Monday 14 November 2011

The Thackray Museum, Leeds

I visited the Thackray medical museum in Leeds this weekend, and it was well worth it.  A fascinating and well put-together exhibition of medicine & health through the ages, with a particularly good section on a street in Leeds in 1842 (http://www.thackraymuseum.org/leeds-1842.html) including a very smelly section around the slaughterhouse!  You can choose a character and follow them around to find out what their life was like, what health risks they faced and what illnesses they may have had, and whether they survived them!



There would be enough to interest youngsters in this section, without too much dumbing down for grown ups; and the other exhibitions were very good too, more aimed at grown ups, but still with interactive bits & pieces for little ones.

The collections of Victorian medical equipment were wonderful, and it makes me want to collect that sort of thing all the more!

I have to admit that the 'Pain pus & blood' exhibition did make me a little squeamish, especially the video of the leg amputation, done with anaesthetic but otherwise in the same way (& speed) that it would have been done pre-anaesthetics.  Nyargh!  

One piece that made me laugh was in the section on 'taking the waters' from a visitor to Harrogate Spa in 1997: "It tastes horrible, like very salty egg sandwiches.  Anyone who can swallow it deserves to get better."  !


Onward & upward, or something like that!

Friday 4 November 2011

No posts for ages, and then two come along at once!

Today I ache everywhere!

The reason for this is I did a 1:1 Barre (http://www.the-barre.com/) class yesterday!  This was 90 minutes of an already tough form of exercise, but with the instructor making sure that every position and every move was perfect; no slacking off allowed!

It was very good fun, and reminded me why I love the Barre classes so much - the endorphin rush!  I've had a couple of months away from it, due to various injuries and so on, but I'll be getting back to it on a regular basis from now on!  This will hopefully also help with another of my challenges - return to my ideal weight!

However, for now, I'm going to have a fairly quiet day, and go for a gentle walk to stretch out all of my protesting muscles!

Wednesday 2 November 2011

Update on my Challenge!

Well, I've already done something spontaneous!
I visited my mum in Brighton (well, Hove, actually) last week, and a couple of spontaneous things happened.
Firstly, I had my shoes shined by a real shoe-shine-guy! Not something I've ever had done before, and not something I'd normally do, but I decided 'Why not!' It was rather fun - the sensation of the brush and cloth through the boots was quite different, and the chap was interesting to talk to. It was a real 'spit & polish' too!
The other spontaneous thing I did was ride the Brighton Wheel.


I've never been on the London Eye, or a Ferris Wheel or anything like that, as I'm a bit nervous about heights, but I decided to give it a whirl. The views across Sussex were lovely, but I was more taken with the view over the English Channel.

While I was in Brighton, I also got a couple of the books for my Challenge, and my friend Leah suggested a couple more (Frankenstein & Phantom of the Opera) so I've added those to my list; although as long as I read at least one from each of Ancient, Classic & Modern I will feel that I've satisfied the Challenge!