Hanging out with Mum, Dad and Hanna was a real highlight of our trip deep into Cornwall over the weekend, as well as getting to know Morten a bit more. It was good to get a glimpse of some of the things Hannah is drawn to. Visiting St. Michael's Mount and the Minack Theatre were wonderful experiences, but it was the company of loved ones which made the five hour journeys too and from London more than worthwhile.

The Minack Theatre was amazing! It really needs to be seen to be believed; best in person, but here's a Flickr slideshow of others' photos (since mine, as alwasy, seem to be on a time delayed release).

Last week I started reading Mrs Dalloway^{Mrs Dalloway for free online courtesy of Adelaide University's eBooks collection.">1}, my first foray into Virginia Woolf and managed to finish it off this morning on the Tube, after coming agonisingly close last night on the train back from Penzance.

It's probably been the highlight of my book reading year so far (although it's been a very lean year for book reading). There's no question it deserves it's slot on the classics shelves.

...but here the other clock, the clock which always struck two minutes after Big Ben, came shuffling in with its lap full of odds and ends, which it dumped down as if Big Ben were all very well with his majesty laying down the law, so solemn, so just, but she must remember all sorts of little things besides...

Without question, my favourite part is her use of Big Ben. And how it's used; to keep time²; evoke and emphasise time; to conjure up images of London; to represent England and its might and majesty; to pull the flowing streams of though back to reality; and most of all to evoke feeling, so many feelings. The leaden circles dissolved in the air. What I wouldn't give to match that imaginative ability.

1. You can read Mrs Dalloway for free online courtesy of Adelaide University's eBooks collection. [↩]
2. The Hours, what a wonderful title that would have been. I must watch the movie. [↩]