725 AD around the same time as the the Great Anglo Saxon Poem 'Beowulf'.  There were over 3,500 pieces unearthed with over 5kg of gold, 1.5kg of silver and over  3, 500 garnets.  Some of the pieces are the finest examples of gold filigree that have been seen, intricate gold work with fine thread made of gold.  It is amazing that such pieces were created to such beauty and precision without modern technology.  A small sample of the Hoard is on display in Birmingham.  It will take thousands of man hours to clean each piece.  We may never know who the hoard belonged to or how it got there, historians can only speculate, they think it may have been treasure taken from defeated Christian Warriors by a Pagan King, as the Christian pieces, crosses and pieces that have been inscribed with scriptures have been deliberately damaged.  None of the pieces relate to women.  There are amulets, weapons and decorative pieces.  Things that would have been worn by warriors and leaders to show their status.

This is a small selection that is typical of the 3, 500 piece find.  The clean artifacts on display are unbelievable and so beautiful.  What a story!  

I love this sea horse.  It is gold and patterned all over with gold filigree circles that have tiny dots circled inside them. . . it is sooo pretty.  To give you an idea of scale and how fine and intricate the gold work is, if you had a grain of rice it would be bigger than three of the circles on the patterns.  Now that is some seriously ancient and skilled workmanship.  The whole concept and reality of the Hoard just leaves you with a sense of awe and wonder.  These ancient dudes were by no means primitive.  They had immense skills, knowledge and wisdom.

             All this awe and wonder = 2 hungry bods!  We headed for our favourite Chinese Restaurant.  So did hundreds of other people.  It is a huge 'all you can eat' chinese buffet restaurant 'The Big Wok'.  It is not to everyone's cup of tea but it sure is to ours!  We queued for over half an hour to get seated.  Please don't tell the Weight Watchers lady!  I went with good intention to get running shoes didn't I?  I chose chicken, and Tofu and vegetables to sit alongside my prawn toast and noodles!  I ended my meal with a delicious desert of cold Tapioca, Coconut and melon soup.  Corrr it was lovely.  We were somewhat subdued on the train journey home.  

              I will definitely have to go more often to the Museum and Art Gallery.  The Birmingham Guild of Knitting and Crochet hold their monthly meetings in the Museum Coffee shop.  What a building to meet in.  Rather grandiose I think you will agree.  All that culture and history, mixed with yarn, needles and hooks can't be bad!  

Hope you are having a great weekend too.  :) xxx