Donizetti's Anna Bolena in Sydney

My ticket for Donizetti's opera Anna Bolena was accidental, a swap for one earlier in the year that I couldn't attend. I had no expectations. I knew neither of the lead singers and had read no reviews so I was amazed and thrilled to be transported by a most wonderful performance.

All of the singers were excellent and all gave believable theatrical performances. Ermolena Jaho sang Anne Boleyn. Her voice seemed lighter than that of Romanian Carmen Topciu who sang the part of Jane Seymour with aplomb. Topiciu seemed a bit wooden at first but I grew to like her portrayal of the character as the opera wore on. Anna Dowsley sang the young and naive Lord Rochford with verve, humour, and excellent voice. My only quibble was the characterisation of King Henry. Teddy Tahu Rhodes sang King Henry well but his parts all seem to include swagger and macho baring of chest. It would be helpful if Opera Australia would consult a woman when they direct men who woo women, then we might get more believable wooing theatrics.

The stage set was digital effects on moving panels could also do with some tweaks. I found all the bugs and flapping birds and butterflies diverting rather than helpful. Dear digital team, please remember that the audience has fertile imaginations and needs rather less help from you.

Bravo to Opera Australia and all of the cast. Anna Bolena is a long opera, three and a half hours with one interval, and the long passages of repetitive singing that added little to the story could have been wearing, but because the singing and direction were both excellent (and the costuming - bravo to the designer) it didn't feel too long at all.

The photo below of the cast taking bows shows some of the stage panels. The lack of colour in the costumes (Carmen Topciu taking the bow was in bright red) is just a comment on the failure of my phone camera to record colours in a dark theatre.

Order from Chaos

My new home space is slowly becoming more orderly. The music equipment was the first thing that was set up and now most of the big boxes have been unpacked.

Most of my stuff was stored in those small colourful Chinese cardboard boxes and they were easy to pack into large  boxes and equally easy to unpack.  Finding stuff I need may be a bit more difficult.

The important bits are unpacked.

Red squares

I am not a saleswoman by inclination, so when I was forced to become one while selling my house, I had to have a stress mitigation strategy. My strategy was to knit something that required concentration, was rewarding (a pattern you could watch grow) and have some sort of artistic content to make up for lack.of painting and music while I was property obsessed.

I made a jumper using a Kaffe Fasset pattern of squares. You can mix colours at will (the artistic content) , you can watch it growing as you begin new colours, and you have to concentrate, but not too much.

I used wool from various past projects in red and brown. I already had the sleeves from a half unpicked jumper my mother had knitted. Brown wool was unavailable locally, so I dyed some. Orange wool was easy to dye brown but the greens and blues came out of the dye pot as greys and muted moss colour (which I saved for the next project).

As the open houses progressed, my jumper grew and on the day the house sold four weeks into the sales campaign, the jumper was finished. I didn't put it on until the deal was sealed in case I tempted the gods and my buyer backed out.

I have been wearing it ever since as it is warm and comfortable. And it matches my red jeans.

Moving

I've moved, moved in a whirl from the NSW Central Coast back to Sydney. Perhaps that explains the lack of blog posts recently.

I was too busy becoming an expert in property, something I don't normally find at all interesting. I sold without an agent, but by using an online website that offers support. That decision was one I don't regret. It required energy, but I am sure it would have been more stressful with an agent involved.

I asked three agents for quotes, then decided to do it myself. I let them all know but the pushiest of the three didn't take rejection kindly. I wondered what sort of pressure he was under.  Two of the three kept ringing or leaving notes in my mailbox but vanished without a congratulatory word once I'd sold. I sold in a month and put the price online because it was higher than the agents thought. In fact I worked out that had I taken the pushy agent's advice I would have made 80k less than I did - and that makes me wonder how many little old ladies are taken advantage of by RE agents. The people who bought told me they were delighted to deal directly with the owner. He had very uncomplimentary things to say about agents, having met many during his house search. Industry leaders say the education of agents needs improvement and I can only agree.   

I found rental accommodation a week after I sold, and moved a week after that. The rental Real Estate agent is a very agreeable person thankfully. I am relieved to have the move behind me and as I slowly unpack boxes I feel the tension being released from my shoulder muscles. Time to take it easy.

Blue glass bowl catches the morning sun in my new home.