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Posted by: livingscripture | June 1, 2015

Ninth Monday of Ordinary Time

From the Word of the Day

“Have you not read this Scripture passage, ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; by the Lord has this been done’.”            (Mark 12: 10)

How should we live this Word

 Mark locates this passage at the end of a very strong parable, that of the vine-dressers who live their dishonesty to the nth degree, not only by cheating the owner, first killing his servants, they then kill the ‘beloved son’.

The evangelist says clearly that Jesus was addressing the ‘chief priests, scribes, and elders of the people’ that is, the elite of the great ones of His times.  The parable is very dramatic.  The vine-dresserworkers of the vineyard 1 assassins receive the merited punishment from the owner.   However, the parable then ends with words from Scripture evoked by Jesus as though to confirm the truth with convincing power.  He, the expert builder of houses, gets rid of the stones that do not give evidence of solidity, and chooses the right one for the corner stone.  Notice, it is precisely the one that the incompetence and foolishness of the pseudo builders had thrown away!

It is almost like another short parable at the conclusion of the one of the vine-dressers.  But the leaders are so opposed to Jesus that their anger increases against Him who had spoken to them so frankly.  We joyfully appreciate the teaching.

Yes, the cornerstone is Jesus.  On Him, who was sent by the Father, on His Word read and prayed each day, we build the house of our life.  There will be those who oppose us in one way or another, and laws are still enacted in the places that want to eliminate Jesus and His Gospel.

In my pause for silent contemplation, I will relish the words of Jesus and ask for courage to stand with Him no matter how much opposition I may find.

Jesus, help me to build the ‘house’ of my life on You and on Your Word.

The Voice of St. Francis of Assisi

When you pray, say the Our Father, or: We adore You, O Christ, in all Your Churches throughout the world and we bless You because through Your holy Cross You have redeemed the world.

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86 Bloomfield Avenue
Newark, New Jersey
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Contact Details for Bloomfield Health Pavilion LLC

Bloomfield Health Pavilion LLC currently serves the Newark area as a sober living center. Bloomfield Health Pavilion LLC is licensed in the state of New Jersey. To discuss the specifics of your intervention needs with Bloomfield Health Pavilion LLC, you should inquire with them.

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5 Market St
Amesbury, Massachusetts
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THEODORA NOYES MCDOWELL has an office in Amesbury, Massachusetts and provides counseling and/or therapy for their clientele. THEODORA NOYES MCDOWELL is listed as a PH.D., LICSW, but may provide additional support.

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THEODORA NOYES MCDOWELL is local to the 01913-2408 area.

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Just London-Part 1

September 2017 brought my eighth trip over to England, this time with my husband and our close friends.  We went specifically to visit with the Haigh’s of Fox Hill B&B and introduce Bruce, who’s hadn’t been to London before.

Neil, Linda (me), Suzanne and Bruce

Time always seems to go so fast, on top of which I got a cold and had to sit out a couple of days.  The rest of the group carried on while I was well taken care of by Sue, who served me soup and “Aunt Nora’s tea”.  tea  An English custom, weak tea with no milk or sugar, specifically for when one is under the weather.  It was warm and comforting and much appreciated while I was recuperating!

london pass  We visited some places that I had been and a few that I hadn’t had the chance to see before.  I’ve been to London in September, but this time it seemed more crowded than ever.  Buying the London Pass helped,  you can bypass the lines in many places.  If you get the pass be sure to pay the extra and include an Oyster card, it’s a great value and you get around much quicker.  With the pass you get a one day, hop on and off bus pass, a perfect way to get an overview of the city, especially if you haven’t been before.   We decided to take the six day pass, even though we were in London for ten days.  You have to think about it in advance, the first time you use it starts the clock for however many days you purchased.  The first day you get there is typically shot.  By the time you arrive,  go through customs, wait for luggage, travel to your hotel, etc., there isn’t a lot of time left in the day to go exploring.  Better to shower, relax and have a revitalizing meal, fish and chips perhaps.  Don’t forget the traditional mushy peas!

fish & chips

The pass is good for over 80 of the top attractions and has the Fast Track entry to some of the most popular sites. Of course I can’t list them all here, but the Tower of London, Windsor Castle, Hampton Court  and Westminster Abbey to name a few.  Check it out at https://www.londonpass.com/.  The cost at this writing is approximately £184.00, but check the site often because they are always having sales.  You can usually save 20%, which brings the price down to £163.15, including the travel pass which is an Oyster card worth £40 of travel.  We used most of it, going all over the city.  I had about £12 left because of my cold, but the others used up pretty much all of it with out having to pay any more for day travel passes!  I’m not meaning to advertise for London Pass, but you do save some serious money by getting this and not buying each entry separate.

One of the places I hadn’t had the chance to go before were the Churchill War Rooms.  This is a fascinating museum!  If you love history,  and are interested in WW2, you will love this.   Just the story of them turning out the lights and locking it up when the war ended, not to be opened up again until the 1980s, was enough to peak my interest.   It’s laid out in a nice flow.  You can peek into the underground rooms where these men and women worked day and night, throughout the war, then move on to amazing photo timelines, film clips that you’ve never seen before and Churchill’s personal items.  Plan to spend at least two or three hours here.

Churchill warrooms

I also wanted to share some of my favorite, iconic sites such as St. Pauls Cathedral, Hampton Court and Westminster Abbey.  All are worth seeing, all were very crowded.   I think the next time,  I will take a few minutes to check out the least busy times.  Each of these wonderful historic locations are worth visiting.  I like to do some preliminary research, just to get the basic history before I go.

Hampton Court Palace

Above the entrance gate to Hampton Court Palace

Hampton Court:  Building was started in 1515 by Cardinal Wolsey, one of Henry VIII’s favorites.  When he fell out of favor with the King, Wolsey gave it to him as a gift, hoping to save himself from Henry’s wrath.  The architecture is Gothic inspired Tudor, built of brick in amazing design and decoration, massive, with beautiful grounds.  It’s easy to imagine the King and Anne Boleyn walking the Privy Garden.  The ceiling alone in the chapel is worth making the trip, but seriously, this is a stunning palace and only one of the two remaining that belonged to Henry the VIII.  The tour here is interesting in that you will learn the everyday life of running this palace for hoards of people.  Hampton Court has it’s own train station and is just a short walk away.  There is much to see inside and out, with a couple of good cafes and some interest for children as well.  Check the calendar because often there are special events and re-enactments that you can watch or participate in.

One of the King’s Beasts, standing on the bridge, overlooking the moat

St. Paul’s Cathedral:  There has been a church on this site since AD 604!  The present cathedral, dated from the late 17th century, was designed by Sir Christopher Wren.  Its construction was part of rebuilding the City after the Great Fire.  It is one of those buildings in England that you can only marvel at.  As with most of the attractions in London, you receive an audio guide, giving you history and interesting tidbits.  My favorite story about St. Paul’s is how the fire brigade posted itself near the roof, ready to put out sparks from the blitz.  The selfless dedication to save one of London’s landmarks is inspiring.  St. Paul’s was hit by a bomb in WW2.  It survived because the bomb exploded in midair and thankfully missed anything crucial.

St Pauls

St.Paul’s Cathedral from the Millennial Bridge

Westminster Abbey:  I had been lucky enough to visit Westminster Abbey when the Haigh’s took my cousin Marcie and me to a Christmas choir concert here.  It is ancient and beautiful with so much history, and pageantry.  Construction of the present church began in 1245, on the orders of Henry the VIII.  It is still a working church and indeed our friends children attended pre-school here, which to this American, seems very strange.  You imagine kings and queens of old, and yet, most of modern day pageantry takes place at this site.  The Queen’s own wedding , the famous wedding of Charles and Diana,  and William and Kate.  All but one coronation since 1066 has taken place in the Abbey.  Only Henry III in 1216 was left out, because the French Prince, Louis had taken temporary control of London.  The tombs and headstones of the Abbey read like a who’s who of British history.   With the audio guides you get selected stories of the politics, rivalry, bravery and love lives of some of these famous English men and women.

One of the gorgeous stone carvings near the entrance when you visit Westminster Abbey

While I was laid up, the rest of the group hit a couple of not to miss places that I have been to more than once.  They spent some hours at the British Museum and the Tower of London.  Both are worth visiting and both are included on the London Pass.  Although the British Museum is technically one of the many free museums in London, there is a fee for some of the exhibits.

Whie tower IMG_0540

Some of the other places we hit I’ve written about previously.  The Imperial War Museum,  walking around Buckingham Palace and Green Park, the City of Westminster, the bus tour, lunches at pubs, etc.  Always so much to do in London!

Check out my next post, coming soon:  Just London-Part 2.  I will share the best cupcake place I’ve ever been,  off the beaten path shopping, family dinners, more food and fun.

Happy travels!      london poster

A Series of Themed Trips Around England

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From the first visit I made to England for a family reunion with cousins I didn’t actually know, I have been looking for interesting things to see and do.   Truthfully, when I’ve gone for the sheer purpose of visiting family and friends it’s been wonderful.

However, my cousin and I had kicked around a few “theme” ideas over the years, ie:  the rock and roll of our youth, movies, books and authors, hiking, castles, etc., and also the different areas around the country including Scotland and Wales  So, with that idea in mind I set off in search of themes or specific areas to visit.  The first installment is north to south on the west side of England and into Wales.  These are very loose suggestions because people have their own interests and preferences which are easily researched on Google.  I mean only to highlight some of the history, famous things to see and do and maybe a few quirky things as well.  I’ll put in web addresses and current prices when I can,  please understand that these can change at any time.

York to Cornwall

The Shambles

I had an email from a friend of mine wanting suggestions for a visit from York in the north of England, to Wales and Cornwall.  I appreciate the vote of confidence so have decided to start my series with that, this one’s for you Pla’.

We’ll start in York, a beautiful city in it’s own right.  For less than $20 US dollars you can take the city bus tour, there is live commentary from April to October.  If you’ve read my blog before, you know I’m a big fan of a live tour guide.  The history and stories are more meaningful when you have a real, animated person telling them.  Also, with the audio you take the risk of not being at the place they are talking about because of traffic and other human delays.  This kind of bus tour is a good place to start in any new city you visit.  You get the lay of the land, a good overview of the city and find lots of things you might want to see but wouldn’t know of otherwise.

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There are plenty of walking tours, including history and ghost tours.  Don’t miss “The Shambles”, York’s oldest street with fifteenth century buildings.  Lots of shops, restaurants and history to see here.  I would definitely get the York pass when going.  It’s around $55 US dollars, but you get entry into thirty of the top attractions.  Visit the York Maze for some fun, there’s ice cream and you can picnic there.  York Minster is included on the pass, it’s history and craftsmanship are worth a look.  I can’t list them all, but a few that sound interesting are the York Dungeon, Chocolate Story, many manor houses and museums, a brewery, air museum, Roman bath and many others. Something for everyone, go to http://www.yorkpass.com.

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From York head to Liverpool by train or drive on the M62, it takes about two and half hours.  I like driving because you can see the countryside at your own pace and stop at anything that looks interesting to you.  If you haven’t taken the chance of driving here, I can tell you from experience that you get used to it quickly.  It’s easier with two, one to drive and the other to gently remind you to stay in the left lane and also look at maps and signs. Start in a more rural area and work your way up to cities.  I’ve driven in London and though it’s quite stressful if you aren’t used to it, I am here to tell the tale, so it wasn’t too bad!

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Albert Dock

Pla’ and I are both huge Beatles fans (see post of June 6, 2014) and going to Liverpool has been a dream of mine since the 1960s when I saw them on the Ed Sullivan show and listened to them on the radio, my transistor held against my ear.  A good start is “The Beatles Story” in the Albert Dock, a visitor center dedicated to that group.  You should allow several hours because there’s so much to see.  Albert Dock is also where you start the “Magical Mystery Tour”, a bus tour of Beatles landmarks like Strawberry Fields and Penny Lane.  The National Trust also runs a special tour of John and Paul’s childhood homes.  You actually go inside and see where they grew up!  There are so many different tours and things to see, clubs where they played, restaurants, streets and museums.  Worth a visit if you have appreciated their music over the years.

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There is a lot to see here even if you aren’t a Beatles fan.  Liverpool is officially the “World Capital of Pop”, so consequently lots of music, theater and nightlife.  There is the Merseyside Maritime Museum, beaches, lots of sports venues and a modern cathedral.  You can still catch a “Ferry Cross the Mersey”, from Liverpool across to Birkenhead, about a 40 minute trip each way.  There are also tour options if you’re interested in the history of the canal and ferries, go to http://www.merseyferries.co.uk.

Leaving Liverpool for Wales, you will be looking at an over three hour drive on the A483.  You might want to plan it out so that you’re stopping for lunch around noon or leave right after lunch in Liverpool so you arrive before dark.  I stopped in Wales for a nice pub lunch at the wrong time and they were closed to anything but a cup of tea.  I’m not sure if this is the same everywhere in that area, but take along some snacks just in case.  I loved Wales, it’s beautiful and easier to drive for an American, better placed signs than I found in the countryside of England where often, by the time I read and understood where I wanted to turn, I was past the street I needed to turn on.  Thankful for roundabouts!

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You don’t have to go deep into Wales to appreciate this tiny country.  Visiting from America, few of us have the time to see everything we want to see in one trip.  So to get a taste of it, you can see some of it on the way down and stop in Brecon for a night or two. Right on the edge of Brecon Beacons National Park, the country features incredible beauty.  There are National Trails for walking, wildlife,  caves to explore, cultural heritage, dark sky venues for stargazing, and market towns. If you’re a reader there is a town of books,  Hay on Wye, where you can spend many hours perusing as many books as you like. Watching TV there is also fun, lots of the stations are in Welsh but there are also English stations if you just want to stay in and relax a bit.

One of the places that I love right over the Welsh border is Gloucestershire.  So much history and many wonderful sites to visit, beautiful gardens and good restaurants.  Some highlights are the Gloucester Cathedral, Cotswold Wildlife Park and Gardens in Burford.  Burford is a gorgeous place to visit, quaint, friendly, great cream teas and shops to stop in.  Hidcote (Chipping Camden) and Highgrove (Tetbury) Gardens are both outstanding ways to spend a couple of hours outside, looking at natures beauty, even if it is man made nature. So well put together and a nice way to unwind if you’ve visited busy towns or cities with it’s traffic.

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The Cotswolds

The Cotswolds is an area in south central England which encompasses from just south of Stratford-upon-Avon to just south of Bath.  I love the names of the towns and villages here so much and always wonder what they originally meant.  Some of my favorites are Chipping Sodbury,  Lower Slaughter, Wotten Under Edge, Stow-on-the-Wold, Wantage, Northleach and Painswick.  I will look out for a book about the village names on my next visit.  The villages here are so iconic, just what we Americans think an English village should look like.  The yellow stone of the buildings, covered in wisteria provide lots of photo ops.  Many nice shops and cafes here to enjoy.  There are too many to list, but if you’re a movie buff like me there are tons of places to see here that were used in movies and TV.  Check out www.cotswolds.info/places/ for interesting things to do here and look under “film and tv locations” to pick some of your favorites.  Glouster Cathedral=Hogwarts,  I’m just saying!

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Glouster Cathedral

Going south to Cornwall via the M5 and A30, it’s close to a four hour drive so you want to start early.  There are so many places to see this way,  you can pick and choose according to your interests. I think I would just enjoy the ride through the moors and choose a nice place to lunch, making a few stops for photos or things that look interesting in the moment.

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The Cornwall Moors

You could go all the way to Land’s End if your interested, great photo ops here.  If you’ve ever read the novels of Daphne De Mornay, you will love exploring Cornwall.  In fact, if you have time before or during your trip, pick up a copy of “Rebecca” or “Jamaica Inn”, wonderful stories that help put the place in context. Be sure to stop in the Lizard while in Cornwall for some of the best Cornish Pasties anywhere!  There are lots of villages and towns between here and Highclere Castle on to London.

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Heading north on A30 and A303 to Highclere Castle for us “Downtown Abbey” fans is a must. Stopping along the way at Stonehenge is something everyone should see, it’s really mind boggling to listen to what history they actually do know and imagine how long humans have been visiting this place.  Also, not a little shocking to see the cars speeding by so close to where the stones are standing.  It’s about a three hour drive depending on where you left Cornwall.  It can be windy out here in the open, you might want to tie your hair back or bring a wind breaker as it can also be a bit cool.

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 From Stonehenge to Highclere Castle, located outside of Newbury, on the A303 and A34 is about a forty minute drive.   Plan to spend a half day visiting the castle and walking around the beautiful grounds where this amazing series was filmed.  You should buy tickets in advance as soon as you know you’re going, if not, you take a chance at being turned away when you arrive.  Enjoy the guided tour of the house, tea in the garden and walking around the grounds.    The tour including the castle, Egyptian exhibition and grounds is currently £22.  There are a couple of offers for having tea here.  You can spurge and have tea in the coach house.  Tickets are priced at £25 per person, over age 18 only.  You must buy these tickets in advance as well.  There are many other tea rooms on the grounds, open from 10:00am to 5:00pm during open times, serving coffee and tea made in the Castle kitchens.  The tea rooms are also open for hot, light lunches from noon until 2pm .  You can get tea and scones as well.

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Looking down at Highclere Castle

From Highclere to London on the M4 (which has tolls) or the M3 (which takes about twelve extra minutes,  is about an hour and a half drive.   I’m not going to list all of the wonderful things a person can see and do in London.  I just like being there, having tea and people watching.  Of course there are many historical and amazing things to see and do and easily researched by your individual interests, but London needs an entire blog on it’s own.  Enjoy and take in all you can, there is no place like London!

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View of the Thames and the Shard in London

Strange Customs

I was thinking about the fairs and festivals I’ve seen over the years that are portrayed in English movies.  I thought I would research some of them on Google and entered “Obscure English Customs”.  It brought up lots of different things, some I’ve heard of and some I could never even imagine.

I pulled a dozen, from all over the UK.  I got them from a large calendar of events that I thought might interest you.  A few throughout the year:

JanuaryUp Helly Aa, Lerwick, Shetland

The largest fire festival in Europe is celebrated in Scotland on the last Tuesday of January every year. A torch-light procession through the streets of Lerwick, followed by the burning of a full-size replica of a Viking longship.

Wow, I’d love to see this!

FebruaryBlessing the Throats, St Ethelreda, London

Two candles are tied together, lit, and touched on to the necks of people suffering from sore throats.

I wonder if this works?  Can’t be any worse than taking a man made chemical remedy:)

MarchTichborne Dole, Tichborne, Hampshire

The Tichborne Dole is one of the eccentric British traditions and dates back to the thirteenth century. It takes place every year on March 25th the Feast of the Annunciation (Lady’s Day).  The dole was flour and it was given to the poor until 1796. From 1796 Tichborne family have given money to the church instead.

This is a nice custom to help the less fortunate.  I wonder why they stopped? Let’s hope the church helped to feed the poor.

AprilWorld Coal Carrying Championship – Near Wakefield in Yorkshire

On Easter Monday, The World Coal Carrying Championship takes place in the village of Gawthorpe, in Yorkshire. Contestants run for one mile, carrying a 50kg bag of coal.  The contest dates from an incident at the Beehive Inn in 1963, when Lewis Hartley said to Reggie Sedgewick: “Ba gum, lad, tha’ looks buggered!” to which an affronted Mr Sedgewick riposted: “Let’s ‘ave a coil race from Barracks t’ Maypole.” And they did.

This isn’t a very old custom, but it sounds like a good idea after a few ales!

MayCotswold Olimpick Games, Dover’s Hill, above Chipping Campden,                                                                                Gloucestershire

An annual highlight of The Cotswold Olimpick Games is the Shin Kicking Championship.  As the sun began to set on Dover’s Hill, a band of white-coat-clad competitors began stuffing straw down their trousers ready for the British Shin Kicking Championship.  Competitors grasp each other by the shoulders and attempt to land well-timed blows to their opponent’s shins (between the knee and ankle).  Only then – in mid-kick – can a player attempt to bring his opposite number to the ground. The sport has been practiced on Dover’s Hill, near Chipping Campden, since the early 17th Century.

JuneNettle Eating Contest Marsham, Dorset

Held as part of a charity beer festival at the Bottle Inn in the village of Marshwood near Crewkerne, the event attracts entrants from around the world. Challengers attempt to out eat the current champion nettle-eater.

Ugh,stinging nettles!

JulySwan Upping (last Monday) River Thames

The Dyers and Vintner’s Companies have the right, established in medieval times, to keep swans on the Thames River. Every year the Queen’s Swan Keeper and Swan Markers from the two livery companies row in skiffs along the river to mark the cygnets (baby swans).

I imagine this is fun to watch.

AugustBog Snorkelling Championships,
                    Waen Rhydd peat bog, near Llanwrtyd Wells in mid Wales

The aim is to swim two lengths of the 60-yard Waen Rhydd peat bog with flippers and snorkel in the fastest time. There are different categories including juniors, fancy dress, women’s and men’s.

And this is probably funny to watch!  She looks to be having a good time!

SeptemberThe Horn Dance-Abbots Bromley in Staffordshire

The ancient Horn Dance is an annual event held traditionally on the first Monday after the first Sunday after September 4th!  The famous Horn Dance is performed by six Deer-men who wear reindeer horns. The dancers follow a 10 mile course and perform the ritual in 12 different locations in and around the village, whilst the musician plays tunes such as “The Farmers Boy” and “Uncle Mick” on a melodeon, with accompaniment from a triangle.

Lots of laughing and clapping, I’ll wager!

OctoberPearly King Harvest Festival-(First Sunday)Church of St Martin-in-the-Fields

Dating from the 19th century, the Pearly Kings & Queens are a much-loved Cockney tradition. It started when a young boy covered a suit with pearly buttons to attract attention and to raise money for the poor at charity events and fairs. Other boroughs were so impressed that they got their own Pearly King or Queen.
The tradition continues to thrive today and Pearly Kings and Queens can be seen in their full spectacle at the annual Pearly Kings and Queens Harvest Festival.  The annual Harvest Festival Service at the church of St. Martin-in-the Fields offers a spectacular display of historical London in all its glory.

These costumes have to be costly, even if they only use buttons!

NovemberTar-Barrel Racing Ottery St Mary, Devon

Ottery St. Mary is internationally renowned for its Tar Barrels, an old custom said to have originated in the 17th century.  The annual event involves people racing through the streets of the town, carrying flaming wooden barrels of burning tar on their backs.

A crazy carry over I guess, not for the faint of heart!

DecemberMaldon Mud Race-Essex

Hundreds of people wading through muddy lagoons and marshes around Maldon. The event takes place at Promenade Park, at 1pm, with all money raised going to local charities.

They are dedicated!  Brrrr!

I may plan my next trip over around one of these,  some really interesting events.  You can read more about these on Wikipedia or by following my search to “Festivals and Celebrations”.

Oh To Be in England Again!

Any year I’m not going over to England for a visit, I long for the planning and the anticipation and just to be there.  My friends who have joined me there understand exactly what I mean by longing to be there.  Instead I find myself looking for things that remind me of that feeling, be it my photo albums, journals, movies, or books.

Here are a few of the images that keep me going until I have concrete plans to make the journey again:

Sheffield Park

Shop front in London

Hope you get to go soon!

The Home of Charles Darwin

September 19, 2014

Visiting Darwin House was one of the highlights of this latest trip to England.  It’s in Kent which I have fallen in love with and jokingly tell my family and friends that if I win the lotto, I am moving to Kent.  (Of course it would help if I played).

Front entrance to Darwin House. My friend Sue and I, hiding behind a pillar!

The weather was obliging and it turned out to be a beautiful sunny day,  so the drive down from London was really lovely.  I’m not sure what I imagined it to be before I went, but I know I wasn’t expecting such a large property.  It is a beautiful setting and the grounds are immaculate.  I love the Virginia Creeper climbing the walls of so many places in England, really spectacular.

This is an English Heritage property and they do such a nice job of preserving and presenting these historical places.  I enjoyed seeing the family rooms with a lot of the Darwin’s personal furniture and belongings.  There are a lot of interactive things to do, especially for the kids which would make a nice family day trip.  I also spent quite a while following the time line and history of Darwin and his studies and research.

One thing that is a passion of mine is genealogy and there is a room there which tells about him and his family, very interesting.  I love the story of how his children helped him in his studies as he got older.  They would do experiments on the property and report back their findings.

The back of Down House. It looks out to beautiful, well kept grounds

The garden here is very impressive.  I love gardens anyway, so to be able to walk the paths that Mr.Darwin walked almost daily for the forty years he lived here was pretty exciting.  The green house is outstanding.  There are rows of vegetables with flowers mixed in.  There are orchards and even a giant chess board for children to play with.

If only I knew how to play

If only I knew how to play

We walked around the garden for quite a while and it was every bit as interesting as the interior of the house.  What a wonderland for his children to grow up in and a special legacy for all of us to be able to visit. I love this display in the garden of a simple wooden wheel barrel holding clay pots.

View of the massive grounds at Down House

View of the massive grounds at Down House

There is a restaurant here that uses the same kitchen that was used to prepare the Darwin’s meals.  It also has a great gift shop where you can get books on his theories and research.  There all a lot of really nice things here for children if you like something educational as well as entertaining.

Afterwards we headed to the village of Downe and to The George & Dragon Pub for lunch.  It was not crowded and since it was such a lovely day we ate out back at some picnic tables.  The menu was British pub food at it’s best, fish & chips, puff pastry pies, baguette sandwiches, lamb, stuffed jacket potatoes, curry and Ploughman’s.  I settled on The Dragon Burger and a lemon shandy.  It was cooked just right and so large that I couldn’t finish.

Across from the pub is St. Mary’s church and an ancient yew tree that is completely hollow in the middle, it’s a wonder it’s still living. I’m sure if Mr. Darwin were here he could explain it to me!

Neil in front of The George & Dragon Pub

Neil in front of The George & Dragon Pub

The Garden Museum-Lambeth

Finally, I made it to The Garden Museum.  I’ve tried on previous visits to London, but something always conspired to keep me away.  When it was first opened, it was only open for certain months of the year and I always went at the wrong time.  The museum is located on the south bank of the Thames, next to Lambeth Palace and opposite Tate Britain.  It’s about a half mile from The Imperial War Museum, so we walked.  We needed this after the utter horror and sadness of, not only all of the war machines of death, but the Holocaust exhibition there.

The garden is my therapy and it’s where I find myself after any very emotional state that I may find myself in, so I suggested this at the end of our visit to the war museum.  It’s a small museum and there is a fee here, £5.00 for adults and well worth the price if this is where your interests lie.

I will quote The Garden Museum’s website to tell you how the museum came about, “The Museum was set up in 1977 in order to rescue from demolition the abandoned ancient church of St Mary’s which is the burial place of John Tradescant (c1570 – 1638), the first great gardener and plant-hunter in British history. His magnificent and enigmatic tomb is the centrepiece of a knot garden planted with the flowers which grew in his London garden four centuries ago.”

It’s really a lovely church and when you first walk in you get the feeling that this is a very special place.  Compared to so many other museums I’ve visited in London, this is on a smaller scale, but it doesn’t feel small at all.  It’s light and airy and the displays are attractive and easy to see.  There is gorgeous artwork and drawings of garden design and old garden tools.  My favorite display was the actual antique garden tools.  They are hung in lighted cases that make it easy to see them, and there are many drawings and paintings  of the tools being used.

It has about 6000 objects covering about 400 years of British gardening.  It’s kind of amazing that this has been amassed only the last three decades and continues to grow.  I had to ask Neil why, in our vacation photos,  we have at least 20  from the war museum and none from the garden museum.  The answer to that is because he had possession of the camera!

There is also a great gift shop here and I got my friend a really nice pair of secuteurs for her upcoming birthday.  I bought myself a wooden dibble and a little device to make seedling pots from newpaper.  Very useful.  There were so many beautiful arty postcards that I bought about eight of them to either frame or give as gifts.

The Garden Cafe looked very good with lots of fresh produce and soups.  There is a lovely place to eat in the knot garden and the sign says freshly baked cakes and seasonal tarts.  We didn’t eat at the cafe because of timing, but on our next trip I will plan the better part of a day for the museum and of course lunch.

We both loved the garden and walked around in wonder at some of the plants on display there.  The climate is similar to ours here in the Pacific Northwest, yet they had blooming Oleanders!  This is a plant that is everywhere is Southern California, but I’ve never seen it up north.   This a churchyard after all and besides the tomb of John Tradescant, Captain Bligh, depicted in the famous film “Mutiny on the Bounty” is buried here.  Most American’s only know him from the movie and Charles Laughton’s version of a rather horrible ship’s captain.   His actual history is very different from what is portrayed in film.  Here is the text from his tomb:

It’s worth reading the history of this hero of the English navy.  Neil and I were sympathetic when we read not only his epitaph, but his wife, Elizabeth who died in 1812,  as well as their twin sons, William and Henry, aged one day.  Also, an inscription to William Bligh Barker, a grandson, who died in 1805.

Wandering through the church yard and garden you see a lot of normal signs of garden work.  There are volunteers here working to keep the garden in shape.

We noticed a layered device with a spout on it with the label “the wormery”.    Of course I had to know how it works.  The volunteer was very helpful and opened it up to show us the layers, where they put kitchen waste and the end result as the worms turn it into compost and liquid fertilizer to use in the garden.  My own composting process works pretty well, so I don’t think I will be buying one for my garden.  It’s a great idea and one that can be made many different ways to benefit your own garden.

This is what a museum should be: attractive, interesting, educating, historical, and this is exactly what The Garden Museum does.

Boxing Day

I’m not sure if they actually refer to Boxing Day as a holiday in England.  I had heard of it, but before I actually started going over and had friends I could discuss these things with, I thought Boxing Day was the day you boxed up your Christmas decorations.  It has a far loftier history than that.

Boxing day was traditionally a day when servants and tradesmen would receive boxes of gifts from their employers.  The gifts were known as a “Christmas Box”.  From Wikipedia I learned that, “The Oxford English Dictionary gives the earliest attestations of the term as being from England in the 1830s, defining it as ‘the first week-day after Christmas-day, observed as a holiday on which post-men, errand-boys, and servants of various kinds expect to receive a Christmas-box’.”

This custom was started as a tradition because in older days the servants were expected to work on Christmas serving their masters.  In consequence, a good master would give the servants the day after Christmas to be with their families.  Today, at least here in America if you work any national holiday, you expect to be paid a lot extra, time and a half is the standard.

Thinking about the tradesmen who are given small gifts for a job well done all year, what if you are say the postman?  If you had a hundred houses that you delivered to, the take would be huge.  Even if only half of the customers gave you a gift, you’d be carting home fifty small gifts, nice!

From IrishFestivals.net : Celtic myth had it that the robin that was suppose to represent the New Year, killed the wren which represented the Old Year during this time. Wren Boys blacken their faces and go from house to house asking for money to bury the wren. The money they collect is used to buy food and drink for the “wren dance” held on this night.

Sometimes called St Stephen’s Day or the Feast of St Stephen,  a Catholic holiday,  which honors the first Christian martyr who was stoned to death!  I couldn’t really find any reference to an actual feast, so I’m not sure what that’s about.

These days, Boxing Day has become a huge sale day for retailers, much like America’s Black Friday.  It’s also become a big day for sports, with a full program of football and rugby matches.  Sounds like the perfect day for married couples!

Christmas in London

Merry, Happy, Joyeux Christmas!!  This is a re-post of my blog about spending Christmas in London 2008. Tis the season and I hope you are enjoying yours this year!

I was lucky enough, along with my cousin Marcie, to be invited to London to “see how they do Christmas” in 2008.  We were generously invited by our friends Susan and Tim.  Neither of us have ever gone away and not done Christmas with our families, ever.  I personally will probably not do it again unless they all come with me!  I missed them and all of our quirky little traditions.  The kind that only your own family can have, kept over the years because it gave one or all of us a happy feeling that we wanted to experience again and again.   I’m not sure how the rest of you are, but we try new and different things along with the old ones that were brought from when my husband and I were growing up.  Some things we have to do because of tradition, then we’ll add a little something new and maybe that will be the only year we do it or it becomes part of our repertoire.

At any rate, having the opportunity to go to England and experience with our friends and their family was an offer neither of us could refuse.   I think about it often and pull out the wonderful book of photos that Marcie made for us as a remembrance.  Indeed, I show it to everyone because it captures the fun and amazement that we experienced there.  I am only going to include a few highlights here for a couple of reasons: One is, that if you are anything like me, when it’s over it’s over.  I have a friend that puts her tree(s) up at Halloween and leaves them up until Valentine’s Day.  This is not me.  To my mind it takes the “special” time of year away.  Two,  I have had a spectacularly busy and crazy year and I can not locate my journal of that particular trip.  (New Year resolution: organize my office!)

Most of us came from European descent and holiday traditions were also brought over and passed down, so it was familiar and different at the same time.  Going to this already lovely home in Crystal Palace with the bright red door is always a wonderful homey feeling for both of us.  The wreath on the door, the decorations every where, the hustle and bustle of the season added to our excitement of being there.  The decorations and lights around the city of London were truly magical.

Our friends had arranged a special present for us,  a Christmas choir concert at Westminster Abbey!  Can you imagine?  We had never been in the Abbey, in all of our visits.  I was awe struck, the history, the beauty of the place.  There were readings by Boris Johnson, actors and other dignitaries.  But the music, the voices were inspiring.   I felt my mind wandering, trying to remember some of the history that I had heard about the abbey.  I had to make myself focus on what was happening or I would have missed it.   I couldn’t believe I was lucky enough to have witnessed something this beautiful and profound. There were carols that I recognized and ancient songs that I never knew existed.   I will be forever grateful to them for thinking of us.  It is a family tradition of theirs to go to this wonderful concert every year.  I admit that I was a little blown away when Sue told us that her children went to preschool at the abbey.  Being a foreigner it never occurred to me that this was a working church.  I naively assumed that it was for special royal ceremonies and tourists.

Marcie and I went Christmas shopping to gather a few things for a gift basket for our hosts. We had brought many small tastes of America for them, canned albacore from Oregon, wine from a Southern California winery, chocolate infused with chili, marionberry jam from the northwest.  We needed to find a basket as well as add a few fillers.  We headed to John Lewis, a lovely British department store.  The first visit we made to England included a visit to John Lewis where I bought a warm down comforter.  I somehow stuffed it into a tote bag to carry it home on the plane.   Having got it here I discovered that it was just too warm for my middle aged body, so it’s keeping one of my daughters toasty warm every winter!  At any rate, after shopping around we found ourselves at Green Park and remembered that Sue had told us to stop at the hour and watch the clock at Fortnum & Mason’s.  Not wanting to miss anything that cool, we did just that.  We also went in to peruse the lovely holiday displays.

One of our really fun days was spent going to Hampton Court.  I’ve been to many of the castles and palaces since I started visiting England, but this is one of my favorites.  Perhaps it’s the history, all Americans seem to love Henry VIII and the story of his wives.  So brutal and romantic at the same time.  It was decorated for Christmas and there was an actual ice skating rink set up on the front grounds.  The tour was very revealing and touring the kitchens was a real eye opener.  You just don’t normally think of the day to day actions it took to run this huge residence for the king, his guests and the hundreds of people that worked there.  The grounds are really beautiful, it’s what you would imagine a royal palace to look like, you can just see them taking walks through the park, reading on a bench, embroidering in an alcove.

Here is my cousin beside one of the giant decorated trees:

photo (11)

Now, I’m going to talk about the food. You knew it was coming, right?  It’s all about the food and at the holidays especially. First of all, my friend Sue is an excellent cook.  It’s not only delicious, but she likes to add little surprise ingredients that the average person wouldn’t think of, at least not this average person!  So, for Christmas morning, we had champagne and little salmon sandwiches in front of the fire.

       I was impressed with their gift giving, so much more practical than the average American way of going crazy and spending a fortune on the people on your list.  They gave personal useful gifts that weren’t over the top, expensive or trendy.  I’m not talking about socks and underwear either.   But things that the other person was interested in and would be used for years and the giver would be thought of every time.  Like a very fine journal for a writer, or an unusual utensil for a chef, things like that.  Something they will cherish but didn’t put the giver into credit card debt.  Being a banker, this is the kind of thing I see year after year here in America.

Our Christmas dinner was flavorful, satisfying and long, in a good way.  First of all, the table was set beautifully with an array of silverware and glasses.  There were crackers at every place setting and yes, we all did wear the funny little crown hats!  I’d seen it on movies but didn’t imagine that I would ever be doing this at Christmas time. It was fun!  Our first course was plates of delicious cheeses and gherkins (pickles), crackers and breads and of course wine.

For the main course,  Sue had gotten the most wonderful Suffolk ham, promising that it was “very special”.  A huge understatement!   This was joined on the plate with perfect potatoes roasted in duck fat, carrots, green beans and herbed popovers, served with more lovely wine.  For dessert a traditional plum pudding was brought forth, steaming and gorgeous.  Altogether, a feast fit for a king (or queen).  Here it is in all it’s glory:

photo (13)

 For New Year Eve, Sue made us another lovely feast.   But first Marcie and I spent the day in London, visited the Old Globe theater and walked across the Millennium Bridge to Saint Paul’s.   photo (10)

Then we went back to our home away from home where we spent another wonderful evening sharing with, by now, old friends, this delectable meal:

photo (14)

Beautiful food, artistically presented, and amazingly flavorful.  This is a beautifully arranged plate of hor d’oeuvres.  Followed by pheasant with whipped potatoes, whipped sweet potatoes and other various tasties!

 I am the luckiest girl in the world to have, not only my family and friends here at home, but my extended family and friends so far away from here.   I truly wish you all a Happy, Healthy New Year and hope you find a place you love and feel a kinship to as I have.  Happy traveling!

September in Sussex

This was the longest flight I’ve had so far going to England.  It may have just felt that way.  After the usual chaos and panic of getting ready and a two hour flight to L.A., we had a three and half hour layover.  We started our trip off with dinner at Sammy’s Wood Fired Pizza.  I should not eat gluten, but that didn’t stop me.  I’m on vacation dammit and I’m going to eat all of the lovely things I’ve been craving for the last couple of years.  I find out later why that was a really bad mistake, but I digress….

Neil and I were  very excited about going together on this trip, it’s been an emotional year, both good and bad and we really need this time away.  Going to a place that I’m very familiar with but he’s never been to is kind of weird for both of us.  He, because I usually wait for him to take the lead and me, because what if he doesn’t see it the way I do?

Of course travel is always an iffy venture.  I was certain I booked the tickets through British Air, which I have always had a good experience with.  Instead it was through American Airlines which I have not.  Honestly it was fine except that the seats were the smallest I’ve ever sat in for a ten hour  international flight.  The movies were great, the food was fine for airplane fare.

Billingshurst Station

We arrived at two the following afternoon, got through customs with me warning my husband not to joke around with the officer asking questions.  They are known not to have a sense of humor. However, the woman that checked us through was awesome and it all went off without a hitch.  We bought our ticket on the Gatwick Express and headed south to Sussex to meet our cousins.  They were waiting there and it’s so nice to have those hugs and catch up time with people that you know and love.  They took us straight back to their lovely, comfortable very British home and a great home cooked meal, then it was time for some much needed sleep.

Linda and Richard are my fifth cousins who I met doing genealogical research in 2001.  They are really, really amazing hosts, much better than I can ever hope to be.  They have taken such good care of me on five other occasions and this was no exception.   They cooked us nice food, drove us around, gave us gifts and even gave up their own bed for our comfort.  Thank you, thank you, thank you for that!  Here is a beautiful watercolor that Lin made for me as a gift.  I will cherish it always!

There are so many beautiful and interesting things to see in Sussex! I love just walking around the villages, stopping in at shops, maybe picking up a few things that are different than I can get in America.  It was nice to show Neil where my family originated, walk in the church yard, see the WW1 memorial that has one of my ancestors name engraved on it.  I love the hardware store there in Billingshurst and go in it on every visit just to  see what interesting things they have that Home Depot does not.

Lin was keen on showing us St Botoph’s Church in Hardham in the Horsham District of West Sussex.  Built about 1050, it has wall paintings from about 1100.  A really interesting and important church, amazing!

Inside of St Botolph’s Church

Lin and Richard then drove us around the gorgeous country here.  We stopped at the town of Petworth which is mentioned in the Doomsday Book.  We walked around the town and stopped in at a few antique shops and St Mary’s Catholic Church.  Petworth was bombed in World War ll in Septemberof 1942, when a lone German plane tried to bomb Petworth House.  It missed the house and landed on the Petworth Boys’ School in North Street. Twenty eight boys died along with the headmaster and assistant teacher. So sad.  I think most of us relate the Blitz only to London, but they also bombed much of the rest of England.

The parish church of St Mary, Petworth

We then drove past the Goodwood Estate which was having a car event of some kind and we got to see lots of vintage cars.  Just up the road is a Rolls Royce factory and there were dozens of new cars lined up outside.  Apparently they were heading for the car show at Goodwood as well.

Richard treated us all to delicious fish & chips, Neil’s first authentic English!  The place was called Andy’s Fish Bar, in Chichester.  The portions were so huge I don’t think anyone actually finished the whole meal.  I find it amusing because whenever I’ve had a conversation with anyone from the UK about food, they will mention the large portions in America.

Arundel Castle

We stopped at Arundel Castle on the way back and walked around the town a little bit.  I had always wanted to see this castle because while doing genealogy, I remember seeing the name “Arundel” in my mother’s family history.  I later found out that what I remembered was “Arundel, Maryland”.  Big let down, thought it meant that we came from royalty!   It was too late to go into the castle by this time so we went in to a little tea shop and had a dessert.

Back home for nice dinner and conversation, talking about all of the lovely things we got to see today and looking forward to more tomorrow.

The Green Men

Garway church
Garway, Herefordshire, England

I was first introduced to the Green Man carvings on my third or fourth visit to England.   At first, I thought that they were like the carvings at Oxford.  I found a small book about it, one of the Pitkin Guides.  I had read about the stone masons carving small faces and figures in obscure places of churches and cathedrals in the book by Edward Rutherfurd, “Sarum”, but I don’t remember that the term “Green Man” was used.

Salisbury Cathedral’s roof boss

According to the Pitkin Guide, Green Men do not appear in England until the twelfth century, but were in Rome as early as first century a.d.  I couldn’t find a definitive list, or the number of Green Man carvings in England.  The Pitkin Guide lists 60 in the back of it.  From what I could find there are hundreds of them around the UK.

Rosslyn Chapel

These consist of churches, cathedrals, benches,  roof bosses, the tops of columns, and hinged wooden seats, known as “misericords”.

Roof boss carved in 1350, Prince’s Chantry
Canterbury Cathedral

I honestly have not had the pleasure of seeing any of these in person, yet.  I wrote about searching and finding the one in Canterbury Cathedral.  In my research for this article I discovered that what I actually found was a cat mask and not the Green Man as shown above! I’ve been to many of the places that have a Green man hidden among the columns, but before I found the book, I didn’t even know to look for them.

The Green Man roof boss from Dore Abbey
Herefordshire, England

The Green Men are whimsical creatures with no apparent religious symbolism, although many are in churches.  I like to think that in repressed times it was the carvers way of showing a little defiance and creative grit.  I love the way the carvings seem to capture most of our human character;  surprise, glee, whimsy, fear, menace, mirth, shyness or evil.

Replica carving of a Green Man, near the Chapter House entry of York Minster

See how many you can find in your travels.  They are hidden in some of the most visited attractions in the UK.  Like the above mentioned, but also in Windsor, Bristol, Cambridge, Winchester, Stratford-on-Avon, Ludlow, St. Paul’s, near Cardiff in Wales, and Glasgow, Scotland, to name but a few.  Make a game of it with the kids, it would be a fun adventure!


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Danilo and me

On Christmas Day, I did not recognize this as a part of my body.
On Christmas Day, I did not recognize this as a part of my body.

I have been measuring the progress of my ankle sprain to that of an NBA star, Danilo Gallinari of the Denver Nuggets.  Gallinari sprained his left ankle in a game on the 20th.  That’s two days after I sprained my same left ankle while hiking in a local urban park.

I hope to figure out how long I can expect to be gimping about.  I want to return to my hiking life as soon as possible without reinjury.  One to two weeks on most sprains is a rule of thumb.

Of course I have no idea about the severity of Gallinari’s injury.  I suspect no two injuries are ever really alike.  And is it a low-ankle sprain or the more serious high-ankle?  Is it a Grade I, II or III?  Neither the NBA nor the media go into details of injuries, particularly if they are just sprains.  So Gallinari’s injury is a bit of a mystery.

I am a great one for self-diagnosis.  That is not to say I correctly diagnose.  I just do it a lot rather than visit a doctor.

It is my belief that I have a Grade II sprain, low ankle.  The low-ankle injury, I read, comprises about 90 percent of the 25,000 sprains incurred daily by Americans.  A little more ligament damage than Grade I with “moderate pain, swelling and bruising.”  Not a complete tear with long rehab like Grade III.

I chose Gallinari because he is much younger at age 27 than I and has access to the most expensive medical staff and equipment known to man.  Since he is the Nuggets’ leading scorer, he will receive extra good care, and the team will try to get him back on the floor very quickly.  He is making roughly $11.6 million this season, a very good reason for the Nuggets to protect their investment.  Hopefully, he will not be rushed back too soon.

As of this date, Gallinari, in Day 8 of his recovery, is not expected to play in a game at least until Saturday, January 2, v. the Golden State Warriors.  Gallinari did not even suit up for last night’s game against the Thunder of Oklahoma City.  If he returns to the lineup against the Warriors, he will have missed two weeks.  Here I am on Day 10, and I am doing better.  The swelling subsides daily, the discolration fades and the pain has turned into soreness.  I feel like I’m ready for moderate rehab.  I’m guessing I too can recover in two weeks, maybe a little longer.

One thing is for certain, I probably will be following Gallinari’s career for a long time.  I didn’t even know who he was a month ago.

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Celebratory Weekend

And what a weekend it was!

We kicked the weekend off on Friday, July 1st Canada Day, Canada’s 149th birthday. Lots of Friends and Family time with BBQ’s at the campgrounds and at lots of local celebrations. It is strawberry season here; the strawberries are at their ultimate for picking, and eating. No celebration meal would be complete without fresh strawberries, and this year they were extra special because they were hand-picked by my daughter and grandchildren. Yum!

Saturday and Sunday were filled with lots more fun things to do. Celebrations abound. The local community farmer’s markets, big celebrations in the community and on the waterfront in the city, sitting on a boat in the water. Lots of Food and good friends and family. Who could ask for more?

Rounding out the long weekend was July 4th Independence Day. A celebration of grand proportions for our American neighbours. It also has significance for me personally. 36 years ago my husband and I married on that day. We joke that the American’s celebrate our anniversary with us every year, and what a party they throw!

Unofficially it is the first weekend of summer with the students finishing school the end of June. Everyone was in a great mood, and for the most part the weather cooperated – a few showers on Saturday didn’t dampen the fun, actually it enhanced the fun for the kids. Who could resist splashing in the puddles or swimming in the rain?

Here’s to more great summer weekends!

About Linda Coeur

Women's Fiction Author
This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.

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text:
curators of faith

I work hard to not be busy.

At a certain level that sentence sounds ridiculous. Working to not be working, but never the less I try not to be busy. I worry the busyness will detract from people and relationships. I worry that my busyness will mean I miss opportunities be just be with people.

As a result of trying to not be busy it means there are only so many things I can or choose to do (full disclosure, watching basketball playoffs almost always makes that list).

We all do this to one extent or another. We pick and choose what we have time for. It may not be as active a choice as I’m laying it out to be, but in the end it’s a choice.

It’s a choice to watch basketball and not learn ancient Greek.

As a result of this really obvious choice I’m left with some gaps.

Gaps in skill, knowledge, ability, etc.

Like, since I can’t read ancient Greek I need someone to translate the bible for me. And since I play to many video games I also don’t really know enough about the ancient Jews culture which would give great context and understanding to the little reading of the bible I find time for.

But to really understand the depth and breadth of the bible I need context. For those stories to speak their fullest, I need some context. I need some help. I need a person to explain it to me.

More often than not I bug my brother. Years ago I was asked if I do much reading and I said “no Andrew does it for me.”

In reality, for the most of us, the vast majority of our theology is curated for us.

But how often do we think of that?

How often do we think of the information they are choosing not to curate for us?

How often do we consider that HEAPS more information is not shared with us than is?

This means something.

How carefully do you choose your curators?

Do they look like Jesus?

If you described who you see them as how many words down the list would it be before you said love?

How much do we trust a person to share with us about love, the nature of Jesus, who themselves shows little love?

The internet is great. We can connect with some many people and ideas. But how many of those ideas should we be giving space and consideration to? At what point should we be stepping back and looking at where our theology is coming from?

I suppose for me, an easy first step is to look at who does this curator say Jesus is?

I know a lot of the curators I see describe a Jesus I struggle to find in the bible. One bent on domination. One who will overcome through force. One who is more concerned with pointing out why people are horrible than speaking life, grace and hope into their lives. One that sees only their flaws and hates them for it.

One with no space for “those people.”

One whose brand of love is self-serving, self-affirming, and continues to marginalize.

One who is so much more worried about the rights of the powerful, affluent and accepted.

A Jesus that isn’t worth following.


text:
20 Months of Love

Dear Pip

You are 20 months old now and each day somehow more amazing than the last.

Your favorite things now include finding a booboo, kissing it, and saying all better. Sometimes you like to poke the booboo first, though. I suppose that makes the kiss all the better.

You love going to the playground, and you shout “weee!” whenever you see the swings or slides. You also love playing with the soccer ball outside, after daddy showed you how he can kick it so high in the air.

You like to go through your day before you fall asleep, repeating your friends’ names or different things you’ve done during the day. Two nights ago you fell asleep saying “hot oooo” as if you were blowing on the hot soup you had for dinner.

You love to run back and forth, back and forth on the couch. You like bouncing and flouncing on it too. This all makes mommy and daddy nervous, but despite having fallen off of it once (!) you love it too much for us to stop it. We just perch very nearby with hands ready.

Goofy Love

Daddy has been making you eggs for breakfast every day which is now your favorite thing to eat. That, and peas! You continue to be more adventurous when you eat out: the other night at your movie night at school (which allowed mommy and daddy to have a date night) you ate all your green beans, and barely touched the mac & cheese!

Your favorite book remains “Baa Baa Black Sheep” and you can (and do) recite it in your sleep. Your other new favorite books include “Blue Hat Green Hat” which you call “Oops!” and the Doggies book. We like to get “cozy” in bed together at night and “grrr” and “woof” at each other.

You’re not very interested in the presents under the tree or taking ornaments off the tree. But you love seeing the lights come on and can point out each ornament that we talk about. You also make sure mommy and daddy don’t forget to put the candles on in the windows every night.

The cutest word you say is “candycane” which sounds like “nan-nany-nah.”

The fact that in 4 months you are going to be 2 Years Old stupefies me!!

Love, Mama

This entry was posted in Baby Developments and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

One Response to 20 Months of Love

  1. Lauren says:

    Pip, you sound like the sweetest little lady every :)

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WARC-Identified-Payload-Type: application/xhtml+xml

text:
Ranger News

The Ranger News is a student-run publication. Editors and staff members plan and produce all work. All Frisco students and faculty are encouraged to submit story ideas to ensure the Ranger News staff covers the entire school community.

No material will be printed which is libelous, irresponsible, advocates an illegal activity or which the editorial board and/or adviser deems in poor taste.

The staff encourages constructive criticism of any part of the publication, before or after distribution.

All advertising accepted by the staff must meet the same guidelines as the content policy. We reserve the right to reject any ads deemed inappropriate for the publication’s intended audience.

All readers are readers are encouraged to contact the Ranger News in the event of finding a mistake. Corrections and/or clarifications will be posted immediately.

The student news site of Lone Star High School


text:
Petite Star of the Week… Amy Adams!

2 Dec

Amy (Lou) Adams stars in the Walt Disney Pictures fantasy animated/live action film Enchanted (2007). The film is about a princess going from cartoon to real life New York City, and co-stars Patrick Dempsey, Susan Sarandon, James Marsden and Idina Menzel!

This pretty 5’3 1/2″ petite actress (born on August 20, 1974) was discovered by a movie producer while working at the famous dinner theater in Chanhassen, Minnesota. Shortly after she was cast in her first comedic role in Drop Dead Gorgeous. She has appeared in the films Cruel Intentions 2 (2000), Catch Me If You Can (2002) and Talladega Nights (2006)

She received critical acclaim for her role in the 2005 film Junebug and was awarded for the role the Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, the National Society of Film Critics award for “Best Supporting Actress” and the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female. She was also nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture and, in January 2006, Adams was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the role. The Academy invited Adams to become a member in 2006.

Check out some of her adorable looks! 🙂

3 Responses to “Petite Star of the Week… Amy Adams!”

  1. joe del broccolo February 25, 2008 at 2:21 am #

    Will you marry me???????

  2. Kevin Hazelbaker July 25, 2008 at 8:13 pm #

    I came upon this page in random. There is something very captivating about you. You are a total hottie!

  3. Anonymous April 21, 2009 at 10:46 pm #

    u are beautiful, sweet and cute. i like your voice in Enchanted. luv ya!!!

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text:
Artists:  Molly Ramage
Exhibition: Sleep Sweat
Media: Manipulated Paper
Gallery: CSULB School of Art, Marilyn Werby Gallery
Website: N/A
Instagram: Jetbootsjetpack

About the Artists

Molly Ramage is an undergraduate student at California State University, Long Beach, She is currently pursuing a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Print making. Many of her art works are inspired from dreams, more specifically nightmares. Although the nightmares may not be of her own they are certainly of the same narrative.

Formal Analysis

Molly Ramage mainly works with paper and the manipulation of paper in her artwork. As seen in the pictures of her exhibition her art is composed of papermache sculptures, paintings, and sketch art. To remain with in the boundaries of a nightmare narrative she employs the use of dark tones and rugged edges. When observing her two sculptures of the flying nightmare creature and the monster under the bed, you can see that she employs somewhat black and white color tones and rugged edges to give it the underlying nightmare theme.

Content Analysis

As previously stated, Molly Ramage themed many of her pieces of art after nightmares she has personally dream of and some she has thought of from others dreams. Molly Ramage’s take on dreams is that everyone inherently dreams and it is just a matter of remembering them when you wake up. She also believes that dreams are a way of processing subconscious thoughts. The reason Molly chose to incorporate nightmares as her art theme is because she has personally endured vivid nightmares and she wants to give those nightmares a physical embodiment as a way to conquer them.

Synthesis /My Experience

The reason I chose Molly’s art was because I was immediately drawn to her exhibit because it was very different from the other art exhibits this week. When you walk in the exhibit you are greeted by two creepy and interesting sculptures in the middle, then as you walk around the room you are greeted by more nightmarish ghouls. One of my favorite pieces of art in her gallery was the three characters riding the lama unicorn with two horns. Since I couldn’t find its proper name at the time I nicknamed it “mini jesus, piccolo, and space cat riding lama dicorn”. Later on I found out that this image actually had religious inspiration and an added cat for good measure. Another reason I was intrigued by Molly’s gallery was because it was a more intimate and exposing reason than the rest. Molly chooses to share her dreams with the people in her exhibition which is very respectable.

Overall, I found Molly Ramage’s art very interesting from both a physical aspect and a conceptual aspect.

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text:
DATE: August 5, 2003
TIME: 8:00 pm
LOCATION: Market Square, Wick
La Bottine Souriante (The Smiling Boot) August 5, 2003

Lyth Arts Centre Presents
La Bottine Souriante
(The Smiling Boot)
Two Free Live Outdoor Concerts
Market Square, Wick – Tuesday 5 August 2003 8.00pm
The Precinct, Thurso – Wednesday 6 August 2003 8.00pm

La Bottine Souriante

This ten piece band has headlined festivals around the world, won dozens of awards and sold over half a million albums,
They have become a living legend of French North American roots music with their distinctive, breathtaking sound and
exuberbant high sprits.  they produce a rich blend which combines traditional folk melody, joyful rythms, a hint of country,
salsa and jazz.  The wick and Thurso concerts are being presented in the town centres on a raised roofed stage with
professional sound and lighting and will feature percussive dancing by Sandy Silva.

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Copyright Lyth Arts Centre - Caithness, Scotland - Scottish Charity No. SC047359


text:
History vs. Hollywood | Movie Review | Chicago Reader

Movies » Movie Review

History vs. Hollywood

Though adapted from a zealously factual book, Public Enemies takes the usual liberties.

1 comment

As a Chicagoan, I make a point of being annoyed instead of starstruck when film crews take over city streets. But my resistance melted away one afternoon last spring when I turned the corner onto the 2400 block of Lincoln and saw it dressed to look as it did the day John Dillinger was shot down by federal agents outside the Biograph. Walking past the theater, its marquee ringed with a banner that read cooled by refrigeration and iced fresh air, I felt as if I'd stepped into an old gangster movie. The patrons filing out of the Biograph on July 22, 1934, probably had a similar sensation: along with Dillinger, they'd just finished watching a crime drama with Clark Gable called Manhattan Melodrama, and when the feds opened fire it must have seemed as if the story had spilled out onto the street.

Separating the movies from reality was a prime objective for Bryan Burrough, whose hefty nonfiction book Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-34 was the basis for Michael Mann's new movie about Dillinger. "To the generation of Americans raised since World War II," writes Burrough, "the identities of criminals such as Charles 'Pretty Boy' Floyd, Baby Face Nelson, 'Ma' Barker, John Dillinger, and Clyde Barrow are no more real than are Luke Skywalker or Indiana Jones. After decades spent in the washing machine of popular culture, their stories have been bled of all reality." Armed with newly released FBI files containing nearly a million pages of reports, witness statements, and correspondence, as well as numerous unpublished manuscripts and interviews, Burrough produced a scrupulously factual book that still reads like a hell-for-leather action story.

Burrough also blows away several decades of G-man mythology dispensed by J. Edgar Hoover in books, magazine articles, and movies like Mervyn LeRoy's The FBI Story (1959). In an author's note Burrough writes that he wanted to "reclaim the War on Crime for the lawmen who fought it," yet his book is an endless catalog of the FBI's missed opportunities and near-criminal incompetence. Melvin Purvis, director of the Chicago office, became a legendary figure after Dillinger was iced, but the record shows he was in way over his head. At one point he got a surefire tip to expect Machine Gun Kelly at a tavern on South Michigan, but incredibly he forgot about it and Kelly slipped away. Long after Dillinger had become America's most wanted man, Purvis neglected to put the Dillinger family farm under surveillance. Purvis's biggest fiasco came in May 1934, when he and 20 other agents converged on a rustic lodge in northern Wisconsin where the Dillinger gang was hiding; there was no clear plan and the raid descended into chaos, leaving one agent and one bystander dead. Dillinger and his crew escaped unharmed.

Burrough may have set out to dispel the fictions created by movies like Bonnie and Clyde (1967) and Bloody Mama (1970), but his book originated in a development deal for an eight-hour HBO miniseries that never got off the ground. When it was published in 2004, the movie rights were immediately picked up by Mann, director of Heat (1995), The Insider (1999), Ali (2001), and Collateral (2004). Public Enemies is a natural screen property, with its meticulously chronological narrative, hurtling momentum, and sharply focused reconstructions of daring bank jobs and kidnappings. Yet at 500 pages, it's so stuffed with incident that no theatrical feature could possibly cover it all; in a recent New York Times story, Mann's coproducer, Kevin Misher, referred to the book as a "research bible" for the movie he and Mann had in mind, which would center on the cat-and-mouse game between Dillinger and Purvis.

As it turns out, Mann and Misher aren't exactly bible thumpers. Public Enemies begins with Dillinger (Johnny Depp) arriving at Indiana State Prison and engineering the escape of several inmates, among them his criminal mentor, Walter Dietrich. After one inmate gratuitously kills a guard, setting off a chain of events that leaves Dietrich dead, Dillinger pushes the inmate out of a speeding car. This gripping sequence establishes both Dillinger's loyalty and his ruthlessness, but it's largely fiction: although Dillinger helped set up the Indiana escape by smuggling in some guns, he was locked up in Lima, Ohio, when it actually went down.

In the movie's next sequence, FBI lawman Purvis (Christian Bale) personally guns down Pretty Boy Floyd in an Ohio apple orchard, a feat that wins him the top job in Chicago; in fact, Purvis was among several agents firing on Floyd, and the incident happened four months after Dillinger's death, when Purvis's star was falling, not rising.

Writing in Vanity Fair as production on the movie began, Burrough admitted the script was "not 100 percent historically accurate" but declared it "by far the closest thing to fact Hollywood has attempted." Unfortunately, what suffers most from Mann's narrative compression and invention is Burrough's detailed exposé of the FBI's lurching performance. A master of the action set piece, Mann re-creates some of the bureau's big debacles, but they fly by too quickly to allow a true appreciation of how bungled they were, and in the case of the Wisconsin raid Mann polishes the FBI's record—in the movie one of Dillinger's men is fatally wounded by one of the feds as they flee through the woods.

The liberties Mann takes with the facts are reminiscent of Brian De Palma's in The Untouchables, where Eliot Ness decides to get tough with Capone by policing outside the lines. Mann has Hoover (Billy Crudup) ordering Purvis to "take off the white gloves." Subsequently Purvis's men torture a suspect in his hospital room by applying pressure to a wound and try to beat a confession out of Dillinger's loyal gun moll, Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard). Neither incident is in the book.

"Men like Charles Winstead and Clarence Hurt, the two agents who killed Dillinger, have long remained anonymous," Burrough writes, "even as movies are made about the murderers they hunted." But that's how Hollywood works, and Mann can be forgiven for turning the spotlight back onto Dillinger. He was a larger-than-life character, the most famous and admired of all the Depression-era bad guys. The newspapers ate him up: an Indiana farm boy turned bank robber, he seemed like a decent man who'd been forced into a life of crime by hard times, like the tough guys played by James Cagney. On bank jobs Dillinger treated bystanders gently and courteously, and readers saw him as one of their own. In the movie, introducing himself to Frechette, he declares, "I like movies, baseball, fast cars, good clothes, and you. What else you wanna know?" There doesn't seem to be much else, and though Depp is no one's idea of a tough guy, he captures Dillinger's humor and charm.

Like many of his fans, Dillinger was a movie nut, and some of the film's most satisfying moments play with the permeable boundary between his life and the silver screen. At one point Dillinger is sitting in a theater watching a newsreel report on the FBI's nationwide manhunt for him, as the narrator warns patrons that John Dillinger could be sitting right next to them. The houselights come up, and Dillinger squirms as the narrator urges patrons to look to their right, then their left. Mann, a Chicago native who used to go to movies at the Biograph, dwells heavily on Dillinger's last show, cutting back and forth from the street, as the agents take their positions, and the theater, where Dillinger enjoys Clark Gable as a wisecracking hood on his way to the electric chair. By that time the circle had closed: Dillinger was the inspiration for the sort of movie characters that once inspired him. But a few minutes later, out on Lincoln Avenue, the screen went black for good.

For more on movies, see our blog On Film.

Related Film

Official Site: www.publicenemies.net

Director: Michael Mann

Writer: Ronan Bennett and Ann Biderman

Producer: Michael Mann

Cast: Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard, Jason Clarke, Rory Cochran, Billy Crudup, Stephen Dorff, Stephen Lang, John Ortiz and Giovanni Ribisi

Related Film

Official Site: www.publicenemies.net

Director: Michael Mann

Producer: Kevin Misher, Michael Mann and G. Mac Brown

Cast: Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard, Billy Crudup, Stephen Dorff, Stephen Lang, Channing Tatum, Stephen Graham, Giovanni Ribisi, Jason Clarke, David Wenham, Emilie de Ravin, Lili Taylor, James Russo, Rory Cochrane and Branka Katic

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text:
MacGuffin Apps

MacGuffin is now available on iOS and Android.

MacGuffin is a jukebox for fiction and poetry. All content is in both text and audio form, so you can read or stream audio on the go. Built with commuters in mind, the clever tagging function helps you discover literature according to theme, genre, meme or length.

iOS read view iOS Listen view iOS Search view iOS Tag view

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Android read view Android Listen view Android Search view Android rate view

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text:
Idiots do Multitasking, Geniuses Single-task.

“Multi-tasking”. Say it…say it. What the hell does it mean? Seriously, take time, now, to just ponder the meaning of that word. “Multi-tasking”, what does it mean and imply?

Seriously, I don’t do multi-tasking because it’s for idiots. The smart people in the world single-task and that’s really the natural order of things. Human beings were never made to multi-task. Multi-tasking in the office was a cheap way to cut down on employing more people and to enforce a form of slavery in the modern office. Yup, slavery is not confine to third-world countries, you can find it in modern air-conditioned offices. And the slaves are those of us who ever got slap with the “you-can-multi-task” stick on note.

Single-tasking is the way we were meant to be. Because we are single-track-minded beings. Our linear minds are most efficient handling a SINGLE train of thought instead of jumping from track to track. It’s just the way we are hardwired in the nugging.

Leave the multi-tasking to computers and machines, why? Because that’s why we invented them. Computers have multi-threaded capabilities embedded into their CPUs. They are built to handle several data streams at one instance. Multi-tasking was meant for the computers. How on earth, did this virus jump from the computer to human species is beyond me. But I bet it was some idiotic HR manager who wanted to save on paying for an extra employee.

So next time someone pushes the “You can multi-task” line into your face, do the smart thing. Reply back, “I’m single track minded, so I work best on a single-tasking model.”

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5 Responses to Idiots do Multitasking, Geniuses Single-task.

  1. Mayukh says:

    Agree with you, but one doubt. Do we really multi-task? If we are told to, we actually break that multi-task into a chain of single tasks and perform them serially. Thats where we outsmart the machines, but heck we cant outsmart nature – so we always “uni-task” as nature made us to do. 🙂

    • Maclean Patrick says:

      Yes, is it really multitasking? Or are we merely masking an event under the guise of a bigger sounding word and justifying the need to hire new employees who may excel in what they do best.

  2. To take another view: It is OK to multi-task with easy things or when one does not need to be competitive; however, when the tasks are hard or one tries to excel then single-tasking is a near requirement.

    A further criteria is the intensity of attention a task requires: For example, what many women mean when they talk about their multi-tasking capabilities is simultaneously having the washing machine and the stove on, having a child play in the next room, and talking on the telephone—three things that basically requires a brief check-in every now-and-then, and a forth which may or may not require more (depending on whether gossip or quantum physics is the topic). In this case, multi-tasking is highly beneficial, because things get done—however, it is only possible due to the low attention needed for each individual task.

    Interestingly, if we look at the tasks done by the typical engineer and the typical manager or HR person, it is not unlikely that they will have very different opinions of multi-tasking, based on their own experiences. Unfortunately, the choice of which engineers to hire is often made or heavily influenced by a manager or a HR person…

    • Maclean Patrick says:

      You’ve pointed out a key point here: the intensity of attention. We DON’T multi-task in the true sense of the word but rather it’s a prioritizing of single-task events based on how much attention they can afford to give. It looks like everything is done at once yet it merely falls into a heavy-task-on-top process.

  3. Since you seem very interested in the question of whether we multi-task:

    What we humans do can (to some approximation) be divided into “conscious effort” and “unconscious activities” (the terminology is poorly chosen, but bear with me):

    If we look at conscious effort, e.g. solving a differential equation or determining whether a certain dish has the right amount of salt, we do not multi-task, but have the kind of “attention switching” that you describe.

    However, if we look at unconscious activities, e.g. scratching a nose while solving the differential equation or listening for a screaming child while tasting the dish, there is a considerable amount of multi-processing going on. Just take a walk through the city and pay attention to all that your body and brain does.

    As a complication, it is possible for an activity that becomes ingrained enough to move from single- to multi-tasking. Consider e.g. a beginner driving a car vs. someone with 200 hours behind the wheel driving and simultaneously discussing the events of the day.

    To some approximation, a human could be considered a one-processor system with some ancillary chips handling routine and administrative tasks in parallel.

    Looking at computers, you are partially right in that most modern PCs with multi-cores CPUs, and even older high-end computers with multiple CPUs, are capable off “true” multi-tasking. However, not that long ago the typical PC had exactly the kind of simulated multi-tasking by attention switching that we see in humans. The same applies to many really low-end computers (e.g. cell phones and PDAs) of today. Going back even further, computers did not even have the ability to simulate multi-processing, but did exactly one task at a time, form start to end and without interuption.

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text:
[Kmymoney-devel] [Bug 255135] Kmymoney crashes during budget report displaying

Fabio Puddu fpuddu at gmail.com
Thu Dec 16 00:39:32 CET 2010

--- Comment #5 from Fabio Puddu <fpuddu gmail com>  2010-12-16 00:39:29 ---
Created an attachment (id=54813)
 --> (http://bugs.kde.org/attachment.cgi?id=54813)
kmy file reproducing the bug

Hi guys,
sorry for not having replied more rapidly.
Here is an anonymous file which on my machine reproduces the bug.
You have to go to budget, check "include subacccounts" on expense:"category 1",
save the budget, save the file, go to reports, select "Budgeting", "Budgeting
vs Actual this year (YTM)" and.... crash. On reopening it seems like the file
was never saved, as the "include subaccounts" is not checked.
Hope this will be useful,

Configure bugmail: https://bugs.kde.org/userprefs.cgi?tab=email
------- You are receiving this mail because: -------
You are the assignee for the bug.

More information about the KMyMoney-devel mailing list


text:
[NumPy-Tickets] [NumPy] #2184: Remove

NumPy Trac numpy-tickets@scipy....
Wed Jul 11 16:51:06 CDT 2012

#2184: Remove
 Reporter:  khaeru     |       Owner:  somebody
     Type:  defect     |      Status:  new
 Priority:  normal     |   Milestone:  Unscheduled
Component:  numpy.lib  |     Version:  1.6.1
 Keywords:             |
 The documentation for `genfromtxt()` reads:

   When the variables are named (either by a flexible dtype or with
 ''names'', there must not be any header in the file (else a ValueError
 exception is raised).

 and also:

   If ''names'' is True, the field names are read from the first valid line
 after the first ''skip_header'' lines.

 The cause of this seems to be in
 numpy/lib/npyio.py at lines 1347-9]:

     if names is True:
         if comments in first_line:
             first_line = asbytes('').join(first_line.split(comments)[1:])

 '''The last line should read `first_line =

 With the current code, the input line:
 # Example comment line
 will be transformed to:
 Example comment line
 resulting in columns named 'Example', 'comment' and 'line' (this is what
 the warning in the documentation is about).

 But also the input line:
 ColumnA ColumnB ColumnC # the column names precede this comment
 will be transformed to:
 the column names precede this comment
 resulting in columns named 'the', 'column', 'names' …etc. In this instance
 actual column names present in the file are inappropriately discarded.

 By taking the  `[0]` portion of the split instead of `[1:]`:
  * Lines beginning with comments result in an empty string being passed to
 `split_lines()` on L1350, producing no usable output and causing the
 `while not first_values` loop to try the next line.
  * Partial-line comments following actual heading names are discarded,
 instead of the names themselves.
  * As a result, files can have commented headers of any length ''and''
 column names, simultaneously.

Ticket URL: <http://projects.scipy.org/numpy/ticket/2184>
NumPy <http://projects.scipy.org/numpy>
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Tag Archives: crafts

New Idea for Upcyling Cardboard Boxes

I found this great “upcycled” craft a few weeks ago on another blog and wanted to share it with you.  It would be a great gift for the kids in your life, either to make for them or with them!  … Continue reading

Posted in Crafts, Upcycling | Tagged , , | 4 Comments