All posts by She Seeks Serene

My Journey of Reimagining Life, Love and Education

Autumn 2022 Views: The Lake District, Cumbria, UK

The Lake District is a region and national park in Cumbria in northwest England. A popular vacation destination, it’s known for its glacial ribbon lakes, rugged fell mountains and historic literary associations. Market towns such as Kendal, Ambleside and Keswick on scenic Derwentwater are bases for exploring the area and home to traditional inns, galleries of local art and outdoor equipment shops. 

Brougham castle, Ullswater, Buttermere, Honister Pass, Wast Water.

News: Germany-EU Energy Crisis Tensions, CNN Sued By Trump, Musk-Twitter

Tensions flare between Germany and the rest of the EU over the energy crisis. Plus: former US president Donald Trump sues CNN, a flick through the day’s papers and the London Film Festival kicks off.

Front Page: The New York Times – October 5, 2022

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Ukraine Expels Some Russian Troops in South, Expanding Campaign

Moscow’s retreat has pulled back the curtain on a panorama of ruined towns and empty villages left in its wake.

Russians Fleeing the Draft Find an Unlikely Haven

Tens of thousands of men have ended up in places like Kyrgyzstan, a former Soviet territory, that normally see few refugees but are willing to take them.

Elon Musk Suggests Buying Twitter at His Original Price

The billionaire’s surprise move came months after he tried to back out of a $44 billion deal to acquire the company.

Previews: Times Literary Supplement – Oct 7, 2022

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This week’s @TheTLS , featuring @GeorgeProchnik on Joseph Roth; @WilliamWootten on the Letters of Basil Bunting; Colin Thubron on human endurance; @lindseyhilsum on William Boyd; @GeorginaEMW on Shakespeare’s female editors – and more.

Books: Literary Review Magazine – October 2022

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HISTORY

ALEXANDER WATSON Under the Double-Headed DoveIron and Blood: A Military History of the German-Speaking Peoples Since 1500 By Peter H Wilson LR

MATHEW LYONS A Country Fit for a Queen Tudor England: A History By Lucy Wooding

BIOGRAPHY & DIARIES

RICHARD VINEN:  Kim Kardashian of WestminsterHenry ‘Chips’ Channon: The Diaries, 1943–57 By Simon Heffer (ed)LRR

J B BOSWORTH:  Fascism in the Family Edda Mussolini: The Most Dangerous Woman in Europe By Caroline Moorehead

FRANCES CAIRNCROSS:  Daily Mail ManThe Chief: The Life of Lord Northcliffe By Andrew RobertsLR

THOMAS W HODGKINSON Dine HardMadly, Deeply: The Alan Rickman Diaries By Alan Taylor (ed)LR

ART & ARCHITECTURE

ROBIN SIMON Smile & SubstanceThe Portraitist: Frans Hals and His WorldBy Steven Nadler

Travel Tours: A Day In Salzburg, Austria (4K)

Salzburg, city, capital of Salzburg Bundesland (federal state), north-central Austria. It is situated in a level basin on both sides of the Salzach River near the northern foothills of the Alps and the Bavarian (German) border. The historic centre of the city, with its rich mix of art and architecture, was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1996.

Salzburg was originally the site of a Celtic settlement and later of the Roman town of Juvavum. About 700 CE the Benedictine Abbey of St. Peter and the Nonnberg Nunnery were founded there by St. Rupert. Salzburg was made a bishopric by St. Boniface in 739 and was raised to an archbishopric in 798. Its archbishops were acknowledged as princes of the Holy Roman Empire in 1278, and the city became the seat of their powerful ecclesiastical principality. Among the most notable of the prince-archbishops were Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau (reigned 1587–1612), who brought Italian Renaissance architecture and styles to the city, notably by offering commissions to the Italian architect Vincenzo Scamozzi for public squares, a cathedral, and other buildings; Markus Sittikus von Hohenems (reigned 1612–19), who continued to rebuild the city with another Italian architect, Santino Solari; Paris, Graf (count) von Lodron (reigned 1619–53), who founded the city’s university (1622); and Leopold Anton von Firmian (reigned 1727–44).

Filmed in October

Airline Pilots: How Much Does Flight School Cost?

Training to become a commercial airline pilot is a pretty attractive career choice. Not only do you get to be in charge of some of the biggest flying machines in the world, you also get to travel the world, meet interesting people, and all while being paid potentially six-figure sums for your time. But entering this market is not always easy. The days of full scholarships for flight training are largely behind us, and most student pilots must self-fund the process.

For those who have the right skills and can afford it or are willing to take out a student loan, let’s see how much it costs to train as a pilot in 2022.

Walks: Omaha Beach In Normandy, France (4K)

Omaha Beach is a landing area in Normandy, northern France, used by Allied forces in the WWII D-Day invasion. Today, the beach is dotted with the remains of German bunkers. On the shore, the stainless-steel sculpture Les Braves commemorates American soldiers. Behind the beach is the Musée Mémorial d’Omaha Beach, also documenting the invasion. Nearby, the Overlord Museum displays WWII tanks, artillery and dioramas.

Recording Date: August 2022

Home Tours: Turramurra Threads, Sydney, Australia

As the soothing colours of its interior spill into the garden space, Turramurra Threads feels deliberately nestled into its outdoor complement. Crafted by Benn + Penna, the calming family house is filled with a sense of peace resulting from its understated design.

Video timeline: 00:00 – An Introduction to the Calming Family House 00:30 – Location of the Home 00:43 – The Clients of the Project 01:23 – The Original House 01:51 – The Architects Brief 02:05 – Connecting the House to the Garden 02:25 – Using a Neutral Palette and Natural Materials 03:14 – The Importance of Light in the House 03:45 – The Large Skylight 04:07 – The Arch in the Living Room 04:24 – The New Extension of the Home

Surrounded by charming heritage builds on the northern outskirts of Sydney, Turramurra Threads reimagines an existing Victorian construction. The design brief called for the historic front windows and delicate ceiling detail of the calming family house to be retained whilst an extension be added to the rear, celebrating established architecture in unison with modern amenity.

Featuring the original façade, the calming family house captures a simple spatial plan, directing residents from the old structure into the new. A secondary living space and master bedroom sits perpendicular to the entrance corridor, which leads onto three bedrooms and a study. Beyond, the extension forms a primary living pavilion, opening at its far end to reveal the garden. Rays of sunlight penetrate the calming family house from three points of entry, indicating a studious approach to natural lighting and building materials.

The beams enter from a small pocket garden that serves as a transparent border between the historic and additional architecture and a large skylight positioned on the southern slope of the roof. Enhancing the functionality of a heritage home, Benn + Penna creates an open interior design that engages the garden space. Turramurra Threads is built to embrace the natural surrounds, using its subtle properties to establish a calming family house.

Phoenix: How America’s Hottest City Cools Itself

Phoenix, Arizona is coming up with innovative ways to beat the heat.

Phoenix, the capital of Arizona, is accustomed to a hot desert climate, but day and night temperatures have been rising due to global heating and the city’s unchecked development, which has created a sprawling urban heat island.

Scorching temperatures have made summers increasingly perilous for the city’s 1.4 million people, with mortality and morbidity rates creeping up over the past two decades, but 2020 was a gamechanger when heat related deaths jumped by about 60%.