Where Five Valleys Meet

Taking a few days off

2012-02-27T01:23:00.002-08:00

Some of the flowers currently showing their faces in our garden.

Helleborus purpurascens

Hyacinthus 'Anna Marie'

Iris Reticulata Group 'Harmony'

Narcissus (Daffodil) 'Tête-à-Tête'

Helleborus or Lenten Rose

A Wendy house fit for a Queen

2012-02-26T01:31:00.000-08:00

courtesy Topham Picturepoint

King George V1, his wife Elizabeth Bowes-Lyons, and the Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret with the new Wendy house in 1932.

Following my post on English Thatched Country Cottages, one of my blogging friends, Mark, mentioned that he remembered Queen Elizabeth being gifted a miniature house with a thatched roof when she was a child. Having recently learnt that the Wendy House had been restored by Princess Beatrice for the Diamond Jubilee, I thought perhaps it would be interesting to show it to you.

'Y Bwthyn Bach' is Welsh for The Little House which sits in the grounds of Windsor's Royal Lodge where the Queen played as a child. The house was presented to the then Princess Elizabeth and her sister Margaret in 1932 on behalf of the people of Wales' on the occasion of Elizabeth's sixth birthday.

Princess Beatrice inside the newly restored house. The front door opens onto a small hallway with a kitchen on the right and little sitting/dining room on the left. A staircase gives access to a bedroom and bathroom, which when it was first built, was very modern, with hot and cold running water, a heated towel rail and electricity.

The contents include a tiny radio, a little oak dresser and a miniature blue and gold china set. All of the linen is embroidered with the initial 'E'. The house also contains pots and pans, food cans, brooms and there is a gas cooker and fridge which both worked. There is even a working miniature-sized telephone. The house has its own front garden with scaled down hedges and flower borders.

Sitting/dining room has lattice windows with a portrait of the Queen Mother and Beatrice's teddies on the chair. A bookcase filled with Beatrix Potter's little books, including Jemima Puddleduck, ensured the girls never grew bored.

Thank you Mark for the prompt.

all images above courtesy BBC ONE

Monogram Challenge

2012-02-25T01:07:00.003-08:00

I was rushed for time this week - however, I have attempted Patrice's Monogram Challenge. To see more interpretations please visit her.
On the first I have not played according to the rules - i.e. a monogram is strictly speaking a design composed of one or more letters.
I have extended the monogram horizons and used symbols as opposed to letters.

As this is the Diamond Jubilee of the Queen, I have done a celebratory monogram for her 60 years on the British throne.

I have resurrected some embroidery I did many, many years ago and added 60 to the centre of the crown. The emblems shown are the rose for England, the thistle for Scotland, the shamrock for Ireland, and the leek for Wales.

In this second one, I have tried to do a monogram for myself and H. We have a great love of our garden and that is reflected in the interpretation. I thought that using Spring flowers it would work - but in practise it doesn't.

I fiddled on the computer to try and soften it - but still not satisfied. It is too stiff and has no flow.

One more try, time permitting........

These are my last attempts. Thanks to H for kindly cutting out the letters for me.

A Grand Day Out

2012-02-24T11:15:00.001-08:00

Today we visited The Weir Garden, Herefordshire, belonging to the National Trust. The skies were blue, the sun shone, the birds sang, and mother nature was definitely rubbing her eyes and stirring from her winter slumbers.
The Weir Garden sits on a large bend in the river Wye as its waters meander on a journey from Wales to the Bristol Channel and out in to the Atlantic.

click on images

English Thatched Country Cottages and Staddle Stones

2012-02-22T01:26:00.006-08:00

Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, rushes or even heather. It is an ecologically friendly roof, and these days is not the fire hazard it was hundreds of years ago. Gradually, thatch became a mark of poverty and the number of thatched properties gradually declined, as did the number of professional thatchers. It has become much more popular in the UK over the past 30 years, and is now a symbol of wealth rather than poverty.

courtesy of robek via wikipedia

Anne Hathaway's cottage being re-thatched in Stratford-on-Avon.

click on image

These village fire hooks, which I saw in the little village of West Lavington, Wiltshire are from the 17th C. They were used to tear burning straw from the thatched roofs of houses and haystacks in order to prevent the fire from spreading. They were last used in 1932 when a burning haystack became a fire hazard to nearby cottages.

The mushroom shaped stone at the entrance to the driveway is called a Staddle Stone. A Granary building would have stood on the top of several of this type of stone. The mushroom shape is to prevent the rats getting into the building.

This is an example of a Granary dated from 1800. I took this photo in Devon. The corn was stored in wooden bins ranged round the walls.

The farm that H's family owned in Surrey had a large wooden shingle tiled barn cum granary standing on this type of stone, and it is still intact to this day.

This is a pen and ink drawing we have of their Surrey Farmhouse, which was drawn by H's cousin. I have just taken a section of the drawing so that you can see the Granary/Barn.

Nikolai Astrup - Norwegian Artist

2012-02-20T00:45:00.007-08:00

portrait of Nikolai Astrup (1880 - 1928) by Henrik Lund

Interior of Nikolai Astrup's Studio in Ålhus, Jølster

courtesy Harald Oppedal via wikipedia

I was introduced to the work of Nikolai Astrup when I was visiting my son and his family in Norway. I admire the way his work conveys his love of Norway, and his family. In many ways I find parallels to his art with Carl Larsson. Both of them reveal a great passion and regard for their own country and their family. If his work is new to you, I hope that you will enjoy it.

Nikolai Astrup established himself as one of Norway's main painters during the first decade of the 20th C, and his woodcuts have especially earned him a central position in Norwegian art history. Along with Edvard Munch, Astrup is considered a pioneer of the new graphic technique.

click images

all images courtesy wikipedia

Nikolai Astrup was born in Bremanger, Nordfjord in 1880. His family moved shortly after to Ålhus in Jølster, where his father was a priest. The father-son relationship was at times conflicting, mainly because Astrup never felt comfortable with the strict Christian tradition practised in his home. Also, his wish to become an artist went against his family's traditional expectations. As an artist and a bohemian, Astrup stood out in the small and confined environment he grew up in. However, he chose to live in Jølster for most of his life, and this is the area where he found the scenery for nearly all of his paintings. Throughout his artistic work he focused on the same landscape, his garden, and his family. His paintings can in many ways be looked upon as a series of seasons, where Astrup portrays the constant and eternity in life; the little garden with fruit trees and a small field, the lake , the familiar mountains, the woods and fields - and constantly changing atmospheres - a rainy morning in Autumn, beginning of Spring, an icy cold Winter morning or the warm, light nights of the Summer.

He was educated in Norwegian and European contemporary art, and Christian Krohg taught him at the Academie Colarossi in Paris. He travelled to Berlin, Dresden and Hamburg and visited the museums to be educated in old and contemporary art. He was especially keen on the work of the French primitive Henri Rousseau and the German symbolist Arnold Böcklin - the latter fascinated him so much that he named one of his sons after him.

In 1902 Astrup moved back to Jølster for good, and a few years later he married Engel, a young peasant girl from the area. They had eight children. Astrup continued his work as an artist along with his obligations towards his family and farm work. It wasn't easy; they had little money and he struggled with bad health.

In 1928, he sadly died of pneumonia at the young age of 47 years.

♥Flutterby♥ - anagram of butterfly

2012-02-18T00:43:00.004-08:00

Red Admiral butterfly enjoying nectar from the Vebena Bonariensis in our garden.

Dreaming in the garden, the fragrant scent of summer flowers drifting on the breeze, the warm sun gentle caressing your face, you observe butterflies flitting around the borders. Do not take them for granted, there is so much more to a butterfly than you could ever imagine.

Joining with ♥woolf♥ on her “flutterby” challenge. Visit her to see more “flapping”, “fluttering” and “flitting” of butterfly wings.

click on images

A Peacock butterfly

Wing detail

Magnified part of wing

Scales close up

close up of single scale

Microstructure of a scale

LOOK closely, never, ever, assume that what you see at first is the whole story.

images wikipedia

Adventures and Talking

2012-02-15T02:22:00.006-08:00

As youngsters our five grandchildren stayed with us regularly either singularly or together. We loved having them and it gave their parents a chance to have a short holiday or get some redecoration of the house done.

All of our grandchildren have treated H rather like a big playmate in the same way as our own two sons did. He is good fun with children and would help them build dens, or climb up the very large tree in our garden. They would all enjoy going off for a hike with him, carrying a packed lunch in their rucksacks, and we would both take them to a local horse riding school for a lesson or a hack which they loved. H would walk them across the Common and down in to the valley hunting for fossils, interesting stones, watching out for birds and wildflowers. Our grandson would look out for branches which he would whittle with his penknife to make into a walking stick.
One day when he was walking over the Common with three of our grandchildren, he asked them if they were afraid of anything. Our 5 year old granddaughter said she had a fear of darkness, and liked her mother to leave a small light glowing on the landing and her bedroom door ajar. Our 8 year old grandson said he was frightened that he might get bullied at school, luckily he has not. Our eldest granddaughter, 11 years old said “I think fear is often as a result of ignorance”.
Those halcyon days seem to have passed in the blink of an eye. The 5 year old has just become a teenager, our grandson is taking his GCSE exams this summer, and our eldest granddaughter is now in her 2nd term at Oxford.
A young relative of H's came to stay for a few days. She had never climbed trees or gone on “hunting hikes”, nor ridden a horse, all the things that we planned to do with her. The first morning of her stay I looked out of the bedroom window and there was H and this young girl sitting in the top of our tree carrying on an animated conversation. Ladders had been rested beside the trunk and they had a system of ropes and pulleys in place to haul up her dolls and teddy to the den at the top of the tree. He would never compromise their safety or put them in danger, that is paramount.

She was a natural at horse riding, and returned from her hike exhausted but full of what she had seen, and continues to have an interest in fossils to this day.

Childhood passes swiftly, from my experience, good and happy memories are lasting.

The Watts Cemetery Chapel, Compton, Surrey

2012-02-13T01:46:00.001-08:00

National Portrait Gallery, London via wikipedia

George Frederic Watts (1817-1904), portrayed as a Renaissance Florentine by Louis Reid Deuchars - for those who read my post on Tuscany, Italy have you noticed a roundel by Della Robbia in the background of the painting?

National Portrait Gallery London via wikipedia

Dante Gabriel Rossetti by George Frederic Watts (1817 - 1904)

courtesy Wyrdlight via wikipedia

The Watts Cemetery Chapel sits on the corner of a pretty Surrey country Lane in Compton, which leads on down to the Watts Gallery. The Gallery houses paintings and sculpture by George Frederick Watts the eminent Victorian artist, widely considered to be the greatest painter of his age.
We had visited both the Gallery and Chapel many, many, moons ago, and the Chapel in particular has lingered long in my memory.
When we were invited to lunch in Surrey yesterday, I suggested to H that perhaps we could leave our home earlier than necessary in order to renew our acquaintance with the Chapel - no time to do the Gallery as well.

The Chapel was designed and built by Mary (1849-1938), wife of George, and is a unique fusion of Art Nouveau, Arts and Crafts, Celtic, and Romanesque influence with Mary's own original style. It is impossible not to admire the work and inspiration that lies behind this beautiful little building. It is built on a grassy mound and the deep red terracotta brickwork contrasts strikingly against the surrounding cemetery landscape.

The interior is colourfully decorated in hand painted gesso designs, rich in symbolic representation. It illustrates the dome of heaven with cherubim and seraphim. Winged messengers of darkness and light which alternate to face the viewer and then turn their back. In front of each is a disc that represents in turn light and dark, day and night, decay to stability. The whole is linked together by the tree of life whose roots are at the base and whose branches intertwine the symbols above.

click on image

The eternal circle at the apex of the dome representing God. Radiating from this the angels closest to God are Cherubim, represented by babies' heads, each haloed by four wings in pink, blue, and gold, and seraphim in red.

Seraphim in rich red blessing those below. Lower level winged messengers of darkness and light.

Two of the discs held by the messengers of darkness and light - light holds birth and dark holds death.

The tree of life is represented by a vine laden with grapes symbolic of “I am the true vine”.

A golden terracotta girdle circles the interior with symbols representing the Holy Trinity.

Whilst closely managed by Mary Watts the decoration of the Chapel was a community affair, with more than 70 villagers taking part.

Many of the graves are also made of terracotta, and it is said that Mary Watts was concerned by the ugly appearance of her Aunt's grave and from this developed the idea of producing gravestones in terracotta.

When her husband died, she placed his ashes in a gesso casket she had made two years earlier and set it on the central pedestal of the Chapel. Her own handmade terracotta candlesticks and a wreath of laurel, lilies and bay lay in front of the altar.

The Lock Out

2012-02-11T00:37:00.000-08:00

Cherry blossom in our garden

Early in the summer mornings there is nothing I like better than to wander around the garden. Wearing my dressing gown, mug of coffee in hand, peeking into all of the flower beds to see what flowers have opened up. One morning I was admiring the blossom when H came out to say goodbye, he was off to hike down the high hill where we live to the valley below. He was spending the day carrying out his voluntary duties at our local Citizens Advice Bureau.

Rucksack on his back off he went with a cheery wave, whilst I continued poking around in the garden.

When I went to open the back door to the house I discovered that H had locked it forgetting that I was outside. Both of our side gates to the property were also padlocked with the keys indoors. I started panicking, thinking ‘how can I gain entry to the house’. My neighbours' properties are too far away from us to call, and the one who has a key lives a journey along the road. I was in my nightclothes and could not scale the high gates anyway. I parked myself on a seat in the garden and wondered what I was going to do with myself for a whole day.

Clematis Armandii in our garden

The garage was in need a good clean so that is what I set about doing. I was without refreshments all day, but was rewarded by a job accomplished which I had been neglectful of doing.

A seat to while away my captivity.

Eventually, during the late afternoon, with the garage looking spic and span, I was sitting relaxing in our garden, I became aware of a shadow passing the window in the kitchen. It was H home and looking for me. He went from the kitchen to the conservatory where he suddenly spotted me, and waved a happy salute. He didn’t seem to realise that I was still in my nightclothes, and looking rather dishevelled from cleaning the garage.

He came wandering out in to the sunshine, handed me a cup of tea, sat down and started chatting. I certainly needed that tea!!!

Double cherry blossom in our garden

Make the most of each day, or put more beautifully by Maya Angelou “This is a wonderful day, I have never seen this one before”.

I was reminded of this occasion in the garden a few days ago by my lovely blogging friend Kate when I read her post on “Locked In”.

Archibald Knox and the Liberty of London connection

2012-02-09T07:16:00.000-08:00

courtesy Luis Villa del Campo via wikipedia

Ever since the Liberty shop in London opened its doors in 1875 it has been at the forefront of showcasing young designers and artists. It sells eclectic things from all over the world, but it has been and continues to be a flagship for young British craftsmanship. If you are looking for something different or a special gift when visiting London then Liberty should be your first port of call.

One of the original designers given an opportunity was Archibald Knox (1864 - 1933), and as a result of his work for them the term “Liberty Style” came into the English language.

Archibald Knox is one of my favourite designers. He was born on the Isle of Man, but was of Scottish descent. He was greatly influenced by the Celtic crosses seen on his childhood island home and hence his range for Liberty's was known as the new Celtic design. He called his silver work Cymric and his pewter work Tudric. His designs were synonymous with British Art Nouveau and he is regarded as being a prominent influence in the Arts and Craft movement.

courtesy V&A London

Silver Cymric box set with cabouchon stones in kingfisher blue/green, often he would use enamel

courtesy Tadema Gallery, London

Tortoiseshell hair comb with gold and enamel embellishment

courtesy Tadema Gallery, London

Gold and ruby brooch with abalone shell

courtesy Historical Design Inc. NYC

Spoon inset with his favoured blue/green enamel which enhances the silver perfectly

courtesy V&A London

Claret jug

This year our island of choice to visit will hopefully be the Isle of Man. Then we can explore the area beloved of Archibald Knox, visit the Manx Museum which holds a good collection of his work, and see his tomb stone in the local church.

Modern Technology

2012-02-07T14:16:00.000-08:00

Two Posts today:-

I have a confession to make, I think I have reached my zenith regarding all the modern gadgets that keep appearing on the market. I thought that I was doing reasonably well, but now I am lost. I did quite well teaching myself how to 'link' my blogs, however, it was so simple that the only person I can impress with my new found skill is H.
I do not have a single friend or acquaintance outside the blogosphere who 'blogs' and for that matter hardly any of my friends can email or skype. I can count them all on my fingers. Apps are a mystery to me, and yet if I knew how to use them they would probably enhance what I can do. QR codes (pictured above), I am sure you all know about them. Google Goggles, the rather Orwellian sounding 'augmented reality' uses your mobile phone camera to recognise objects or places it photographs and instantly beams back to you a mass of internet derived information about what it sees. Aurasma - apparently makes the world browse-able which sounds rather like Google Goggles to me, except that it takes it to the next level !!! Ah, well.......

Antique Japanese doll

2012-02-07T10:27:00.000-08:00

When H travelled around the globe for the UN he normally came home with a character doll from the countries he visited.
We had a whole cabinet full but we did not have one from Japan. On a visit to Japan I asked him if he could find a doll, but for some reason he failed to get one. When he flew back to London he went to the UN office to drop off his papers before returning home. Passing an antique shop in Piccadilly he could hardly believe his eyes, in the middle of the window sat a beautiful Japanese doll. He dashed quickly in to the shop and bought her there and then.

She wears an exquisite Kimono

made of silks and brocade,

and an elaborate hat.

I understand that she is from the Meiji Era, and about 100 years old.

Painswick Rococo Garden visited on 2/02/2012

2012-02-05T02:54:00.000-08:00

Looking across the Kitchen Garden to the Exedra Gothic feature.

Rococo Gardens are generally associated with France and Italy. However, the style did travel to England, and the only complete Rococo Garden surviving is in the Cotswold's at Painswick.The garden dates from the mid 18th century when gardens were being created almost as theatrical sets into which period gentlefolk would take their house guests. They were designed as pleasure grounds, with surprises and flamboyant eccentricities at every turn. These were not the gardens of great plant collectors but more of the decadent and fun-loving side of society.The great French and Italian gardens were filled with pavilions, fountains, and flights of steps cascading with water. Some of the gardens created used bizarre and extravagant ideas such as large and elaborate fantastasy Grottoes decorated with rocaille worked figures (made out of shells). However, they did fuel a fleeting craze in England. The English gardens which, although never as grand as their European cousins, showcased their often ostentatious owners wealth. Modern eyes, which are familiar with the great herbaceous borders, vivid planting schemes and arboretums of the 19th and 20th century, sometimes struggle to understand a Rococo Garden. These mid 18th century gardens are not about collections of plants but rather a place where plants become part of the furnishings of a gilded and rather flamboyant outdoor room in which to entertain. Perhaps most important was the creation of vistas and intersections, not directed exclusively to one particular point in the scheme but rather intended to lead the eye in various directions from the surrounding landscape to follies, statuary and water features.

The asymmetrical Red House

The Beech Walk leading to the Exedra

Looking through the Gothic arches across the round pool towards the Kitchen Garden

View to the Exedra with its Gothic arches over the maize. The maize is not an original feature of the garden, but planted in 1998 to celebrate a painting done of the garden by Thomas Robins in 1748. The painting was invaluable during the restoration of the garden, along with archaeological evidence unearthed during the course of the restoration.

The maize reads 250 representing the 250 years since the painting of the garden was done.

The empty pedestals have pots of flowers on them in the Summer. The wire netting is to keep the rabbits out!

The Kitchen Garden - rather sparse in February!

The Spring fed Plunge Pool - said to be chilly all year round.

Seating folly - a touch of rustic Palladio

The fish pond looking towards the Exedra and the Red House leading the eye into the surrounding landscape. The pond is wearing a thin layer of ice.

Arched walkway to the ancient woods.

The pink Eagle House

Inside the Bothy

The Red House from the top path.

The vista from the Red House, looking out into the surrounding landscape beyond.
A few winter flowers showing in the garden.

Aconites

Cyclamen

Snowdrops

In architecture, an Exedra is a semi-circular recess, often crowned by a semi-dome, which is usually set into a building's facade. The original Greek sense (a seat out of doors) was applied to a room that opened on to a Stoa, ringed with curved high-backed stone benches, a suitable place for a philosophical conversation. An Exedra may also be expressed by a curved break in a colonnade, perhaps with a semi-circular seat.

A Stoa is another Greek architectural term meaning a safe, protective place where people can gather.

Galanthus - Snowdrop

2012-02-03T05:40:00.000-08:00

This post is dedicated to my Aunt who died on the 21st January 2012 in her 99th year.

The precursor of Spring and the promise of more flowers to come - photos taken in Painswick Rococo Garden 2nd February 2012.

courtesy of Darkone left and Jonas Bergsten right via wikipedia

The Big Cat & The Roman

2012-02-02T01:51:00.000-08:00

courtesy Belizian via wikipedia

Rumours have been rife in this corner of the Cotswolds for many years. Tales are told of a large black cat, a 'Puma' lurking in the undergrowth, living in the deep valley and the dense woods.
This has recently reached a crescendo following the discovery of two deer which have been killed and ripped to pieces in the wood. Experts says both maulings had the hallmarks of a big cat.
The 'cat' affair has now reached the national press and radio, next stop TV cameras and reporters.
DNA evidence has been removed from the carcass of the deer, and plaster castes taken of the paw prints in the mud. However, no conclusive evidence has been found.
Is this just another wild goose chase, or someone's rather well fed black domestic cat, or is it a Loch Ness Monster story?

courtesy 'lilth' via wikipedia

This deep, secluded cat stalked valley, was once home

to another significant interloper - A Roman, of high status, thought to be a Governor of the province, or the Roman General, Vespasian. He built himself a large villa in a prime spot in the valley, leaving behind one of the most wonderful mosaic pavements to the villa, known as the Orpheus Pavement.

illustrated section of the pavement done in the 18th century courtesy British Library

Replica of the Orpheus Pavement courtesy Daily Mail

The pavement is one of the biggest, complex, and intricate mosaic designs found in northern Europe, measuring 2,209 square feet. When complete, it contained one and a half million peices of stone (tesserae). It was made around AD 325 by craftsmen from Corinium (Cirencester) with the main design based around Orpheus and his relationship with nature. This pavement was in the large hall, but the villa included 60 rooms - 20 of which boasted mosaic floors.

Incidentally I hear that we have Wallabies too!

The Stone Age

2012-01-31T07:47:00.000-08:00

click images

Last weekend we visited Stonehenge. The sun was lurking behind the clouds which created a more atmospheric experience.

The large Heelstone

On the Wiltshire plains surrounding Stonehenge, ancient Barrows can be seen in the far distance (burial mounds).

courtesy Andrew Dunn via wikipedia

Neolithic man has left his mark all across the UK from the far south in Cornwall to the distant isles in northern Scotland. We live with our ancestors brooding presence, great megalith solitary stones, many weighing as much as 20 - 30 tons and much more.

courtesy Canadian Girl Scout via wikipedia

Standing stone from the Ring of Brodgar in Stenness, Orkney

Others are in groups, often in circular, oval, henge or horseshoe formation.

Geologists and Archaeologists now know that the stones at Stonehenge came from about 240 miles away in Pembrokeshire, Wales, to Wiltshire. How did they travel such a great distance 5000 years ago? We would be hard pressed to move such enormous stones today with all of our modern equipment. When the stones arrived, just to make things even more complex, they were lifted up on top of each other. There are many theories to explain them, but do we really know? It is thought these circles were for ancient religious ceremonies, sometimes containing burial chambers. Stonehenge is aligned northeast–southwest, and it has been suggested that particular significance was placed by its builders on the solstice and equinox points, so for example, on a midsummers morning, the sun rose close to the Heelstone, and the sun's first rays went directly into the center of the monument between the horseshoe arrangement. It is unlikely that such an alignment is merely accidental.

For 5000 years these stones have borne silent witness to storms, tempests, floods, war, and man's inhumanity to man.
Let us also not forget the many prehistoric mounds, and in particular Silbury Hill. At 40 metres (131ft) high it is the tallest prehistoric human-made mound in Europe and one of the largest in the world; it is similar in size to some of the smaller Egyptian pyramids at Giza. Its original purpose is still highly debated; it is made of chalk and it is estimated that it took 18 million man-hours, or 500 men working for 15 years to make.

Silbury Hill courtesy Greg O'Beorme via wikipedia

Stonehenge was erected a few years after the Great Pyramids in Egypt, but recently a new complex has been found in Orkney that pre-dates Stonehenge and the Pyramids by 750 years, and it is altering our understanding of our ancestors.

Experts believe the site known as the Ness of Brodgar in Orkney was used for spiritual ceremonies. It had a 10ft wall surrounding a site which was the size of five football pitches. About 100 buildings made up the complex. They had thick stone walls, decorated with carvings and paintings and the roofs were made of stone tiles.

The discovery has turned our understanding of Neolithic man on its head, and it will take a long time to fully understand this new site.

Excavation at Ness of Brodgar

courtesy genevieveromier via wikipedia
click image

Lichens

2012-01-29T00:43:00.000-08:00

A wander around the garden this weekend revealed the exquisite beauty and detail of the lichens growing on the trees.

Lichens are 'dual organisms'. Every lichen is a partnership between members of two different kingdoms which live together in a special, mutually beneficial relationship - a symbiosis. Each lichen is made up of a fungus and an algae.

The body of the lichen is built up by tough fungal hyphae, and the algae live inside that framework.

The fungus protects the algae from the harsh world outside, and provides it with water and mineral nutrients. The algae makes its own food by photosynthesis, and leaks some of this food, which is then absorbed by the fungus, which cannot make its own food.

The partnership is so tough and self-reliant that lichens can grow in places like bare rock in deserts, where nothing else can survive. When it is too dry, too hot, or too cold, lichens go into a state of suspended animation until conditions improve.

Since the algae make up only about 5% of each lichen, and are out of action for much of the time, you can imagine that lichens grow very slowly - only a few millimetres per year. They make up for this by living for centuries, or in a few cases, millennia.

Lichens have only one serious weakness - they must absorb their mineral nutrients from the rain. So if the air is polluted with sulphur dioxide, this dissolves the rain and is absorbed by the lichens which often die as a result.

Another Roadside Attraction

2012-01-27T01:27:00.000-08:00

Linking with Demie at 'my Paraphernalia' on the theme Another Roadside Attraction - the book written by Tom Robbins.

The roads and country lanes in the Cotswolds are fringed with drystone walls. They frame the landscape like a painting as they run along the verges of the roads edging the fields, woods, churchyards, and gardens.

Sometimes in the summer we see Another Roadside Attraction.

Vincent Van Gogh - The Caravans - Gypsy Camp near Arles, France.

via wikipedia

Brightly decorated Gypsy vans with smoke puffing out the chimney. A retinue of tethered horses, little children running around, a large fire blazing, and men busy making wooden objects to sell, or sharpening tools.

When we come across them, we always get excited; it is a sight we love to see, but we wonder for how much longer.

David Mellor 1930 - 2009

2012-01-23T03:24:00.000-08:00

This post was done at the request of Mark at 'All things Ruffnerian'

David Mellor was one of the best known designers in Britain. He trained originally as a silversmith, but during the course of his distinguished career, he designed a great variety of products; some of which are common place objects we see daily. The national traffic light signalling system, Post Office pillar boxes, street lighting, bollards and litter bins.

The interior of the David Mellor Design Museum with Cafė in Hathersage, Derbyshire.

His training as a silversmith gave him a particular affinity for metalwork design and his silver is in many international collections. He is, however, most famous for his cutlery which has won numerous design awards, he has often been called the cutlery king.

Pride cutlery in sterling silver

Mellor's now classic Pride cutlery was designed in 1953 when he was still a student at the Royal College of Art. It was included in the first of the Design Centre Awards in 1957, and has been in continuous production ever since. It is on display in numerous museums worldwide as a prime example of 20th C modernist design.

In 1969, David Mellor opened his London shop in Sloan Square. It soon became a focal point of Swinging Sixties, Chelsea, and remains one of London's most original and individual shops.

His country shop is at Hathersage, Derbyshire, near Chatsworth, in the dramatic High Peak landscape. This shop has a special emphasis on the superb modern cutlery and kitchen knives made in the Round Building factory alongside the shop. It also carries lots of pieces made by other distinguished Designers from around the world. A place to visit with a nice fat purse full of money.

The Round Building factory, Hathersage, Derbyshire

David Mellor died 2½ years ago. His son, Corin, a versatile furniture and product designer on his own account, is now the creative director. His widow is Fiona MacCarthy, biographer and cultural historian; She is the acclaimed writer of Eric Gill, C.R. Ashbee, and William Morris etc.

glass bowls designed by Corin Mellor

images courtesy David Mellor catalogue

Spring cleaning

2012-01-21T01:12:00.000-08:00

The chores are done, the task complete

Sweeping and polishing

Mattresses turned

washing and

ironing.

The windows gleam, the silver sparkles, the furniture shines, and when the sun comes out to play I........

shall be ready to tackle the garden.

Grow lots of plants,

and set sail for sunsets new.

all images via wikipedia (Beatrix Potter illustrations)

Florence - Donatello

2012-01-17T01:57:00.000-08:00

When our youngest son was 17, and doing his A level exam in History of Art he loved the Italian Renaissance. I decided to take him to Florence so that he could see the work of the artists he was so passionate about.

Unbeknown to us before hand, our arrival happily coincided with the city celebrating the 600th anniversary of Donatello’s birth. Sculpture by Donatello had been gathered from all over Italy and brought to Florence for the occasion. A unique event was the erection of scaffolding and ladders in the old sacristy of San Lorenzo so that it was possible to climb up and see his large stucco roundels situated just below the dome. They show scenes done by Donatello around 1434 from the life of St. John the Evangelist. It was amazing that we were able to be so near to work that few could have seen so closely since being executed in situ by Donatello. Donatello’s great skill was in being able to add three-dimensional depth to very shallow relief. His sculptural figures marked a decisive step forward in the search for naturalism and the rendering of human feelings from those of the late International Gothic style. Of course, we had to do all of the Donatello exhibits, plus all of the art and architecture we had come to see anyway. Every day was packed with visits, and trying to co-ordinate the times to fit in as much as possible. The Italians have a very bad habit of shutting places up at ridiculous times of day, or even not opening at all.

Our son had me dashing up the hill to visit S. Miniato al Monte, back down to the Uffizi, over the Ponte Vecchio to the Palazzo Pitti and Brancacci Chapel with a final call at Santa Maria Novella where he gave me a lecture on Masaccio’s Holy Trinity. I am exaggerating if I say we did all of this in one day, but that was what each day felt like.

I was exhausted when we returned home after 5 days, but from then on became enthused by the Renaissance myself.

courtesy wikipedia

One of the roundels we were able to see when we climbed up on the scaffolding in San Lorenzo - Donatello's Raising of Drusiana

click to see more detail

Donatello - Feast of Herod, 1423 - 1427 - part of the baptismal font in The Baptistry, Siena.

This is a fine example of Donatello's skill at bringing three-dimension and use of linear perspective to shallow relief. Donatello has depicted several events occurring in succession as if happening at the same time. In the rear arcade we see a soldier bearing the head of John the baptist, which is simultaneously being presented to a horrified Herod at the front. A musician in the central arcade is a reference to the dance of Salome which she used to beguile her stepfather into having John the Baptist killed. Salome continues her dance on the front scene to the right of the table.

image courtesy sailko via Wikipedia

Mary Magdalene - example of Donatello portraying human emotion

Christmas Gift 2011

2012-01-14T07:17:00.000-08:00

My youngest son, his wife and three children are an industrious little family. Every year they make a Christmas card with each of them having an input. They decide on a theme, for example snowmen; then each of them designs a snowman which they then combine on the front of a card. It is good fun working out who has done what.

In Christmas 2010 they made a limited edition handmade book which they gave to their relatives and close friends. They each did a linocut to illustrate their own choice of poem which they then hand printed to accompany their picture.
This Christmas they did the same again but in a folder format.

Handmade folder and handmade paper

Title page

All linocut illustrations and printing done on a Victorian Press by hand

My tribute to Prof. Ian Donald

2012-01-13T02:51:00.000-08:00

Prof. Ian Donald 1910 - 1987

Regius Chair of Midwifery at Glasgow University

Prof. Donald was the pioneer of Ultrasonography in Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

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When we were married we went to live in Glasgow. H had been accepted at the University to do a PhD.
I worked for a firm of Management Consultants in Glasgow, and we lived on my income. We managed to save H's research grant to add to our savings for our first home. We stayed for 2 years with a remarkable old lady (more on her another time), before having our own little bungalow built on the route to Loch Lomond and with wonderful views towards the Campsie Hills.
We enjoyed watching the progress of our first home, and by the time it was ready for us to move in, our first baby was due in five months.
My doctor arranged for me to go to the brand new university maternity teaching hospital under the care of Prof. Donald. It had only been open for a few months, and was considered one the most modern maternity hospitals in Europe at the time.
Just before Christmas I went for a check up and it was discovered that I had high blood pressure, and I was ordered into hospital for bed rest. This is a stressful situation for an unborn baby, and not good for the mother either.
On Christmas Eve Prof. Donald came to see me with some students and trundled in a very large piece of apparatus which he called his ultrasonic machine. He asked me if I would agree to let him use his experimental equipment on my tummy. He said he would be very gently and that it would not hurt. I remember he was an extremely kind, and considerate man.

Although engaged in research his paramount responsibilities were as a doctor and teacher. To his patients he gave his full attention, and treated them as individuals, to his students he gave lectures delivered with care and enthusiasm.
He had a little lens on the equipment from which he could project an image on to a screen, nothing like the pictures taken today.

All that was visible was a single broken line, which he measured and told me that the baby was about 5½ pounds in weight. Thus, I became one of the very first people to test out his device whilst it was still a prototype, and which, has subsequently gone on to become one of the greatest developments in maternity care world-wide.

He sent me home for 2 days over Christmas, and said that he would return after the New Year when he would make a decision as to the best course of action for mine and the baby's health.

Our eldest son took the matter into his own hands and arrived at the end of December weighing 5 pounds 6 ozs! a month early. When Prof. Donald returned in January, he was delighted that nature had solved the problem for him.

Ultrasound showing one of my grandchildren - the images have moved on considerably since this was done. It is now possible to see 3D facial features and fingers etc.

War Horse written by Michael Morpurgo / January flowers in my garden

2012-01-10T02:36:00.000-08:00

The First World War is experienced through the journey of this horse—an odyssey of joy and sorrow, passionate friendship and high adventure. "War Horse" is a great story — a successful book, it was turned into an international theatrical play, and it now comes to the screen in an epic adaptation by one of the great directors in film history, Steven Spielberg. He has set the first part of the film in my locality, in the pretty village of Castle Combe. The countryside scenes were done in Devon.

all images above courtesy wikipedia

If you go and see the film watch out for Castle Combe.

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Strolling around the garden this morning it is surprising what flowers are already showing their faces.

first snowdrops

Garryia Eliptica tassels are now over 20cms long

Flower buds of the Clematis Armandii

Helleborus purpurascens

Primula

Bergenia Ballawley

Erica carnea - Winter heathers

All of the summer Geraniums have surprisingly survived the Winter so far

Helleborous buds

Spring bulbs emerging all over the garden

Signs, Symbols, and Meanings in Art (No.3) - The True Cross

2012-01-07T02:29:00.000-08:00

Warning! This Legend is a complex read.

Piero Della Francesca's Death of Adam from the story of the True Cross fresco in the Basilica of San Francesco, Arezzo.

If you look at the left hand side you can see Seth with the Archangel Michael.

This legend of the True Cross is not familiar to us today, but it was common knowledge to medieval man.

According to legend, when Adam grew old, his son, Seth, went to the gates of Paradise and begged for some healing ointment. The Archangel Michael appeared and gave him a branch, supposedly from the Tree of Knowledge. Seth returned to find his father dead, and planted the branch over his grave. It grew into a tree which was cut down to build a house for King Solomon, but the trunk could not be accommodated, and so was laid across a stream to serve as a bridge. On her visit to Solomon, the Queen of Sheba, who had had a vision that the Saviour would one day hang upon this trunk, approached the bridge and knelt to worship it.

wiki painting (from the fresco in Arezzo as previous above)

Procession of the Queen of Sheba where she recognises the wood of the Cross

She told Solomon that a man would come to destroy the kingdom of the Jews, and Solomon ordered the wood to be buried deep in the earth. When the time of Christ’s Passion drew near, the wood floated to the surface of a pool and was used to make his Cross.

The story leaps several hundred years to the 4^th century, when the emperor Constantine was converted to Christianity and baptized. His mother, Helena, went to Jerusalem to seek a relic of the True Cross, but Jewish scholars refused to tell her where to find it. One Jew was thrown down a dry well and, after six days without food, he capitulated and led Helena to the site of the Cross on Golgotha. Three crosses, however, were found, and since they could not distinguish Christ’s from those of the two thieves, Helena and her companion placed them upright in the city and waited for the Lord to give a sign. A young man was restored to life when the True Cross was held over him, and Helena returned home with part of the supposed relic, now preserved in St. Peter’s, Rome. The True Cross became famous over the centuries as it performed miracle after miracle. According to legend, Chosroes, king of Persia, stole part of the True Cross. Coveting its power, he used it to subjugate his citizens. In the name of the Cross the emperor Heraclius defeated him and ordered the Persians to embrace the Christian faith. On his victorious return to Jerusalem, Heraclius was told by an angel to humble himself.

Michele Lambertini's painting, The Emperor Heraclius Carries the Cross to Jerusalem, shows him entering the city barefoot, carrying the cross.

Musee du Louvre, Paris via wikipedia

The story of the True Cross links the Fall of Man to the Redemption. It was painted in the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance, especially in churches that possessed a relic of the Cross, such as Santa Croce, Florence. Here Agnolo Gaddi painted frescoes of the narrative in the Chancel.

courtesey Web Gallery of Art via wikipedia

Agnolo Gaddi - fresco in Santa Croce, Florence - Discovery of the True Cross

The story provided artists with a cast of celebrities, a variety of settings and a token piece of anti-semitism. Episodes were not necessarily painted in sequence. Piero della Francesca, painted his frescoes of the Legend of the True Cross in the Basilica of San Francesco in Arezzo. He put the battle scenes of Heraclius against the Persians opposite each other in the lowest tier of the cycle to create a balanced decorative scheme.

Below are some of the scenes from Piero della Francesca's frescoe, which fills the whole of the Basilica of San Francesco in Arezzo via wikipaintings.

Burial of holy wood

Heraclius restores the cross to Jeruselem

detail from the above painting

The Queen of Sheba meeting with King Solomon - the handshake between the Queen and King of Israel, portrays 15th century hopes for a union between the Orthodox and Western Churches.

Detail of Battle depicts the defeat of the Persian king, Chosroes, who had stolen the Cross.

Finding the True Cross - the town in the background is meant to be Jeruselem but is a fair representation of Arezzo in the 15th century.

Congratulations if you have made it to the end of this post. The legend of the True Cross is a very complicated story, and although I have tried to simplify it, and hope that the paintings help the narrative, it is still a rather convoluted tale to absorb.

Chutney

2012-01-06T07:33:00.000-08:00

I should like to introduce you to Chutney, a cat belonging to my youngest son's family, or perhaps I need to rephrase that, my youngest son's family belong to Chutney. As my grandson told me “you feed, shelter, love dogs, and they look at their owners and think” “they are God”. “You feed, shelter, love cats, and they look at their owners and think” “I am God”

I was sitting in the family's sitting room on New Years Day reading my book, when suddenly a pair of paws appeared at the arm of the chair, followed by a pair of eyes studying me intently. He then looked at the chair and back to me. Chutney was clearly telling me that this was his chair thank you very much and would you please go on your way. I, however, had no intention of leaving and continued to read - after all age comes before beauty. At short intervals of time he continued to come back and do the same thing again, and again, until I began to feel quite uncomfortable about depriving him of his seat!!!

snow in 2010

watching Simon's cat cartoon on the computer

A loved and adored cat called Chutney

images courtesy my daughter-in-law

George Jensen - Danish designer - highlighting the work of Häberli, Jensen & Rohde

2012-01-04T03:41:00.000-08:00

Alfredo Häberli - featured in this video is one of the current designers working for Georg Jensen, and continuing their tradition of beautifully designed contemporary pieces.

Alfredo sugar/salt dispenser

Knowing my love of Georg Jensen, the family in Norway bought me this dispenser for Christmas. Its playful and quirky design made in mirrored stainless steel is typical of Alfredo. Not only is it pleasing to look at, but ergonomically it feels good in the hands. On the table, the dispenser with its round base, tumbles from side to side in a delightful way without falling, stopping when it finds its centre of gravity.

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Georg Jensen - 1866-1935

Typical design by Georg Jensen with clusters of grapes - he loved to use naturalistic forms on his silver, and in particular flowers.

Jensen was the son of a knife grinder in the town of Raadvad just to the north of Copenhagen. He began his training in goldsmithing at the age of 14 in Copenhagen. His apprenticeship with the firm Guldsmed Andersen ended in 1884 and this freed young Georg to follow his artistic interests.

From childhood, Jensen had longed to be a sculptor and he now pursued this course of study at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. He graduated in 1892 and began exhibiting his work. Although his clay sculpture was well received, making a living as a fine artist proved difficult and he turned his hand to the applied arts.

He founded a small pottery workshop in partnership with Christian Petersen. Again the work was well received, but sales were not strong enough to support Jensen, by this point he was a widower with two small sons.

In 1901, he abandoned ceramics and began again as a silversmith and designer with Mogens Ballin. This led Jensen to make a landmark decision when, in 1904, he risked what small capital he had to opened his own silver smithy in Copenhagen.

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Johan Rohde - 1856-1935

Johan Rohde's silver combined form with stylistic design - he was able to move the Art Nouveau style of Georg Jensen's designs towards Art Deco, and more contemporary pieces.

Johan Rohde was a painter, graphic artist, designer and critic. He came from a wealthy family and initially studied painting and drawing. By the late 1880s Rohde was already an important artist whose work had been exhibited in Denmark and Germany. He was active in the movement in Denmark which sought to challenge traditional ways of teaching at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. He was a leader in the creation of the Free Exhibition, an exhibition mounted to show the work of artists whose work was not accepted at the more establishment Charlottenborg Exhibition.

He embraced the movement of that time to apply an artistic sensibility to objects of everyday life and he designed the funiture, silverware and hollowware for his own home.

He first met Georg Jensen when he commissioned Jensen to execute one of his hollowware designs. This collaboration was so successful that the men decided they would continue to work together with Rohde designing and Jensen executing pieces. In fact for the early years of the Georg Jensen silver smithy, there were two designers for the most part, Jensen and Rohde. Their styles were quite different. Jensen designed after the Arts and Crafts/Art Nouveau style with considerable ornamentation. Rohde's style was more controlled and he downplayed ornamentation in favor of form and line. He designed many hollowware pieces and flatware patterns, the most famous being Acorn.

The success of this collaboration with Rohde encouraged Jensen to bring in other designers who brought fresh ideas and new energy to the company.

New Year - new beginning

2012-01-02T07:28:00.000-08:00

Brinkmanship for the Spoon-billed Sandpiper.

courtesy JJHarrison via wikipedia

Once upon a time, a clutch of small eggs collected on the far Eastern Tundra in Russian were popped into a warm bag and taken on a ship to the UK. Whilst on the boat they were kept warm in an incubator where 13 little bedraggled birds hatched. Birds on the critically endangered list, the spoon-billed sandpiper. These 13 birds represent 5% of the worlds population, and they have now taken up residence, locally, at the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust founded by Sir Peter Scott.

When the birds feathers turn red it indicates that they are in the breeding season, as featured below.

Dutch artist John Gerrard Keulemans (1842-1912) via wikipedia

If prizes were awarded for the world's unluckiest bird, the spoon-billed sandpiper would be a leading contender. It breeds along the coast of Chukotka province, in easternmost Russia, where snow, floods and predators may foil its short window of opportunity to raise a family. If any chicks do survive, they must undertake one of the most perilous journeys of any migratory bird: 8,000km (5,000 miles) to their wintering grounds in Myanmar and Bangladesh. On the way they pass through the world's industrial powerhouses – Japan, China and South Korea – where the reclamation of coastal wetlands for economic development is proceeding at a terrifying rate. To make matters worse, if the sandpipers do reach their wintering grounds, poor local communities trap them for food. It's hardly surprising the spoon-billed sandpiper is heading for extinction.

apologies for poor image

via wikipedia

Breeding plumage

The 13 little birds have settled very happily in their new enclosure, and if they breed successful, the plan is to re-introduced them to the wild, then hopefully they will not end up like the poor old Dodo.

courtesy Ballista via wikipedia

Dodo reconstruction at Oxford University Museum of Natural History

Moral of this story - Don't put all of your eggs in one basket

Norske pepperkakehus - Norwegian gingerbread houses

2011-12-30T06:10:00.000-08:00

Last post for 2011

My hope is for a Happy and Peaceful 2012 to you all

Christmas in Norway

2011-12-29T01:57:00.000-08:00

Norwegian flags on tree in Stavanger Cathedral

Night reflections Stavanger

Day reflections Stavanger

Normal service will be resumed in January

We mistakenly travelled to Norway with chunky boots and thick woolly coats expecting to see snow!!! - Just back briefly, suitcases to unpack and then quickly repack.

Christmas Greetings

2011-12-20T10:50:00.001-08:00

Church bells ringing out over the Julian Alps, Kransjka Gora, Slovenia - 2010.

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

'Christmas Bells' poem by Henry Wadsworth-Longfellow

1807 - 1882

Kransjka Gora church in the late 19th century.

Adoration of the Magi by William Morris - The original tapestry was commissioned in 1886 by John Prideaux Lightfoot, rector of Exeter College, Oxford University for their Gothic revival chapel designed and built by George Gilbert Scott. The overall composition and figures were designed by Edward Burne-Jones. In a letter, Morris suggested that the tapestry's colouration should be both “harmonious and powerful, so that it would not be overpowered” by the chapel's brilliantly coloured stained glass. The tapestry took four years to realise, including two years' work by three weavers at Morris's Merton Abbey Mills. Lightfoot did not live to see the finished tapestry.

Happy Christmas

a Peaceful New Year

The family is beckoning.

The Elizabethans

2011-12-17T05:47:00.000-08:00

This is the second guest post done by H/first one here

via wikipedia

Elizabeth I of England, The Armada Portrait. This portrait was painted in approximately 1588 to commemorate the defeat of the Spanish Armada which is depicted in the background. The location of the portrait is Woburn Abbey, home of the Duke of Bedford.

courtesy Bill Ingalls via wikipedia

Elizabeth II - picture taken in 2007 on a visit to USA

History provides innumerable insights into the English psyche. The declaration of war in 1939 in response to German nationalism amply illustrates doggedness in the pursuit of deep-felt conviction - obstinacy in the face of overwhelming odds. How well Prime-minister Churchill personified the national spirit.

More recently, Britain's decision to exercise its veto at the European Council meeting in Brussels on 9th December, is pertinent to the above characterisation of the nation. By blocking an attempt to bring the Euro-zone crisis within the EU's remit, Britain has inevitably been castigated by mainland Europe as beyond all reason. This should have come as no surprise!

Because of its island status, Britain’s outlook has always been close, but not part of, that of mainland Europe. That twenty-two mile channel, even when spanned by a rail tunnel, has fostered an individuality and separateness of an infinitely greater dimension. This spirit is magnificently exemplified by A.N.Wilson’s recent book “The Elizabethans”. While ostensibly telling the story of the reign of Elizabeth I, the obvious parallels between the events of that time and those of today’s Elizabeth II, in terms of the “Englishness” that underlies these contrasting periods, is readily apparent.

The politics of Elizabeth I was driven by the split of her father – King Henry VIII – with the Church of Rome. At the time, religion in Europe was in turmoil. Nations following the religious reformers Luther and Calvin in the north were in conflict with Roman Catholic southern nations. England was also riven by the split between these two religious streams, but maintained a line between the two that satisfied (for the moment anyway) both sides of the divide. The Church of England, although reformed and separate from Rome, remained catholic in character and thus largely placated the die-hard Papists. At the same time the State’s brutal repression of extreme puritanism enabled a middle course to be steered, so largely avoiding civil disorder. England was under enormous pressure from counter-reformation forces in Europe to revert to Roman Catholicism, the failure of the Spanish armada being a turning point in this.

We see in this period the intellectual adeptness of Elizabeth the First’s reign to turn religious ambiguity into a national asset. Diplomatic relations with Spain were maintained while pretending that the pirating of Spanish treasure ships was not our business. Meanwhile, the perpetrators were showered with wealth and honours on their return home, thus rubbing salt into the wound. England turned from its squabbling neighbours in Europe to building a maritime capability, spreading its tentacles into the undeveloped world, leading eventually to a colonial empire.

Four hundred years on we have a Britain that wishes to be part of Europe, but not bound to it in every sense – the maintenance of the national currency being the principal divide. As we saw in the recent Brussels meeting, Britain was willing to be part of an EU pact to save the Euro-zone providing an exception was made for the City of London to remain outside of any new financial controls.

This should have come as no surprise to other members of the EU. The English believe that the country’s national interest (while remaining part of the EU Single Market) is best served by it not being part of a federal Europe, but free to pursue its international ambitions wherever this should take it.

This is the English character - the way we are – it is our roots. Nothing has changed! This is my personal view point.

A Happy Christmas to readers, wherever you may be - H

The Paternal Grandparents

2011-12-13T02:55:00.000-08:00

This first picture shows my grandmother along with my father, and his brother and sister. My father is the younger boy and was born in 1908.

My grandfather is absent from the family group because he was away serving in the Great War 1914 - 1918. He stayed in the army until 1920. This photo shows him seated with a little dog, probably abandoned due to war, which became his companion whilst he was away. My grandfather was a Bombardier in the Royal Field Artillery and his companion a Lance-Bombardier.

This is a picture of my father as a teenager. He was a really keen sportsman playing both football and rugby. Sadly neither of his sons were keen ball players, and nor are my two sons. He does, however, have a grandson in Canada who is keen on ball sports.

This is a photo of H's grandparents with his father standing in the middle of the picture between his parents.

The interesting thing is that H's father was also born in 1908, and I suspect that in both photos my father and his father are roughly the same age.

My family are from a large town, and H's family are farmers living in the countryside. This makes for an interesting comparison particularly concerning the clothes they are wearing. My father wears a stiff collar, bow-tie, waistcoat, jacket, and trousers with long dark stocking socks and boots. H's father is casually attired in a crew necked jumper, and I am presuming ¾ stockings and boots similarly to his younger brother. The comparisons with our grandmothers too is noticeable. There is definitely a town versus country thing going on. My aunt is obviously the little darling of the family with her hair in ringlets, topped off by a bow, and wearing an embroidery-anglais dress. H's Aunt looks as if her hair hasn't seen a brush or comb for many a day, and the hair ribbons look to have been tied in by herself - however, I love her look. I think she looks so very Pre-Raphaelite.

This is a rather poignant photo. The boy is the eldest son shown standing in the family group behind H's father. Sadly as was the way with many families pre modern surgery, immunisation, and antibiotics, his twin sister died from Meningitis shortly after this photo was taken.

Spirits in the Sky

2011-12-11T03:22:00.000-08:00

Midsummer sunrise in Tromsø, Norway

via wikipedia

Several years ago we travelled up the coast of Norway from Bergen to Tromsø to see the mid-night sun. The journey was partly by train, small plane and the Norwegian Post ship. The boat called in at the Lofoten Islands, where we stayed for a couple of nights. The pleasure of the post boat is that it is an ordinary working ship which visits many of the small outlying communities. It may drop off a piano, pick up a coffin or boxes of food, and of course leave and deliver sacks of mail.
The mid-night sun occurs in the summer months at latitudes north of the Arctic Circle. Given good weather, the sun is visible for a continuous 24 hours. We watched from a mountain top in Tromsø, it was wonderful being surrounded by daylight, seeing the sun skim down to the horizon, and then turn to climb into the sky without vanishing. As the sun travels down to the horizon it creates evening glows in the sky, but as it rides up again, immediately, dawn glows fill the sky, which are reflected in the water below.

It would be lovely to visit the same area and see the spectacular Northern Lights, aurora borealis, which this winter are predicted to be the best for many years.

On clear nights with a combination of the right atmospheric conditions, luminous, multicoloured shapes in the night sky are created. This has been happening ever since the earth had an atmosphere, so tundra trekking dinosaurs would have seen them.

Many Arctic dwelling peoples, including the Inuit, have attributed spiritual feelings to the phenomenon, deciding that the lights were probably the ghosts of ancestors. The Vikings, given to more colourful explanations thought the ethereal reflections came from the armour of the Valkyrior - the virgin warriors of Norse mythology.
The lights are at their most frequent in late autumn and winter/early spring; Between the autumn equinox and spring equinox.

Signs, Symbols, and Meanings in Art (No.3) - The True Cross

2011-12-10T09:02:00.000-08:00

Warning! This Legend is a complex read.

Piero Della Francesca's Death of Adam from the story of the True Cross fresco in the Basilica of San Francesco, Arezzo.

If you look at the left hand side you can see Seth with the Archangel Michael.

This legend of the True Cross is not familiar to us today, but it was common knowledge to medieval man.

wiki painting (from the fresco in Arezzo as previous above)

Procession of the Queen of Sheba where she recognises the wood of the Cross

Michele Lambertini's painting, The Emperor Heraclius Carries the Cross to Jerusalem, shows him entering the city barefoot, carrying the cross.

Musee du Louvre, Paris via wikipedia

courtesey Web Gallery of Art via wikipedia

Agnolo Gaddi - fresco in Santa Croce, Florence - Discovery of the True Cross

Some of the scenes from Piero della Francesca's frescoe, which fills the whole of the Basilica of San Francesco in Arezzo via wikipaintings.

Burial of holy wood

Heraclius restores the cross to Jeruselem

detail of the above painting

The Queen of Sheba meeting with King Solomon - the handshake between the Queen and King of Israel, portrays 15th C hopes for a union between the Orthodox and Western Churches.

Detail of Battle depicts the defeat of the Persian king, Chosroes, who had stolen the Cross.

Finding the True Cross - the town in the background is meant to be Jeruselem but is a fair representation of Arezzo in the 15th C.

Signs, Symbols, and Meanings in Art (No 1.) and (No.2)

Stormy weather

2011-12-08T12:32:00.000-08:00

The Hurricane force winds and gales in Scotland and the north of England today, vividly recall for H and myself a time when we too experienced similar conditions in Scotland. We had a little chalet bungalow that was built on a rise with wonderful views to the Campsie Hills.

via wikipedia

The Campsie Hills

We were woken in the wee small hours by a tremendous noise, it was like being cast on a ship in the middle of the ocean. We could hardly hear each other speak and had to shout to make ourselves heard. When we looked out of the windows, wood and debris was hurling itself around. Needless to say we felt worried, but did not really understanding what was going on. H was studying for his PhD so we had no spare money for newspapers or luxuries like phones and TV; the news didn't really figure in our lives, we were living in our own little bubble. In the morning when we looked out it was like a disaster zone. Our neighbours roof had gone because the builders had left roofing timbers opposite their house. These timbers had taken off, and smashed the windows, allowing the wind into the house. Another neighbour was surveying his drive, minus his timber garage, which he never saw again. One neighbour was trying to retrieve his car from beneath a collapsed garage. We were so lucky, our little Mini car, which did not have a garage, was surrounded by tiles from the neighbours roof, but not one had hit the car. We only lost three tiles from our roof, and the builder kindly came and replaced them without charge. Our sons new swing for his birthday was in the corner of the garden and H was able to crawl on his hands and knees and retrieve it to safety (it was impossible to stand upright). In retrospect he probably should not have gone out in it. Nearby Glasgow had 100,000 damaged roofs which needed tarpaulins to keep out the weather. Hundreds of vehicles were damaged by collapsed chimneys and falling trees, it was fortunate that it happened in the middle of the night and not during the daytime.

The experience unsettled us, and I believe was part of the reason why we eventually moved south. Every time the wind got up we felt insecure, and worried that we might incur damage to our little home, the expense of which we could not afford.

images of the storms today courtesy Yahoo news

Lavender (Lavandula)

2011-12-06T04:37:00.000-08:00

Lavender's blue, dilly dilly,

Lavender's green

When you are king, dilly dilly,

I shall be queen.

courtesy Flagstaffotos

The herb lavender is a joy to behold in the garden. However, in order to keep it looking delightful for years, it is important to give it a good trim when it has finished flowering, preferably in a nice dome or ball shape. Neglect to do this, and it will end up looking woody, unkempt, and not very appealing.

You may have noticed that with farmers diversifying into other activities, many are actually now growing fields of lavender. The reason for this is that lavender is useful in so many ways.

The Romans bought lavender to Britain. They recognised it for its healing and antiseptic qualities, for it usefulness in deterring insects and used it in washing.

Lavender was little used in the so called Dark Ages except by monks and nuns. Monasteries preserved the knowledge of herbal law in their physics gardens. The herb experienced a renaissance in Tudor England after Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries, and it was grown in domestic gardens. It was placed amongst linen, used to freshen the air, and mixed with beeswax to make furniture polish. It was planted close to the laundry room and clothing was laid over the plants to dry whilst absorbing the odour of lavender. Queen Elizabeth I loved lavender, and used it in tea to treat her migraines and as a perfume. Lavender began to be used in soap, potpourris, and water for washing and bathing. Hildegard of Bingen noted that oil of lavender was effective in the treatment of head lice and fleas.

Culpepper, the great English herbalist, wrote about lavender as being a cure all. Lavender sellers appeared on the streets during the Great Plague of 1665, prices went sky high, when it was thought that it would protect against the terrible disease. Bundles were tied to the wrists to ward off the plague.

There were many superstitions surrounding lavender. Putting a bundle in a cap prevented a head cold, bundles tied above a doorway or poked into latch locks would prevent ghouls, witches, and spirits from entering the abode. Lavender under the pillow to induce sleep. Many of these persist today. I remember a physiotherapist suggested tying a bundle of lavender on the bed rail when H was ill.

courtesy Dave Catchpole

There are suspicions that lavender should not be used by pregnant women. There is no reliable study that shows lavender is safe or unsafe, since it has not been adequately studied. However, there is some evidence that lavender may have some effects on hormones, and it is possible that it could disrupt the normal hormone balance in pregnancy.

courtesy jeaneeem

It takes 5 large plants to distill a very small bottle of lavender oil.
Today it is used for a variety of purposes. In foods, beverages, cosmetics and various other products. It is also used medicinally by applying to the skin, or inhaled as aromatherapy, and it is still considered to promote relaxation. The dried flowers are used in ice cream, biscuits, scones and tea.

courtesy Dave Catchpole

One of our lavender plants, clipped and shaped ready for next year

courtesy puliarf

Indeed the small flowers of the herbal lavender have a remarkable potency.

As the old song goes - Lloyd George knew my father, father knew Lloyd George - UK Prime Minister 1916 - 1922

2011-12-01T00:49:00.000-08:00

images courtesy BBC

courtesy Philip Halling via wikipedia

When H's mother was a teenager she worked for Lloyd George (LG) in his country house in Surrey. Many important people came to stay at the house, amongst them Mahatma Ghandi. She was just a young country girl, not at all worldly wise, and had no idea of the significance of being in the presence of someone of his standing. In fact she dismissed him as - a strange little man who sat crossed legged in front of the roaring log fires wearing something like a nappy.

image via wikipedia

Picture of Ghandi when he came to England in 1931,visiting the textile workers in Lancashire - this was the visit when H's mother saw him at LG's.

Obviously LG only visited his home in Surrey when time permitted. H's father was courting his mother at this stage, and sometimes when they parted company at the big house it would be raining, so his mother would dash inside and come out with one of LG's famous black cloaks to lend to his father.
H's father farmed the land close to LG's farm. One day the land abutting both of them was sold to LG. H's father knew what day and time the land transaction was to be completed, and decided to take advantage of the period before LG owned it by going with his shotgun to do a bit of shooting for the cooking pot.

As he was wandering back across the fields with his hands full of rabbits and his gun slung over his shoulder, who should he meet but LG. He was with Jennifer, whose mother was Francis Stevenson, LG's mistress, secretary, and eventually his wife. He was also accompanied by his personal Police Officer. Jennifer ran over to H's father to stroke the rabbits, and said she wanted one. LG chastised H's father for being on his land, and to hand a rabbit over to Jennifer. His father looked at his watch, pointed out that the land was not yet his, and that the rabbit was two shillings!!!! LG turned to his Police Officer, and told him to hand over the money. That evening in the local pub, H's father was enjoying a pint bought with the money, when in walked the Policeman. He came up to him, wearing a big grin on his face, and said by golly George, you've got a cheek!

An Italian out shooting for the pot in much the same way as H's father did.

Jet (lignite)

2011-11-26T01:14:00.000-08:00

courtesy Detlef thomas via wikipedia

Jet jewellery

courtesy Graham Proud via wikipedia

Whitby Harbour

Queen Victoria took mourning to a whole new level with the death of her beloved Albert. Social occasions were cancelled at court and hushed voices became the norm. Laughter was banned and the nation became very black and gloomy. Black cloth was the order of the day, something that won the Queen few friends in the textile industry. However, one little fishing village, Whitby, in north Yorkshire, rich in jet flourished. It is found in Whitby estuary and for several miles along the coast. It became a rare beneficiary of the court mourning, where no coloured jewels were permitted. Queen Victoria, however, was known to wear a glistening jet tiara from time to time.

Queen Victoria with 5 of her children in mourning

Jet is a geological material and considered to be a minor gemstone. It comes from the fossilised trunk of the Monkey Puzzle tree formed during the Jurassic age. Many people imagine that it is a derivative of coal, which too is fossilised wood. However, coal was formed during the Carboniferous age. The jet found in Whitby is approximately 182 million years old. Why is it that there is Jet in Whitby?

During the mid-Jurassic period the British Isles was located further south in the latitude of Northern Spain and Portugal. It was, therefore, nearer the equator and had a climate to match. The dominant species of tree was the Araucaria (Monkey Puzzle tree), very similar to the ones we see today.

Monkey Puzzle tree - Araucaria under snow in Kew Garden via wikipedia
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A few more gems from Whitby; Wonderful fish; Captain Cook learnt his sailing craft in Whitby and set off on many of his famed voyages of discovery in Endeavour, his Whitby flat bottomed ship; Whitby Abbey founded in 656 by Oswy, the Christian King of Northumbria; Bram Stoker set part of his book, Dracula, in Whitby, describing Dracula's arrival on the Russian ship, Demeter, which was shipwrecked, and washed ashore in the harbour.

courtesy J3Mrs via wikipedia

You can see the Abbey ruins behind the church, and if you click on the photo it is possible to see the famous 199 steps where Dracula ran up to the graveyard, in the shape of a black dog.

Bulgarian Cubbyholes

2011-11-22T10:59:00.000-08:00

Insect Cubbyholes

When we travelled to Bulgaria in the 1970s, H had just started working at a Government Research Laboratory. When his colleagues knew where we were going, they suggested that we contact a Bulgarian, called Peter, who had spent several weeks working at the laboratory the previous year. They wanted us to visit him and take him a bottle of whiskey, a rare commodity in Communist Bulgaria at the time.

We telephoned the family on our arrival, and they arranged to pick us up from our hotel so that we could have a meal with them at their home. We were really excited at the prospect of being entertained by locals.

When they arrived, Peter's wife was driving a very old, enormous car. On the journey she seemed to have trouble climbing the hills, and the gear lever on the steering column was also giving difficulties. As the journey continued we understood that the car hardly ever came out except to visit their vineyard in the countryside.

The leafy streets where they lived in Varna were incredibly quiet, the roads were empty and nobody was around. We were told that it was because the British production of The Forsyte Saga was on TV, and everybody who could get access to a television was indoors watching it. It was then that Peter's wife turned to H and said she had been expecting him to be dressed and looking like Jolyon!!! He must have been a disappointment wearing his smart but casual attire.

As we pulled up outside their home we were confronted with a large turn of the century double fronted house. It had been in Peter's family for years. On entering the hall with its central stairway, it suddenly became clear that the house had been split up into many parts. We went up the stairs to their section, where under Communist rules they were allowed only 17 sq. meters each. The rest of their home had been confiscated and given to other families to live in. This was a shock for us to discover, all they had was a living kitchen, and two small annex bedrooms for themselves and their son.

In the kitchen one wall was given over completely to little cubbyholes. They must have had about a dozen each in which to keep all of their possessions and belongings.
The two dolls in national costume were very kindly given to our sons when we left after our visit. A happy reminder of our special time spent with them.
Further post on Bulgaria here

Domes

2011-11-19T06:15:00.000-08:00

It was the Romans who gave us one of the great architectural features of our city landscapes today. Can you imagine Florence, Washington, London or Paris without a dome enhancing the skyline?
The dome first arrived on the scene with the extraordinary building of the Pantheon in Rome, by Marcus Agrippa, as a temple to all the gods in Ancient Rome. It was rebuilt by Emperor Hadrian in 126 AD. Almost two thousand years after it was built, the Pantheon's dome is still the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome. It has been in continuous use throughout its history, and since the 7th C it has been used as a Roman Catholic church. Seeing it today, you cannot help but be impressed and marvel at such a remarkable feat executed by the Romans.

painted by Rudolf Ritter von Alt image via wikipedia

painted by Giovanni Paolo Panini via wikipedia

courtesy Dadam3zk via wikipedia

courtesy MatthiasKabel via wikipedia

The oculus at the dome's apex is the only source of interior light, apart from when the doors are open. Throughout the day, the light from the oculus moves around the space in a reverse sundial effect. It also serves as a cooling and ventilation system. It is open to the elements and during storms, a drainage system below the floor handles the rain that falls through.
The second great dome built was that of Hagia Sophia - St. Sophia in Constantinople (now Istanbul) - dedicated in 360. It is famous for its massive dome, and considered the epitome of Byzantine architecture. It was designed by the Greek scientists Isidore of Miletus, a physicist, and Anthemius of Tralles, a mathematician.

image courtesy Robster1983 via wikipedia

image courtesy Christophe Meneboeuf via wikipedia

After the dedication and until 1453 St. Sophia served as the Greek Patriarchal Cathedral except during 1204-1261 when it was converted to a Roman Catholic Cathedral. In 1453 the building became a mosque, hence the islamic features now seen in the interior. In 1953 it was secularised and opened as a museum.
I think that it is worth pondering at this stage, and considering the fact that it took nearly a thousand more years before the third great dome would appear on the European skyline.

The main building of the dumo in Florence was structurally completed in 1436. But by the beginning of the 15th C following a 100 years of construction, it was still missing it's dome. The great dome on the Florence dumo was designed by Filippo Brunelleschi who looked to the Pantheon for solutions. However, he chose to employ a double-shell design approach to the construction of the dome, using bricks due to their light weight compared to stone. Today we have modern understanding of physical laws and the mathematical tools for calculating stresses. Brunelleschi had to rely on intuition and whatever lessons he could learn from the many large scale models he built.

image courtesy MarcusOba via wikipedia

image courtesy enne via italian wikipedia

image via wikipedia

image courtesy Jps3 via wikipedia

Vasari's great fresco of the Last Judgement under the dome. He began it in 1572 and it was completed by Federico Zuccaro.
Having seen many of the great monuments of antiquity achieved by the Romans, I am always posing this question to myself - how skilled and great were the Romans?

I shall reveal more in future posts.

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An insight into Filippo Brunelleschi - polymath

Silver altar in the Duomo, Pistoia.

A substantial amount of the silver work on this altar was done by Filippo Brunelleschi. He began his working life training as a gold and silversmith. It is amazing how these Renaissance artists were so versatile, and could turn their hand from painting to sculpture to architecture.

The pivotal event for Brunelleschi happened when he entered the competition to design the bronze north doors to the Baptistery in Florence. Lorenzo Ghiberti and Brunelleschi were joint winners but the prize was to use Ghiberti's design. Brunelleschi refused to share the work and quit. He took himself off to Rome for several years where he studied the architecture of antiquity, and in particular the Pantheon. In competition again, he designed the dome for Florence, but refused to reveal the secrets of his plan knowing his ideas would be stolen. He suggested that the commission go to whoever could stand an egg on a flat marble surface. This odd challenge was accepted. Everyone failed except Brunelleschi who, to the outrage of his competitors, simply cracked the egg on its base and it stood upright. Anyone could do that, they said. To this he replied, With my plans anyone could raise the cupola. Impressed by his confidence, the wardens gave him the commission. However, the wardens were persuaded that the work was too important to be entrusted to one man, and once again his old rival Ghiberti was made his partner. Brunelleschi still refused to reveal his plans; work started, but stopped at a height of 24 feet. He retired to his bed feigning an illness. Ask Lorenzo, he croaked to the masons when they came for their intructions. Being ignorant of what should be done, Lorenzo countered by saying, I will do nothing without Filippo. He was miraculously restored to health when the wardens agreed to his plan for Ghiberti to design and build some stone ties. These were demonstrably unsuitable and Gilberti was dismissed. Brunelleschi was then made superintendent for life; he finally revealed his model and his genius became apparent.

Happy Birthday

2011-11-18T08:07:00.000-08:00

Today is H's birthday, and we have celebrated by having a few days away in the SW corner of England which has its own micro-climate - St Ives.

Agapanthus still in flower

Aeoniums - if I left mine outside at this time of year they would turn mushy.

The area was beloved of the St. Ives school of painters during the early and mid part of the 20th C because of the special light it affords.

The bay where we stayed was a pleasant walk along the cliff top to St. Ives.

In the late 19th C on the opposite side of the peninsula, the Newlyn School of painters settled. Among the Newlyn group are two of my favourite painters.

Between the Tides by Walter Langley - oil on canvass owned by Warrington Museum & Art gallery.

Stanhope Forbes - Fish for Sale on a Cornish Beach - owned by Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery

November Garden

2011-11-13T12:56:00.000-08:00

It is nearly the middle of November, and the garden still has some interest in it.

The wonderful catkins on the Garrya Elliptica

Winter Violas in hanging basket

Leaves on the grape vine

Hydrangea flowers have taken on their autumn colours

Variegated Periwinkle

Hardy fern

Winter heather

Porch geraniums still surviving

California poppy eschscholzia californica

Box ball Buxus Sempervirens

Hardy cranesbill geranium

Sweetpea

Time to put the artichokes to bed with a nice thick layer of straw

Gregynog Hall, Mid-Wales

2011-11-08T12:37:00.000-08:00

courtesy Rollercow via Wikipedia

courtesy Dan Gregory via Wikipedia

We have stayed many times at Gregynog Hall, Mid-Wales over the past 20 years. It was left by the art collector owners, Margaret and Gwendoline Davies, to the University of Wales.
At the start of the twentieth century the sisters were the two richest unwed women in the British Isles with a combined personal fortune of £1,000,000 and an annual income of £40,000 inherited from their grandfather, David Davies of Llandinam. He was a self-made man whose fortune was derived from coal-owning, railways and the docks.
The current hall was built in the 1840s by Charles Hanbury-Tracy, lst Baron Sudeley, and believe it or not is one of the earliest examples of a concrete clad building still in existence. Only when you are within touching distance of the building do you realise it is not a wooden tudor house.
Margaret and Gwendoline were avid collectors of paintings, sculpture, and books. They were also great lovers of music, and the house has a large music room which now holds the Gregynog Music Festival founded by the sisters in 1933. The Courtyard is home to the internationally recognised Gwasg Gregynog, a private printing press founded by the sisters, and which is still producing limited edition and very collectable hand-bound books.
When we first began staying there, the house was full of treasures, which have now been removed to the National Gallery of Wales, Cardiff, for their own safety.
The sisters began buying art in 1907 and concentrated initially on pre-Impressionist paintings. They bought a number of Carot's exquisitely feathery landscapes. They purchased works by Millet, Daumier and Turner. They then turned their attention to Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art. They bought three of Monet's water-lily paintings, and also one of his most atmospheric depictions of Rouen cathedral, Rouen Cathedral: Setting Sun. The two most famous works they purchased were La Parisienne by Pierre-Auguste Renoir and a version of Rodin's Kiss cast in bronze, both of which were still in the house when we first visited.

La Parisienne by Renoir

courtesy The Yorck Project via Wikipedia

As you walk down the long dark tree lined drive towards the property, the vista suddenly opens up to reveal the black and white house, offset by the yellow castelatted yew hedge in the ha-ha, and being mid-Wales, the emerald green lawns - the setting is pure magic.

courtesy tregynoncommunitycouncil

This linocut of Gregynog Hall was printed at Gwasg Gregynog (the private press). It is from a linocut by Peter Allen, with a quote from William Morris around the edge.

Apologies for the poor reproduction, but I had difficulty scanning it. I did not want to remove the frame.

If I were asked to say what is at once the most important production of Art and the thing most to be longed for,

I should answer A BEAUTIFUL HOUSE and if I were further asked to name the production next in importance and the next thing to be longed for, I should answer A BEAUTIFUL BOOK. To enjoy good houses and good books in self respect and decent comfort seems to me to be the pleasurable end towards which all societies of human beings ought now to struggle - William Morris.

Anticipating the Spring

2011-11-06T04:02:00.000-08:00

Spring is a very long journey away. Christmas first, and then who knows what weather will be thrown at us this year. Today is really warm, the sun is shining, and I have started thinking about the garden next year. We have decided to have more lilies, but are especially drawn to these turkish cap varieties. The pink ones below - Martagon, actually grow in the wild quite near to where we live. I have also seen them growing in a valley deep in the Pyrenees where they have lingered in my memory. They have been on our garden list for a long time, but I always remember too late in the season. This year I am thinking ahead.

Martagon Pink

Martagon Album

Martagon Yellow Bunting

Davidii Bright Orange

Leichtlinii Yellow Speckled

Hiawaitha Red Tiger Lily
images courtesy Harts Nursery

Remember remember the fifth of November, Gunpowder, treason and plot. I see no reason why gunpowder, treason should ever be forgot.....

2011-11-05T06:26:00.000-07:00

I do not want to put a damper on tonight's festivities, enjoy your bonfire and lots of exciting fireworks.

However, I think that it is also important to remind ourselves, and remember, that the Gunpowder Plot was as a result of intense religious persecution of the Roman Catholics, which started during the reign of King Henry VIII.

courtesy Sam Roberts via wikipedia

There was religious persecution on both the Catholic and the Protestant sides.
Thank goodness, that today we have laws against this type of discrimination.

Mrs. Delany 1700 - 1788

2011-11-03T05:21:00.000-07:00

Mary Delany

image wikipedia

Painting in National Portrait Gallery, London.

Painted by John Opie (died 1807)

Recently I saw a small piece of Mrs. Delany's exquisite paper cut work. I knew about her several years ago, but she had slipped from my mind. However, seeing the little piece reminded me of her beautiful work.
Mrs. Delany, Mary, had always been an avid artist, and loved gardening. She was good at needlework, drawing, painting and cutting paper. It is the paperwork for which she is most well known. She called them her flower mosaicks, made out of coloured paper. In 1772, at the age of 72 years she began to create cut out paper artworks, decoupage, as was the fashion for ladies of the court. Mrs. Delany was a member of Queen Caroline's court - Caroline was the wife of King George III. She created nearly a thousand collages over 10 years before her failing eyesight caused her to stop. They are exceptionally detailed and botanically accurate depictions of plants. She used tissue paper and hand colouration to produce these pieces. She took great care to make sure each of her flower details were correct in the number of stamens and petals. She became so well known that many donors began to send flowers for her to make cuttings of. The flower mosaicks fill 10 albums, which can be seen in the Enlightenment Gallery at the British Museum, London.

Crinium Asiaticum - Asiatic Crinum

Physalis - Chinese Lantern - Winter Cherry

Passiflora Laurifolia, Bay Leaved- Passionflower

Bombax Ceiba - Red Silk Cotton Tree

Nymphea Alba - White Water Lily

Amaryllis Aurea Solander

Alcea Rosea - Hollyhock

Aletris Iris Uvaria - I think the name of this has now changed to (Kniphofia) - Red Hot Poker

Iris Squalens - Iris

Aeschelus Hippocastanum - Horse Chestnut

kind permission of The British Museum

This book, recently published, The Paper Garden, by Molly Peacock, relates her more than interesting life, and shows many of her delicious paper cut flowers.

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H visited the British Museum last week and went to see Mrs. Delany's work. You go to the 4th floor - the Prints and Drawings area. Behind a screen with a Michelangelo cartoon, there is a door to room 90. Ring the bell, when you have shown proof of your identity, someone will let you through. Once you are admitted,bags etc are taken from you and placed in a locker. You are then taken to a desk, where a gallery assistant will give you protective gloves, and bring a box of Mrs. Delany's work to you. Once you have seen one box, you can have another. This area does not keep the museum hours, they shut for lunch and close earlier.