theatre stuff

It was the three month long scramble again - rehearsals 3 nights a week for 3 months. Then into the theatre and the mad rush to erect the set in one Sunday from 10am till 6pm or later. Exhausted the group depart. but only thereafter the real work begins..... Jane and i took 2 days off work and put in 10 hour days, cutting, carrying, drilling and pasting. Then, on Day 2, I put in an extra 5 hours painting the background and floor... then we were ready to roll.
Two weeks of performances which I stage managed every night and the last night as the curtain closes out come the cordless screw drivers and everything comes down again! End of a successful run of Agatha Christie's "Towards Zero" And a breathing space for us till June.

Beaverlac over New Year 2010

Beaverlac over New Year 2010

Beaverlac over New Year 2010

With the fire behind us, fields of white flowers like bubbles greeted us. At night the Blue Moon rose and we watched a partial eclipse - a wonderful way to welcome 2010!

Beaverlac over New Year

on the way to Beaverlac the mountain was on fire. The helicopter and the ground crew had it nearly out when we came through, though the Pass had been closed most of the day.

The lovely little hamlet of Dhortre where the cobbled trail heads to the base camps of Kanchenjunga and Everest.














From 47C in Delhi to 12C in Dhortre was quite a drop and I was under prepared having left my warm shawls in Delhi at the Potala hotel.The traditional Nepali kitchen was a delight and I'm thinking to emulate this at home! The terraced gardens, the welcoming people and the superb scenery all worked their spell. It is a place I'd really love to spend several months. Even winter!! Ranjit, Sonia, Ranjit's mom in a beautiful white sari, Sonia's parents and myself outside their house before I had to leave and begin my journey to Delhi to make the train trip to Deer Park on the opposite side of the Indian Himalaya.

On the way to Dhortrey in the Himalaya near Darjeeling we encountered many land slides but the worst was this one - the road had disappeared entirely! We went over enormous loose rocks and the drop was a long long way down. The next day there was a front end loader shifting the biggest rocks and the 4x4's were waiting nervously to cross an area we had traversed in far worse condition the day before...