I remember the tutor mentioning how you have to consider what the connotations and denotations of your work are. In the case of my work, I’d say the audience could denotate that there is just a TV and a chair in front of them (as they walk in the room), but the connotations from this would be ones of the media’s link with it’s audiences, the living room kind of scene where people absorb information presented to them. Effectively, I’d be recreating this homely scene, but in a darker way…I think it’d be clear when the audience walk in there was something unsettling about the piece (another connotation).

To sum up – an opposition of a family orientated living room scene with a dark unsettling vibe.

- – -

A bit more on black box (found from here)

What it is

- A black box theater is a theater with a very simple, unadorned design which makes it an extremely flexible space [...] the room which contains the theater is typically square and painted black, because black is a neutral color which will not clash with costumes, sets, and lighting. The floor is flat and open, allowing people to arrange seating however they desire

Why?

- “the great thing about a black box space is that it can be anything anyone wishes to imagine. [...] A black box theater is capable of endless new configurations, allowing people to exercise their creativity, which can be especially valuable in the case of experimental performance…”

“Susan Constant,” “Godspeed,” and “Discovery” Replicas.
Taken From: http://www.historyisfun.org/Jamestown-Settlement.htm

On this date in 1607, English settlers from the Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery landed at Jamestown Island in Virginia to found what was to become the first permanent English settlement in North America.  This location in particular was decided with regard to both the observations of the settlers, and to the instructions given to them by their proprietors (investors):  the Virginia Company.  The name “Virginia” was chosen to honor Queen Elizabeth I, the “Virgin Queen,” who reigned at the time of a previous colony of the same name.  That colony  (located at Roanoke, N.C.) had failed, but these new “Virginians” were determined that this one should succeed

On April 26, after a four-month journey from England, three ships carrying the Virginia colonists made first landfall at Cape Henry, Va.  That night, they finally opened their instructions from the Virginia Company.  The colony which we now know of as Virginia was essentially a private enterprise run by a group of investors with a mandate (and investment) from King James (the King of England after 1603).  This charter granted the company political rights (granted recognition by European powers, but did not guarantee native cooperation) to a certain area of land.  The orders charged the colonists with finding a defensible location to better defend against Spanish (who were enemies of England at the time, having sent the Armada against them 19 years earlier) attacks.  Therefore, a more inland spot than Cape Henry was needed.  However, the new colony would require access to the sea, as it would need constant supplies from England in order to survive.  The fleet waited at Lynnhaven Bay (or Newport News) while a party of men in a shallop (shallow-bottomed boat) searched the surrounding area for a location that fit the bill.  By May 13, the search party had found a small island on the James River and the fleet set sail for it.  The next day, colonists began disembarking in order to set up the site and to survey the surrounding area.

Jamestown Island was perfect for the strategic aims of the colonists:  an island was more defensible than the coast of Cape Henry, being upriver would give the colonists advance warning should Spanish ships arrive, and there was a small channel that cut into the riverbank, so that ships could actually moor (tie up) to the trees themselves.  One qualification that the site did not fit was the stipulation that none of the native tribes should live between the colony and the immediate seacoast.  The site itself was built in Paspehegh (a tribe owing allegiance to Powhatan) territory, and was sometimes used as a campsite by that tribe.  Worse yet, the island was essentially a swamp and thus a breeding ground for disease, due to the mosquitoes and poor water quality inherent to swamps.  Around midnight, a few Paspehegh braves paddled in on canoes, but fled when the English watchman sounded the alarm.  A few days later, two well-dressed and highly decorated messengers arrived at the fort to announce that their “Weroance” (essentially meaning “Chief”) would meet with them in due course, and bring a large deer as a gift.  Jamestown Island would be the capital of the new colony of Virginia through plagues, famine, war, and multiple burnings until 1699, when it was moved to Williamsburg.

Original Jamestown Fort.
Taken From: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/media/75460/Jamestown-Fort-in-Virginia-1608

This historic landing marks the beginning of permanent English settlement in North America.  The settlement itself began as a small triangular fortress and, over time, expanded to become a large, thriving town.  In recent years, a recreation of the original fort, as well as the three ships, was constructed adjacent to the original town.  For more information as to events and activities, please go to: http://www.historyisfun.org/index.htm

Day 1-

• NYC to Kent – 1hr and 46min
• 1st stop – Kent Falls State Park (Kent, CT). Time: 4 hours.

Day 2-

• Litchfield, CT – walk around and explore.
• Hartford, CT – Mark Twain house, Wadsworth Atheneum (if you want to look at some art), Elizabeth Park (optional)

Day 3-

• Mystic – Explore the historic district, eat some Mystic pizza
• Newport, RI – Ocean Drive (10 miles, Starts at The Elms on Bellevue Ave), Cliff Walk, The Breakers, Marina walk

Day 4- Boston

• Freedom Trail – Guided tour from visitors center, or by yourselves. Includes:

• • Boston Common
  • Massachusetts State House
  • Park Street Church
  • Granary Burying Ground
  • King’s Chapel
  • King’s Chapel Burying Ground
  • Benjamin Franklin Statue & Boston Latin School
  • Old Corner Book Store
  • Old South Meeting House
  • Old State House
  • Site of Boston Massacre
  • Faneuil Hall
  • Paul Revere House
  • Old North Church
  • Copp’s Hill Burying Ground
  • Bunker Hill Monument
  • USS Constitution
• Faneuil Hall Marketplace
• Little Italy – In the evening

Day 5- Boston

• Boston Museum of Fine Arts
• Newbury Street
• Harvard University
• Sam Adam’s Brewhouse

Have a wonderful trip!

Essentially, I want the only visible things in the room to be the chair and the TV displaying the video. This is because I want to establish a direct relationship between the audience and the media being presented to them; I don’t want any other object to subtract from the work.

Also, it goes further than this. The message is one of ‘escaping media’ (presented on a TV as a kind of ironic element), so to include other objects in the room would be to bring the audience back to ‘reality’. I want direct attention being paid to the TV, and nothing else!

The Sick Livers debut long player is good to go and the tracklisting is as follows:

It was so green all around, just like being back home in the countryside. The birds were singing and a peaceful calm started to soak into me as I breathed in the fresh country air.

I love the cherry blossom outside the house in the photo on the right. Very pretty.

The pub had a really cool atmosphere to it. It had obviously been freshly done up but still had a lovely old feel to the place. Check out the picture in the middle.

“Water can rust iron
imagine what it does to your insides
it’s much better to drink wine”

Okay! If you insist!

Lunch was fairly brisk as I was scheduled in for a massage. Above, Hannah had the pulled pork ciabatta and I had the tomato and basil gnocchi. Simple but very tasty.

The spa was absolutely beautiful as you can see and after my massage I was feeling amazing, its been such a long time since I’ve felt that relaxed. Then off into the outdoor jacuzzi and some sunshine followed by a swim and chill by the pool with a magazine. Could a girl ask for anything more!?

Hereford has some really beautiful buildings. This one is located in the centre of the High Street where they hold regular markets. There were so many pretty little red stone buildings with white trim and lots of greenery, oh so quaint!

And then there’s the cinema. So okay it’s actually more just one screen than an entire cinema but there’s a good reason behind it. The cinema is built in the remains of an old swimming pool. So the screen sits in the deep end and the seats are teared up into the shallow end. How cool is that?

On our trip to the cinema we somehow managed to end up in the very first viewing for Iron Man 3, well worth a watch if you like explosions!

Another night we had a big dinner in a local Thai Restaurant in town. They had some really intricate artwork on the walls and I loved the cutlery. I had a sweet and sour sea bass which was delicious.

I also managed to find time to squeeze in a lunch trip to Newport to catch up with one of my besties who’s recently got engaged! Had a brilliant time with Jodie and a great catch up, though next time we may go for a different location. Newport is in definite need of some TLC. But that’s okay, cocktails make everything better!

In June we have two main festivals  in the town of Newport (Salop) – the Carnival and the Old Time Fair. Newport Carnival is on Saturday 8th June. The Old Time Fair is Friday 13th June in the evening.

Each year thousands of people flock to Newport Town to watch the carnival and parade. There are a variety of shows and activities throughout the day, there’s something for everyone whatever your age! The Parade starts at 12 noon and travels along Newport High Street. Crowds of people line the High Street and follow the parade to the main events arena and show held at Shuker field from 1pm – 5pm.  This is free. The Newport Carnival 10K is a long-standing and popular race that coincides with the carnival parade through Newport town centre.www.newportanddistrictrunningclub.org.uk

One of the floats

The 10K run

The Old Tyme Market has been held annually since 1968  in the granite sett street known as St Mary’s Street. The idea was to promote a Victorian theme. The Market starts with a procession led by the Town Crier, including the Mayor of Newport, Loyal Volunteers, the Chairman of the Chamber, the Carnival Queen and attendants.

The mayor and the town crier at the Old Time market

Newport History Society with a metal detecting stall

I buy all my bread from a local artisan baker, Jaspers, who make it all on the premises. If you go to the shop early, you can see them making bread at the back of the shop.

Jaspers Bakery

I prefer wholemeal, granary or oatmeal bread – which is really soft.  I always have a white batch as an alternative for my visitors. They choose what they want to eat  and when.  You can  toast your own or have it toasted by me. If you toast your own, it gives you the chance to have it freshly toasted when YOU want it – not when I decide you shall have it!

Best wishes

Linda

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

This photo of the Vanderbilt’s summer cottage was taken at Newport, Rhode Island in 2010…

Click the Follow Button below if you are so inclined…

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2013
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

The Supply Corps School holds Quarters every Thursday around 7:30 in the morning. This is the time when the Commanding Officer and the rest of the staff members brief all students on upcoming events and acknowledgements.

Duty is held once a week. While on duty, one either has an assigned watch or doesn’t. If so, the watch may be raising the flag in the morning, lowering the flag in the evening, locking the building around 10:00 at night, or even driving people around if needed. If someone doesn’t have a watch but just has duty for that day, then he or she only needs to meet with that day’s duty section around 4:00 in the afternoon. This meeting usually consists of sweeping and mopping the entrance to the building (Quarterdeck), shining the bell, and vacuuming carpets.

As a Supply Corps student, I am also responsible for maintaining a certain number of volunteer hours. This week I’ve volunteered my time to one of the local libraries. I’ve signed up for four hours this coming week, and pitched in three hours this past Saturday morning.

Although the two hardest classes of the curriculum are concluding two weeks from now, I still find time to squeeze in up to 14 hours of study time during the work week.

I anticipate my schedule kicking back up, similar to OCS, once I deploy out to sea (hopefully on a destroyer). Until September rolls around, I’ll enjoy my time as much as I can in Newport…beautiful beaches, various Irish pubs, and a historic 19th century, five bedroom house I deem home away from home. I’m truly grateful for what I have and I understand that hard work certainly does pay off in the end. Here are a few photos of the “goings-on” this past month:

One of the many half-day Fridays

A trip to Vermont. We awoke to this.

Maple Syrup Country

Maple Syrup Country

Boston

We all got balloons too.

At one of Newport’s great restaurants

Summer Whites, Baby

Lighting a fire in our home

Roomies and me

BIC, Newly Signed Artist to True Black Starr Music Publishing (BMI) is an artist with a unique flow and a story that needs to be told.

Git’n FRΔT-HΘΩδΣ Ratchet -The Life of a Drop Out is a Documentary CD/DVD project that deals with “A Day in the Life of BIC” from dropping out of school and living recklessly to getting focused on life and working to achieve his goals. One of them being a successful professional recording artist.

For more on BIC “Like” his page and subscribe to his latest updates. http://www.facebook.com/therealbic

Product Description

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All while I was in the John Wallace Linton

The 6 Month To Do List:

• Register for shower gifts – We decided on Target & Home Depot!  Check out the Registry section of our blog for more information!
• Book honeymoon – It’s booked!  We will be visiting the Excellence Resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic!
• Order wedding bands – Can’t wait to wear them! <3
• Meet with our venue for the details appointment (April 6th) – We will decide on our cake, food stations, and linens! – This was an amazing meeting!  Food and cake are planned, linen colors are picked out, and the ceremony and reception are all figured out!  See pictures and more information about this meeting in the blog post “Off to Newport We Go…”
• Design & create invitations – Nick did an amazing job on our invitations!  They will be ordered this weekend, and sent out in early June!  Get ready to RSVP!
• Rent or buy groomsmen’s suits – The boys are ready to go…Navy blue vests & dress pants, light blue button up shirts, and nautical striped ties.  See an example below.

Mock Up of Invitations

Making Centerpieces

Making Centerpieces

Buying Ties!

Busy day shopping at the Flea Market!

Training for a 5k!

Comparing Mason Jar Sizes…

Making Centerpieces…

Decorations!

.

Next Up:

• Decide on cake design
• Plan ceremony (readings & vows)
• Do we need day of transportation? Limo?
• Order, build and send out invitations
• Decide on important dance songs
• Attend Jack & Jill Shower! (June 15th)
• Attend first dress fitting (June 18th)
• Finish up centerpieces & organize into boxes
• Find best succulent prices & determine flowers for bouquets
• Buy my accessories & shoes
• Buy favors
• Design program & menu cards, then order

Oh boy…this is a lot!  We better get moving!

BOSTON (CBS/AP) — A Rhode Island woman who was injured in the Boston Marathon bombings took to the pitcher’s mound at a Red Sox game.

Heather Abbott of Newport, R.I., threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the start of the Toronto-Boston game in Boston on Saturday.

Abbott had gone to Boston on April 15 to watch the Red Sox play on Patriots’ Day and was waiting in line to get into a crowded restaurant when the bombs went off. Doctors amputated her left leg below the knee.

WBZ NewsRadio 1030′s Mark Katic reports

[cbs-audio url="http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/nyc.podcast.play.it/media/d0/d0/d1/d2/dS/dB/dC/12SBC_3.MP3" size="normal" download="true" name="Bombing Victim Throws Out First Pitch" artist="Mark Katic"]

During a press conference Friday at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston, Abbott discussed how she has coped with her leg injury: “I decided that there’s nothing I can do about it, that it’s the situation that I’ve been dealt, and the best way to overcome it is to focus on recovery.”

A fund-raiser has helped raise more than $50,000 to help Abbott pay medical bills.

(TM and © Copyright 2013 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2013 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

We got there Friday afternoon and spent the day exploring the mansions before we even checked into the hotel.

And I thought Mom over-decorated.

This isn’t weird or creepy to have in a house at all.

Can’t you just picture Lady Mary sitting here having tea?

Just pretending I am a rich bitch from the 1800s, don’t mind me,

I loved this kitchen. Upgrade the appliances and I’d take this in a heartbeat. The red painted floors!

In front of the Marble House.

Mom, out-posing me, no surprise there.

If you press this, Bates shows up.

They were self guided audio tours. But this is a pretty accurate representation of what I looked like circa 1994. Discman in my pocket.

The view from the roof of The Elms.

We’ve been through most of the mansions before, and I do recommend touring a few of them. Two or three will do it, otherwise it just gets to be overkill and the grand houses stop being so awe-inspiring and suddenly you’re calling all the 16th century china “tacky”. The Breakers has always been my favorite, but we skipped it this time because I’ve done it about a million times.

The best thing we did this time was the servant’s tour of The Elms. So fascinating! It was JUST like Downton Abbey! The servants all lived in rooms at the top of the house and it was a long hallway with rooms off it just like in Downton. The servants quarters were also nicer than my apartment, so there’s that.

We had dinner downtown and then finally checked into the hotel, where we were greeted with champagne and chocolates and we immediately put on the hotel robes and hopped into bed. Because that is what one does in these situations, always.

This is how my life should always look.

This is actually how her life DOES always look, because she has a habit of snacking in bed.

The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel and did another mansion tour (we bought the five tour package, which was too many, we ended up only doing four).

After that we wandered around shopping and eating. I got a new Alex & Ani bracelet (a gold phoenix, I love him) and we both bought Newport sweatshirts because it was absolutely frigid. We had our massages that night which were blissful and lovely and then we spent the rest of the evening just relaxing.

The, the next morning, I had the most amazing bananas foster french toast that has ever existed:

After that we went home. And now I really want that french toast.

Happy Sunny Days Everyone!

Linda Bergman-Althouse
Author of “Save them All“

Tredegar House

Tredegar House is a grand red brick house visible from the M4 Motorway when travelling towards Cardiff. The estate is comprised of the house, some gardens and 90 acres of parkland. Access to the parkland is free (excluding the £2 parking fee), meaning the grounds are the perfect location for picnic on a warm sunny day, the house and gardens meanwhile costs £6.75 – £7.50 for an adult. Those who like to camp may also be interested in the Caravan Club camping site located adjacent to the parkland.

A Little History

Tredegar House was built by the Morgan family of South Wales in latter half of the 17th Century, replacing an older Tudor manor house. The Morgan family descended from the Welsh princes of old and had held substantial amounts of land in South-East Wales, at one point totalling 53,000 acres which extended to Brecon and Cardiff.

Despite losing a great deal of land in 1403 as punishment for supporting Owain Glyndwr’s rebellion, the Morgan family regained much of their land through supporting Henry Tudor in 1485 which established the family, led by John ap Morgan as a powerful gentry family. It was at this time that the older Tudor house was built. During the lifetime of the older house, King Charles I stayed one night in 1645 during the English Civil War.

When William Morgan inherited the estate in 1666, he decided to replace the Tudor Manor House with a red brick mansion as a way to showcase the family’s wealth and status. Red brick was not widely used in South Wales at that time and so the decision to build the mansion in red brick was made to impress, to build something that stood out from everything else in the area. William was able to afford this dramatic reconstruction of the house after having married his wealthy cousin Blanche Morgan, daughter of the King’s attorney for South Wales. When Blanche died in 1673, William married Elizabeth Dayrell, a wealthy widow who further increased the Morgan family’s wealth and land. William’s marriage to Elizabeth however, was not a happy one; following several violent attacks on William, Elizabeth was declared a lunatic.

In 1680 William died and his son Thomas inherited the estate, followed by William’s forth son John Morgan in 1700 after the death of childless Thomas. John was also the heir to his uncle’s fortune, providing his heir William with a substantial inheritance in 1719. An MP for Monmouthshire who lived a very frivolous life, William married Lady Rachel Cavendish, daughter of the 2nd Duke of Devonshire in 1724, however due to his lifestyle he died in 1731 at the age of 31. His wife Rachel outlived him by 50 years, almost bankrupting the family by her allowance of £2000 per year for life.

In 1792 the last male Morgan heir died, to continue the family name Charles Gould, the husband of the female heir Jane Morgan was forced to take the Morgan family name in order to inherit the estate on behalf of his wife. On inheritance Charles Gould, having been knighted 13 years earlier, was made a baronet. Throughout the Industrial Revolution the Tredegar lands proved very lucrative, allowing the Morgan family to lease out land for mining and iron works as well as tolls from the construction and use of a tram road through Tredegar Park.

The influence and prestige of the Morgan family was increased in 1859 when Sir Charles Morgan Robinson Morgan, grandson of Charles Gould was made the 1st Lord of Tredegar.   The estate then passed down the Lords Tredegar from Charles to his son Charles, and his son Godfrey who died in 1913. At the time of his death, the estate provided Lord Tredegar with an income of £1000 per day. Godfrey Morgan was succeeded by Courtenay Morgan, his nephew, who owned the estate until his death in 1934.

Courtenay Morgan was succeeded by his son Evan Morgan; a rather colourful character who dabbled with poetry and painting, and enjoyed wild weekends. Evan was married twice; first to actress Lois Stuart who died in 1937 of a heart attack and later Princess Olga Dolgorouky, though that marriage was annulled in 1943 after 5 years of marriage. Both marriages were ‘a marriage of convenience’ used to cover up his homosexuality. Evan had a keen interest in animals and had many that would roam around the house and gardens including a kangaroo, a honeybear and a baboon. Ever the eccentric, Evan had a tendency to share a bed with rabbits, I can’t imagine how strange an experience that must have been for both parties let alone the housekeeping staff. Evan died in 1949, leaving the estate to his uncle Frederick Morgan, who quickly signed it over to his son John, who then sold off the estate and moved to France.

The estate was bought from the Morgans by the Sisters of St Joseph, the house served as a school for 23 years, firstly as a girls school then later a state comprehensive. In 1974, the house and land was purchased by Newport Borough Council, who decided it should be restored and showcased as a historic house museum. The National Trust acquired Tredegar House in 2012 with a 50 year lease, and has become a popular venue for picnickers, campers as well as those interested in the house and its history. Tredegar House has also been featured on several BBC programmes including Doctor Who and Being Human, for former of which is a regular user of the estate and house.

The House

To get to the house, you have to walk through what little formal gardens exist at the property, before passing through the Stables and arriving in front of the house.

Back of Stables

Inside the Stables

Walking around the Stables, I was quite surprised to see a Dalek hiding there, thankfully it was only a model Dalek, being exterminated certainly wasn’t on my To Do List for the day.

Tredegar’s Unwelcome Guest

Arriving outside of the stables you will enter a large concourse onto which the house overlooks.

View from the front of the house looking onto the concourse and stables to the left

Interestingly, the stables building was designed in such a grand ornate style that when Prince Charles and Princess Diana visited Tredegar, their driver stopped at the front of the Stables thinking it was the entrance to the house.

Front of Tredegar House

Walking up the steps and through the Main Entrance of the house you will enter the New Hall.

The New Hall ©National Trust Images/Andreas von Einsiedel

Photographs are allowed inside the house, providing the flash is not used and that no paintings are included in the shot due. As you can imagine, this was quite a lot to ask given the number of paintings located all around the house, as a result I am using images from the National Trust Images site.

The New Hall leads to the Great Staircase ahead, the Dining Room to the right and the New Parlour to the left.

The Dining Room

The Dining Room is dressed for a wedding banquet, with an array of food (mock of course) on display. The chairs around the table were all decorated with writing, which I thought was quite different and quite appealing. If you walk through the doorway at the other end of the Dining Room you will arrive in the Gilt Room.

The Gilt Room ©National Trust Images/Andreas von Einsiedel

The Gilt Room was a very ornate room room used for entertaining guests. The centrepiece of the Gilt Room is without a doubt the ceiling painting depicting the triumph of religion and spirituality, whilst I may not agree with the theme, preferring reason over religion, it is nonetheless an impressive piece of art.

After seeing all the Gilt Room has to offer, you head back through the Dining Room, through the New Hall and into the New Parlour.

The New Parlour

The New Parlour was used as the family dining room during the Victorian Period, following the construction of the Side Hall and its use as the main entrance.

The Side Hall ©National Trust Images/Andreas von Einsiedel

Walking through the Side Hall, you will enter the Morning Room, a room used by the family during the day light hours.

The Morning Room

I thought the morning room was quite an odd room at Tredegar, only because of the quite subdued wallpaper and the rather garish carpet. After looking around the morning room, you had back through the Side Hall and New Parlour and re-enter the New Hall before heading into the Great Staircase hall and up to the first floor.

The Great Staircase ©National Trust Images/Andreas von Einsiedel

According to the Tredegar House guidebook, there were several key first floor rooms that were not open during my visit including the Best Chamber and the Master’s Bedroom. On reaching the top of the staircase, the first room I entered was the school room, a room that has been left as it would have been during the house’s time as a school.

The School Room

The school room is quite a contrast with other parts of the house, lacking in decorative wall coverings or elaborate wooden carvings. Leaving the school room you eventually come to one of several fully furnished bedrooms on display for the public. The first of these is the King’s Room, one of three corner suites that encompass the first floor.

The King’s Room ©National Trust Images/Andreas von Einsiedel

The King’s Room would most likely have been the private room of the mistress of the household, with the Best Room being used by guests and the Master’s Room used by the master of the house. The name suggests that it was once used by a king, however this is not the case, it is most probably named after Sir Charles Gould’s father King – quite an unusual choice of name for a room that was traditionally used by the mistress. During the 20th Century, the King’s Room was the room used by Evan Morgan. Beside the Kings Room there is quite a nice bathroom.

The King’s Bathroom ©National Trust Images/James Dobson

Next to the King’s Bathroom is the Red Room, a bedroom that was used by Evan Morgan’s second wife and Russian Princess Olga.

The Red Room ©National Trust Images/James Dobson

After the Red Room you enter the Blue Room and then, if the remaining rooms are closed, head back downstairs into the Bells Passage, named after the room bells attached to the wall used to inform the servants when and where they are needed.

The Bells Passage has a small set of stairs that lead down into the servant’s areas and in particular, the kitchen.

The Kitchen ©National Trust Images/Andreas von Einsiedel

At the heart of the building, with the family rooms at the front and servant’s areas at the rear there is a courtyard, which shows off parts of the earlier Tudor house.

The Courtyard ©National Trust Images/Chris Lacey

Through the windows in the old brick building straight ahead in the picture above, you can see into the Servant’s Hall, another room that was closed during my visit.

Having seen all there is to see in the servant’s area, you exist the house by a servant’s doorway and return to an area you passed earlier, where you can visit the shop/tea shop or explore the grounds.

The Gardens & Grounds

Tredegar House compared to other National Trust properties that I have visited has very little in the way of Formal Gardens. Having purchased your ticket you will come to a crossroads of sorts, to the left the gardens and entrance to the house and to the right, the entrance to the parklands.

Turning left and entering the gardens, the first you will come to are the Orchard Gardens. During my visit, part of the orchard garden was closed off, I was able however, to get a quick snapshot.

Orchard Garden

Following the path through a set of gates, you will enter the Cedar Garden.

The Cedar Garden

At the centre of the garden is a small obelisk surrounded by a circular hedge. The obelisk is a monument to Sir Briggs; the war horse belonging to Godfrey Morgan, following the horse’s death at Tredegar after returning from the Crimea, he was buried beneath the obelisk. Next on the tour of the gardens is the Orangery Garden.

Orangery Garden

Orangery Garden

The Orangery Garden leads onto the stables and then the house, after exploring the house you will start back at the crossroads allowing you to then explore the parkland.

The first area of the parkland you will come to is the area overlooking the Victorian entrance to the house.

Overlooking the Victorian Entrance at the side of Tredegar House

A set of gates near the Victorian Entrance leads to the main parkland which now includes 90 acres of land and a lake. The parkland was once a deer park of over 1000 acres, though no deer remain on the estate.

View of Tredegar House from the parkland

As the parkland is free for visitors, it is a popular tourist attraction during the warm sunny weather, during my visit the parkland was full of people enjoying picnics, sunbathing and sports games.

I’m not quite sure what exactly was expecting from Tredegar House, I have visited quite a few historical properties now so I had a fairly good idea of what it would be like, and as entered I was told I was “in for a treat“. Despite this, I couldn’t help but feel slightly disappointed, I think this is due to two reasons; the relatively little garden on show, there were few flower beds compared to other properties I have seen, I suppose the Tredegar gardens just didn’t wow me, but then they can’t all. Secondly and perhaps more importantly, I felt the house was lacking in information. I am used to visiting historical properties and being able to read leaflets in each room to give details about the rooms use, history and quirky information that just adds that little extra fascination. Indeed some rooms did have a small board with a sentence about the room but nothing compared to those provided with other properties, there was no information about the paintings in any of the rooms which would have been a nice touch, especially in the Gilt Room. One more thing that would be quite useful throughout the house is the room name, only the guidebook provides this and I did not purchase this book until I was leaving. If anyone at Tredegar House were to read this, I sincerely hope this is seen as constructive criticism and may be taken under consideration. It was nonetheless an enjoyable day out of Cardiff in the sunshine.

Other Photographs

Victorian Entrance

Housekeeper’s Room

Housekeeper’s Room

The Stables from the Parkland

Web Links

• http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/tredegar-house/ – Tredegar House on the National Trust website
  
• http://www.nationaltrustimages.org.uk – National Trust Images website

If you have a website, or even not, in this day and age, you have probably heard of SEO or Search Engine Optimisation and SEO Consultants.

SEO simply refers to the process of making websites and their domain name more visible in Search Engine Rankings helping you to increase your profile, website traffic and customer base and the Search Engine Optimisation Consultants (SEO Consultants Wales) are the practitioners of the SEO services.

There are very many factors that Search Engines take into account when visiting your site in order to give it a ranking and SEO Consultants in Wales would take this into consideration when working on improving the website rankings for Businesses in Wales.

The Welsh SEO Consultants would look at these factors to compile a ranking for the pages of your site for different search terms or Keywords and that is why SEO is so important.

Good SEO consultants would provide good SEO services which would make sure that people who are searching for the information, service or products that your business or company provides, are being directed to you and not your competitors.

You should be thinking about using the services of a SEO Consultants in Wales as soon as you start thinking about getting a website or starting a business, in Wales or the South Wales area.

SEO is important if and when you are registering the domain of your website (which often gets over looked by people new to website ownership) and potentially even when choosing the name of your business.

Here are some SEO terms that every webmaster / website owner and ideally business owner or company director should know:

1. SEO:
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation. This is the term used for the overall process of making your site more visible and rank higher in Google and the other Search Engines.

It Includes thousands of factors and techniques and can also be referred to as Internet, Search Engine, Page Rank, Website and Organic Search marketing.

2. Domain name:
This is the name you use to call your website. You have to register a domain name in order to be given your www. Web address.

3. Organic Search ranking:
This is the natural ranking of your website in the search engines as apposed to the paid for Adwords ranking that you see at the top and bottom of the pages.

4. Crawler
A crawler or spider is a bot (or piece if Technology) that Search Engines use to search the internet and all the websites on it in order to collect data about the websites to be able to rank them.

The crawler will regularly visit your site and analyse its content.

They visit your site to keep up to date with changes and add new content.

This is how Search Engines keep their results relevant and up to date!

5. Keywords
Keywords play a massive role in SEO. Your keywords should relate to the information, services or products you provide. Cars.com for example will use Cars as its primary keyword.

Keywords should be used on your site to ensure Search Engines can recognise what that page is about and therefore show that page to the correct searchers! Often single keywords are very competitive as thousands or millions of sites will be using them so often 3-4 keywords combined will get better results. For example “UK cars for sale” could be much better.

6. SERP:
Search Engine Results Page. This is the list of results that a Search Engine displays after being given a certain keyword or combination of Keywords to search.

The higher up the SERPs you are, the better! As above can also be referred to as organic (natural ranking).

7. META Description / Meta Keywords & Meta Tags:

A META description briefly describes what the page is about. The META description you set is often seen below the clickable link to your website in the SERPs as a summary.

You can also set META keywords or Meta Tags to let Search Engines know what terms should be relevant to the page.

8. Title Tag:
The title tag is the main heading of a web page as defined by the ‘title’ tags in HTML.

The title tag is the blue link text that you click on in a search result.

It also appears in the top of your browser window or tab.

Search Engines use the title tag to describe what your website is about.

If your title tag is wrong, chances are your website will not be found by the people it should be, so getting this right and including the correct keywords, is very important.

9. Sitemap
A sitemap allows users and Search Engines to navigate your site more easily in order to be able to analyse the content.

It is important to have a sitemap as it can help Search Engines identify all the pages on your site, some of which otherwise may not have been visited by the crawler.

10. Backlinks:
When a link to your site appears somewhere else on the web, it is referred to as a backlink. Search Engines see this as a sign that your site must have some useful information as other people and websites are referring to it. This helps with your SERP.

11. Off page or offsite Optimisation:
This refers to the wider sales and marketing process of getting your web address out in the real world and across the Internet so that you have lots if back links and inline advertising and press releases etc in order to send traffic to your website and to help increase your SERP.

12. Internal Link:
Internal links are links between pages on your own site. This can help crawlers get around your site and identify the topics that the website revolves around.

13. Pagerank:
Google produces a Pagerank or PR value every few months as a general guide to the quality of all websites.

The higher the Pagerank of a website is, the better but there are some low PR sites with great search visibility and some high PR sites with low visibility.

14. Online Advertising & Campaign Management:
This refers to the activity of marketing your website online. It is often referred to as google Adwords as they are the market leaders, but you can advertise with Bing and yahoo as well as twitter, Facebook & LinkedIn.

The campaign management refers to the management of the ad campaign including reviewing and analysis as well as the addition and reviewing of prices and keywords etc.

15. Pay per Click marketing / PPC / (Google) Adwords:
This refers to the online paid for advertising as in your online advertising campaigns.

16. Cost per click / CPC:
This refers to the price you pay for every click on to your website from your online advertising.

17. Impressions:
This refers to the number of searches carried out with your chosen keywords or keyword combinations.

18. Social Media Marketing:
This refers to the offsite or off page marketing of your website via the popular social media platforms as well as the engagement of customers and prospects via the same mediums.

19. Video Marketing:
This refers to the offsite or off page marketing of your website via video, often using the popular video sharing site, “YouTube”. This can also be a great way to engage with customers and prospects via another popular medium. It can be referred to as YouTube marketing after the market leader.

20. Picture Marketing:
This refers to the offsite or off page marketing of your website via the popular platform of using images.

There are a number of picture sharing social media platforms that allow you to do this (Instagram and PInterest being two) and these are great for advertising product as well as engaging customers and prospects.

Summary of why you need SEO Consultants in Wales?

All of the social media, video marketing and picture marketing can help with SEO and increasing your SERP, as well as increasing the number of visitors to your website, which in itself can help with your Search Engine Page Ranking.

The increase in your Search Engine Page ranking would result in you getting more website traffic.

As long as your business proposition and product or service is good and your market is plentiful then this extra traffic would reduce in more sales (ecommerce) or more inbound leads or enquiries (and more customers), if you are not selling online!

What other services do MA Consultancy Provide on top of those of SEO Consultants in Wales.

As well as providing SEO Consultancy and SEO services, we also provide sales and marketing consultancy and services so if in the example above you get a lot of traffic and not many customers or sales, we can provide consultancy and services to help you improve those results, from competitor and market analysis, pricing and packaging improvements, on site optimisation and so much more.

Now that I have found SEO Consultants in Wales, what’s next?

If you are a new business, startup business, SME business or Company in the South Wales area and you are looking for SEO Consultants in Wales to help you get higher up the Internet search engines / google search engine page rankings and therefore more customers, please try MA Consultancy In Cardiff, Wales on 07969 286126 or email info@maconsultancycardiff.com

We use the combined services of SEO Consultants in Wales, along with the services off a Marketing Company in Wales and a Sales & Marketing Consultancy in Wales, to ensure you get a step ahead of your competition.

Google Author: “By Mike Armstrong” – Contacts | Google Profile

Almost immediately after moving into our new house I had to travel to Newport, RI for a work event. To be specific, it was an Editorial Retreat. Very full of creative energy, which was great. But not the best timing for me, for obvious reasons. Plus, that Wednesday that I traveled to Rhode Island marked the beginning of Week 30 for us.

Week 30 meant that the baby is now about 15.7 inches long (rather precise, don’t you think?) and weighs almost 3 pounds, or about the weight of a head of cabbage. The additional info was all about baby eyesight, saying that it was developing… but that even at birth, baby’s vision will only be 20/400… meaning he’ll only be able to see things a few inches from his face. That’ll be good to remember… and keep in mind that after birth, his world will quite literally be continually expanding as his sight improves. Very interesting, right?

While at the Editorial Retreat, I commiserated about pregnancy with a coworker whose baby girl is due in August. She started out littler than me, so her pregnancy is super obvious. People are often telling me that, although I do look pregnant, I don’t look all that different. I can totally understand that and hadn’t even really *felt* pregnant (aside from a wiggly baby in my belly and the desire to drink lots of milkshakes)… that is, until the last couple of weeks.

Maybe it has something to do with having stairs in our house, which may make me more winded than in the past… or maybe everything is just starting to catch up with me, but I definitely feel a shortness of breath and more of a roly poly feeling, especially when trying to get up from the couch or out of bed. Plus I’ve had some rather sharp sciatic pain lately too. All par for the course, apparently. The joys of being pregnant. I’m told I can blame almost all pregnancy woes on the hormone progesterone, which is great for baby but a drag for mothers-to-be everywhere. Oh well. Such is life, I guess.

Week 30 continued to be hectic… Just as I got back into Boston, I had to pick Steve up and run into the city for the kick off of the 48 Hour Film Project. We participate every year and it’s always very stressful but also very fun… this year it was just extra complicated. For anyone who doesn’t know what the event is, it’s held in cities all over the world and is an opportunity for a team of filmmakers to spend 48 hours (and only 48 hours) making a film. You cannot do any work ahead of time, and to ensure this, you don’t get the parameters of your film until the kick off meeting. At said meeting, you get a character, prop, and line of dialog that everyone must use in their film… then you pick out of a hat to get your specific genre for your film. Our parameters this year:
Genre: Horror
Character: Bryan or Bonnie Higgins, an inventor
Prop: a net
Line of Dialog: “Believe me, it’s worth it.”
Every year, we meet up with whoever we can the night of kickoff to agree on a general story line for the film, then part ways so the script can be written. Both last year and this year I have been the screenwriter. This year I cranked out the script by about 3 am and sent it to the rest of our team, then went to bed.

I woke up Saturday morning and completely ignored the film project for a few hours while I went to my church and helped set up, then helped run the First Communion ceremony for my CCD class. Such adorable little angels… too bad they showed their devilish side more often than not in class. But they were super cute and all so excited. I got lots of hugs from kids and thanks from parents. And even received a flower from one of my students! (She addressed the card to Mrs. Samantha… I laugh every time I think about it.) So cute. And a really nice culmination of the whole year of CCD.

So after a few hours at church, I drove back home and rejoined the team, who had already started shooting at our new house. We shot all day… some here at home and some at several different locations in the JP area. We wrapped around 9 pm and then Steve got to work immediately organizing the video and audio and beginning the editing process. Luckily he got some sleep before starting again Sunday morning. But he also sort of went on a hunger strike out of anxiety, I think. I even tried to tempt him with Five Guys Sunday for lunch, but he barely ate anything. He got everything edited, though, and was starting the process of exporting the final footage when we had to head to the city for the dropoff. The event ends promptly at 7:30, and if you don’t have your media in on time you are considered late and aren’t up for any awards. So luckily everything worked out on the way and Steve turned in our film with 5 minutes to spare. Turned out to be a very successful 48 Hour Film, we think. Steve will be re-editing it a bit and then posting it up on Vimeo, at which time I’ll be sure to share the link so you all can see.

So after we turned the film in, we immediately headed out to Porter Square to meet up with a couple of Steve’s high school friends, Steve Lo and Ryan Conboy. I’ve met Steve on a few occasions before, but never Ryan. They were both a lot of fun, though, and had previously been unaware of the whole baby thing, so their minds were blown when they saw me. Ryan kept insisting that we should name the baby Ryan Lewis, which *does* have a nice ring to it… but is pretty far off from the name we’ve chosen. Steve Lo was campaigning for Steve Ryan Steven Lewis (as a joke, of course), but a way to get all three of their names in there. Heh. As I said, they were fun. And actually a nice and relaxing way to end what was a super crazy weekend.

Then at the end of week 30 (Monday & Tuesday), things slowed down and we enjoyed some serious movie-going. On Monday, we went to see Iron Man 3 in IMAX. Baby Boy loves movies, by the way. Not sure if it’s the loud noises or the vibrations from the sound that he can hear, but he’s just the wiggliest during movie-going events. I think he’ll be an Iron Man fan soon enough.

Then on Tuesday we actually had the screening for our 48 Hour Film, so we saw our movie along with about 13 other movies that other groups had made. It’s always interesting to see where other people take the parameters… everything is always so different. We were the only team with a horror genre in our group, which was nice. And I think people genuinely enjoyed our film, which was great to see/hear. Plus a whole crowd of people from Steve’s old work came out to support us, which is really touching. We hung out afterwards at The Friendly Toast and had some ridiculously delicious pancakes while discussing the merits of all the films. Hopefully we can get some of those supporter folks to be part of the film team next time around! Especially if I’ll need to be watching a little baby boy in the midst of it all. But I think I’ll figure out some way to write him into the script next year anyhow. He’ll be a star! Sort of.