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Ceiling executed in 1617, on designs by Domenichino (Domenico Zampieri 1581-1641), who painted the Assumption - Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere - Rome
This is the interior of the Rockingham Church which I showed from the outside yesterday. To capture the light through the windows properly, I did this as an HDR using Lightroom's HDR feature. While I could have achieved almost the same result through a little pushing of a single, well executed RAW image, the HDR version just seemed to be a little bit better in this case.
© Anvilcloud Photography
The following tidbits are excerpted from the Pembroke Library
The Rockingham Church, formerly known as St. Leonard’s Anglican Church, was built in 1875, when the hamlet of Rockingham was a thriving community. Essentially abandoned 60 years ago, the church’s simple grace and imposing location high on a slope overlooking the village attract many visitors each year. A post and beam structure, the building is a unique survivor of its kind in Renfrew County and one of the oldest remaining buildings in the area. In 1999, the Townships of Brudenell, Lyndoch & Raglan designated the church a heritage site under the Ontario Heritage Act.
Evidence for the date of construction of the Rockingham Church is conflicting, but The Renfrew Mercury, May 28, 1875, reported:
New Church at Rockingham
The Protestant settlers at Rockingham have, with the assistance of a few kind friends, lately erected a commodious place of worship for the settlement ...
In 1882, the Anglican Mission Board granted $400 to the Bishop of Ontario toward the support of a missionary to be stationed at Rockingham, where there was “a genial society of church members, Mr. Watson and family being among them.” The Rev. A.W. MacKay arrived in early 1882 to take up the position. The Church Warden’s Accounts for the same year record expenses of $391.14 to improve the church with the addition of a porch, communion rail, and organ, most likely to complete it for use as an Anglican mission; at that time it was named St. Leonard’s Church. A stove was added in 1885, and a belfry and bell in 1891.
In 1975 and 1976, a group under the name Madawaska Association for Developmental Ecology (M.A.D.E.) repaired the back wall, reshingled the roof and arranged for the return of the pews. Apart from the visits of tourists, history buffs and artists, the church stood empty and decaying until 1995, when the Friends of the Rockingham Church formed to undertake the present rehabilitation of the building.
Architecture of the Rockingham Church
The church is constructed in conventional post and beam style, with board and batten siding of locally cut pine. The siding is for the most part the original wood, installed in 1875. The old shingles removed in 1974-75 were of cedar—it is hard to believe they could have been original after 100 years, but there is no record in the Church Warden’s accounts that shows earlier repairs or replacement.
The elegant curved pews are original to the Rockingham Church. They were removed to the Quadeville Pentecostal Church in the 1940s and returned in the mid-1970s. The original altar rail and pulpit remain, although the font was moved to the Union Church at Barry’s Bay.
The repairs undertaken in 1999 and 2000 uncovered extensive rot to the post and beam structure within the walls and at the ground, which had caused the increasing sag in the walls and roof. Siding boards were removed and numbered to allow repair and/or replacement of the 8” x 8” beams without disturbing the interior panelling. Rafter ends, too, were rotting where they sat on the wall top plates. These were reinforced with new lumber, unsound roof decking was replaced, and the roof was reshingled in new cedar. The steeple was removed for repairs and reshingling. After much debate, copper was chosen for the steeple shingles for its longevity and its appearance. Repairs were completed in July 2000.
The Friends of the Rockingham Church, Inc.
The Friends of the Rockingham Church formed in 1995, in response to the imminent threat of the church’s demolition. The Anglican Diocese of Ottawa, then the owner of the church, was concerned about the building’s deteriorating condition and applied to the municipality for a demolition permit. Local concerned citizens took action, prevailed upon the Diocese to delay and eventually waive the application. The group incorporated in 1997 and was designated a charitable organization by Revenue Canada. The purchase of the building was finalized in 1998.
The Friends continue to raise funds for the ongoing maintenance and insurance of the building and to support programs to publicize its historical value. Tax receipts are issued for all donations. Cheques may be made out to:
The Rockingham Church is located at the junction of John Watson Road and the Rockingham Road, in the village of Rockingham. From the east (Killaloe or Eganville), turn off Hwy. 512 at Brudenell onto Renfrew County Road #66 (the Opeongo Line). Turn left onto Renfrew County Road #68 (the Letterkenny Road) and follow the signs to Rockingham. From the west (Combermere), turn off Hwy. 62 onto Hwy. 515. Turn left immediately onto Renfrew County Road #68 (the Rockingham Road) and follow to Rockingham.
On the 28th July 1540 Thomas Cromwell, who had for served as chief minister to King Henry VIII, was executed at Tower Hill in London. For nearly ten years Cromwell was one of the strongest and most powerful proponents of the English Reformation, coming to the fore through his engineering of the annulment of Henry’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon in 1533. During his years in power, he skillfully managed Crown finances and extended royal authority. In 1536, he established the Court of Augmentations to handle the massive windfall to the royal coffers from the Dissolution of the Monasteries. He strengthened royal authority in the north of England through reform of the Council of the North, extended royal power and introduced Protestantism in Ireland, and was the architect of the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542, which promoted stability and gained acceptance for the royal supremacy in Wales.
During this period Cromwell made many enemies and there were no shortage of those who would try and to oust him from his position of power. In 1540 he arranged for Henry to marry the German Princess Anne of Cleves, who Cromwell hoped would help breath fresh life into the Reformation in England and help protect England against the possibility of a French / Imperial alliance. This appears to have been a costly mistake, as the king was reportedly shocked by her plain appearance and Cromwell was accused of exaggerating her beauty. The wedding ceremony took place on January 6th at Greenwich, but the marriage was not consummated. For Cromwell’s conservative opponents, most notably the Duke of Norfolk, the King's anger at being forced to marry Anne was the opportunity to topple him they had been waiting for.
Cromwell was arrested at a Council meeting on June 10th and accused of various charges. His initial reaction was defiance: "This then is my reward for faithful service!" he cried out, and angrily defied his fellow Councillors to call him a traitor. A Bill of Attainder containing a long list of indictments, including supporting Anabaptists, corrupt practices, leniency in matters of justice, acting for personal gain, protecting Protestants accused of heresy and thus failing to enforce the Act of Six Articles, and plotting to marry Lady Mary Tudor, was introduced into the House of Lords a week later and passed on June 29th.
All Cromwell's honours were forfeited and it was publicly proclaimed that he could be called only "Thomas Cromwell, cloth carder". The King deferred the execution until his marriage to Anne of Cleves could be annulled: Anne, with remarkable common sense, happily agreed to an amicable annulment and was treated with great generosity by Henry as a result. Hoping for clemency, Cromwell wrote in support of the annulment, in his last personal address to the King. He ended the letter: "Most gracious Prince, I cry for mercy, mercy, mercy."
Cromwell was however condemned to death without trial, lost all his titles and property and was publicly beheaded on Tower Hill on July 28th 1540, on the same day as the King's marriage to Catherine Howard. The circumstances of his execution are a source of debate: whilst some accounts state that the executioner had great difficulty severing the head, others claim that this is apocryphal and that it took only one blow. Afterwards, his head was set on a spike on London Bridge.
The king later expressed regret at the loss of his chief minister and later accused his ministers of bringing about Cromwell's downfall by "pretexts" and "false accusations".
S’inspirant de la riche histoire et du folklore de Bruges, John Powers a exhumé la légende qui entoure Pieter Lanchals pour créer cette œuvre éponyme. Conseiller de l’archiduc Maximilien d’Autriche, l’homme fut exécuté au 15e siècle lors d’une révolte populaire visant à préserver les privilèges de la ville. Pendant ces événements, les Brugeois torturèrent et décapitèrent plusieurs hauts fonctionnaires de l’entourage de Maximilien, parmi lesquels Pieter Lanchals. En représailles, l’archiduc réunit une armée afin de mettre la ville à sac. Bruges finit par récupérer plusieurs privilèges mais fut contrainte, d’après la légende, d’entretenir éternellement 52 cygnes (« lanchals » signifie « long cou » en néerlandais) sur les canaux. Aujourd’hui encore, ces oiseaux blancs sont indissociables de la ville. Pour la Triennale de Bruges, Powers a donc construit sur une petite place au bord de l’eau une sculpture haute de plusieurs mètres, en forme de cou de cygne – bien que d’aucuns puissent aussi y voir une colonne vertébrale ou une tornade. L’installation se compose de modules noirs identiques : chaque élément de construction est une partie de l’ensemble, tous ont la même valeur et s’appuient les uns sur les autres pour s’élancer vers le ciel.
Inspired by the rich history and folklore of Bruges, John Powers exhumed the legend that surrounds Pieter Lanchals to create this eponymous work. Advisor to the Archduke Maximilian of Austria, the man was executed in the 15th century during a popular revolt to preserve the privileges of the city. During these events, the inhabitants of Bruges tortured and decapitated several high officials of Maximilian's entourage, including Pieter Lanchals. In retaliation, the archduke gathered an army to sack the city. Bruges finally recovered several privileges but was forced, according to the legend, to maintain eternally 52 swans ("lanchals" means "long neck" in Dutch) on the channels. Even today, these white birds are inseparable from the city. For the Triennale of Bruges, Powers built a swan neck-shaped sculpture on a small square at the water's edge - although some may also see a spine or tornado. The installation consists of identical black modules: each building element is a part of the whole, all have the same value and rely on each other to jump to the sky.
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The rood in the Augustinerkirche in Zürich. This was executed by local sculptor Franz Fischer during the church's reordering of 1958-9.
The Augustinerkirche in Zürich, located at the south-west of the Münzplatz in the Lindenhof area of the city centre. It is now home to the Old Catholic congregation in the centre of the city.
It was originally one of the five main churches in the old town of Zürich, together with the Fraumünster, Grossmünster, Predigerkirche and St Peter’s.
First built around 1270 as a Romanesque church belonging to the Augustinian abbey, worship in the church was discontinued at the Reformation. The church was rebuilt by Ferdinand Stadler for the Roman Catholic community of the city in 1843-4, a growing minority at the time. The majority of Zürich’s Catholics, however, rejected the decisions of the First Vatican Council of 1870, and consequently the whole community was excommunicated. The Augustinerkirche remains an Old Catholic congregation to this day.
In 1958-9, the church was rebuilt by Max Kopp in accordance with the original and more ambitious plans and with the Gothic Revival elements removed, leading to a much starker modernist aesthetic, a combination which I find very interesting.
The Roulin Family is a group of portrait paintings Vincent van Gogh executed in Arles in 1888 and 1889 on Joseph, his wife Augustine and their three children: Armand, Camille and Marcelle. This series is unique in many ways. Although Van Gogh loved to paint portraits, it was difficult for financial and other reasons for him to find models. So, finding an entire family that agreed to sit for paintings — in fact, for several sittings each — was a bounty.
Joseph Roulin became a particularly good, loyal and supporting friend to Van Gogh during his stay in Arles. To represent a man he truly admired was important to him. The family, with children ranging in age from four months to seventeen years, also gave him the opportunity to produce works of individuals in several different stages of life.
Rather than making photographic-like works, Van Gogh used his imagination, colours and themes artistically and creatively to evoke desired emotions from the audience.
Joseph Roulin was born on 4 April 1841 in Lambesc. His wife, née Augustine-Alix Pellicot, was also from Lambesc; they married 31 August 1868. Joseph, 47 years of age at the time of these paintings, was ten years his wife's senior. Theirs was a working class household. Joseph worked at the railroad station as an entreposeur des postes. Van Gogh and Joseph Roulin met and became good friends and drinking companions. Van Gogh compared Roulin to Socrates on many occasions; while Roulin was not the most attractive man, van Gogh found him to be "such a good soul and so wise and so full of feeling and so trustful." Strictly by appearance, Roulin reminded van Gogh of Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky – the same broad forehead, broad nose, and shape of the beard. Roulin saw van Gogh through the good and the most difficult times, corresponding with his brother, Theo following his rift with Gauguin and being at his side during and following the hospital stay in Arles
Château de Versailles (Yvelines) - Galerie des Glaces
Le plafond est décoré de près de 1 000 m2 de peintures de l'atelier de Charles Le Brun illustrant les réalisations du règne de Louis XIV, mettant en scène le roi lui-même en 30 grandes compositions. La moitié de la surface se compose de toiles marouflées (c'est-à-dire collées sur la voûte après avoir été exécutées). Ces dernières concernent les scènes les plus prestigieuses et ont été peintes par Le Brun lui-même, âgé de 60 ans au début des travaux. L'autre moitié est peinte directement sur la voûte.
IN ENGLISH BELOW THE LINE
Foto presa amb una Rolleiflex Old Standard fabricada el 1936; objectiu Carl Zeiss Tessar f3.5 / 75mm; filtre groc; pelicula Ilford HP5+ 400, revelada amb Atomal 49 sense diluir. Aquesta càmera és contemporania a aquests fets.
Buscant amb Google Maps per l'entorn del camp d'extermini de Sobibor, on foren assassinades amb cambres de gas entre 175.000 i 250.000 persones, vaig trobar una nota que em va portar al mig dels tranquils i solitaris boscos que envolten completament el camp.
Com ja he comentat, a Sobibor els presoners varen poder organitzar una desesperada revolta el 14 d'octubre de 1943. Dels 700 presoners del Lager I, uns 350 varen provar de fugir tant per la porta com per les filferrades i camps de mines cap al sud del camp. Abans havien mort a 11 dels seus assassins de les SS i 2 auxiliars "trawnikis". Per desgracia molts varen morir a trets o per les mines en el mateix moment de la fugida, però els boscos, tot i que grans, tampoc oferien protecció total. En pocs dies, uns 170 dels que arribaren al bosc foren capturats i tornats a Sobibor per morir allà, o executats directament al bosc. Nomes varen sobreviure a la guerra 58 presoners.
Doncs un dels grups dels capturats i executats al bosc mateix son els d'aquesta fosa comuna marcada al bosc, a 7 km al sud de Sobibor i a uns 2 km del poblet de Zbereże. Se sap que hi ha els cadavers de 6 presoners jueus de Sobibor, així com de 2 jueus del mateix poble de Zbereże, pare i fill. Probablement els fugitius provaben de creuar el riu Bug cap a territori sovietic, ja que aquest està just després de Zbereze. Potser provaren de buscar l'ajuda dels jueus locals, que en tot cas no entenc com encara sobrevivien allà el 1943.
La seva tomba solitaria com a minim ara està marcada i algú hi porta llanties i flors...
zapomniane.org/en/miejsce/zbereze-2/
Aquesta foto forma part de tot un viatge pel centre de Polònia, enfocat especialment en els més tragics moments del Holocaust i la II Guerra Mundial, que esclafà Polonia com pocs llocs, però que alhora contrasta amb l'increible renaixement del país fins al moment actual.
Hi ha una pel·licula força acurada, anomenada Escape from Sobibor (1987). Està sencera a Youtube:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YT8Bkrd6MsM
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Picture taken with my Rolleiflex Old Standard made in 1936; Carl Zeiss Tessar f3.5 75mm lens with yellow filter; Ilford HP5+ 400 film, developed in stock Atomal 49. This camera is contemporary with this events.
Searching with Google Maps around the Sobibor extermination camp, where between 175,000 and 250,000 people were murdered in gas chambers, I found a note that took me to the middle of the quiet and lonely forests that completely surround the camp.
As I have already mentioned, in Sobibor the prisoners were able to organize a desperate uprising on October 14, 1943. Of the 700 prisoners of Lager I, about 350 tried to escape both through the gate and through the barbed wire and minefields to the south of the camp. They had previously killed 11 of their SS murderers and 2 "trawniki" assistants. Unfortunately, many were shot or killed by mines at the same time as they escaped, but the forests, although large, did not offer complete protection either. Within a few days, about 170 of those who reached the forest were captured and returned to Sobibor to die there, or executed directly in the forest. Only 58 prisoners survived the war.
One of the groups of those captured and executed in the forest itself are those from this mass grave marked in the forest, 7 km south of Sobibor and about 2 km from the village of Zbereże. It is known that there are the bodies of 6 Jewish prisoners from Sobibor, as well as 2 Jews from the same village of Zbereże, father and son. The escapees were probably trying to cross the Bug River into Soviet territory, since this is just after Zbereze. Maybe they tried to seek help from the local Jews, who in any case I don't understand how they still survived there in 1943.
At least their lonely grave is now marked and someone is bringing flowers and wreaths...
zapomniane.org/en/miejsce/zbereze-2/
This photo is part of a trip through central Poland, focused especially on the most tragic moments of the Holocaust and World War II, which devastated Poland like few places, but which at the same time contrasts with the incredible rebirth of the country up to the present day.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sobibor_extermination_camp
There is a very accurate telefilm called Escape from Sobibor (1987). It is available in its entirety on Youtube:
Monument to the Executed Students in the Šumarice Memorial Park, also know as Interrupted Flight, by Miodrag Živković (1963), built to commemorate hundreds of young men murdered in that place by German soldiers on October 21st 1941.
Kragujevac, Serbia.
© Roberto Conte (2017)
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Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449-1494) - Thomas Aquinas - polychrome stained-glass windows, executed in 1492 by Alessandro Agolanti to a design by Ghirlandaio - Tornabuoni Chapel (1485-1490) - Santa Maria Novella Firenze
La cappella Tornabuoni è la cappella maggiore della basilica di Santa Maria Novella a Firenze. Contiene uno dei più vasti cicli di affreschi di tutta la città, realizzato da Domenico Ghirlandaio e bottega dal 1485 al 1490.
Gli affreschi hanno come tema le Scene della vita della Vergine e di san Giovanni Battista, inquadrate da finte architetture (pilastri con capitelli corinzi dorati e trabeazioni con dentelli, sulle tre pareti disponibili. Le scene si leggono dal basso verso l'alto, da destra a sinistra, secondo uno schema che già all'epoca doveva risultare un po' arcaico.
Le due pareti principali, a destra e a sinistra, presentano tre file di scene ciascuna, a sua volta divise in due scene rettangolari, ed una grande lunetta sulla sommità, per un totale di sette scene a parete.
The Cappella Tornabuoni is the main chapel (or chancel) in the church of Santa Maria Novella, Florence, Italy. It is famous for the extensive and well-preserved fresco cycle on its walls, one of the most complete in the city, which was created by Domenico Ghirlandaio and his workshop between 1485 and 1490.
The portraits of the members of the Tornabuoni family and of relatives, friends, allies and clients of the Medici and the Tornabuoni are included as spectators to the holy stories.
Ghirlandaio worked to the frescoes from 1485 to 1490, with the collaboration of his workshop artists, who included his brothers Davide and Benedetto, his brother-in-law Sebastiano Mainardi and, probably, the young Michelangelo Buonarroti. The windows were also executed according to Ghirlandaio's design. The complex was completed by an altarpiece portraying the Madonna del Latte in Glory with Angel and Saints, flanked by two panels with St. Catherine of Siena and St. Lawrence.
Almost nothing is known about the building of this tower of which little remains. It is thought to have been built by James Douglas, the Fourth Earl of Morton, in the 1500s. This may well be the case as Morton wrote of horse racing on the Solway Sands which lie only one mile to the south of the tower. Last of the four regents of James VI, Morton was executed in 1581 for complicity in the murder of Lord Darnley, second husband of James' mother Mary Queen of Scots. The tower passed to Robert, 9th Lord Maxwell in 1621, and in later times into other hands.
Length: 655 m
Width: 447 m
Height: 252 m
These powerful vessels were put on mass production during first year of The Great Insectoid War and were built around mostly unused pre-war design. Very few of these ships entered service just before the war, but for the time it was unnecessary. Its primary weapon - heavy railgun that almost a half of the ship long - was in fact so powerful, that it could destroy vessels up to light cruisers in just one shot, but this force wasn't needed for peacekeeping and pirate hunting role that Federation Navy executed back then. Considering the price of these ships, the command of the fleet did not see any prospects in their use and believed that the available types of ships in service were more than enough to withstand most threats.
But when Federation faced new and unexpected enemy enormous frontal firepower that Xyphos provided showed as quite an effective measure against invaders. Strategists loved the ship's ability to carry out swift and devastating attacks, which was provided by a large number of weapons directed forward, powerful engines, heavy energy shields and quite good armor. The disadvantage, however, was the rather low flight range, which limited the movement of these ships outside the naval formations, which was not a big problem, given the nature of their use.
P.S. Yeah, i know that it should be "Xiphos", but when I noticed this grammar mistake it was too late. Well, I could fix it, but I'm too lazy. In fact, I'm so lazy, that I couldn't write this backstory for a month. And that's why it took so long to post this MOC.
Sometimes I really enjoy executing other peoples concepts, it gives me a chance to test my methods in new territories & I end up creating images that I wouldn’t other wise. Variety is the spice of life & all that…
Read more & see the behind the scenes on my blog.
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Strobist Left Shot:
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Saint Louis of Toulouse is a gilded bronze sculpture of Louis of Toulouse by Donatello with a marble niche all'antica on the facade of Orsanmichele, executed in 1423–1425. It is now in the refectory of the Museo di Santa Croce in Florence.
The statue was commissioned by the Parte Guelfa for their external niche at the centre of the east facade of Orsanmichele facing via de' Calzaiuoli. Their patron saint (canonized in 1317) had given up his crown for the religious life, an idea that favorably symbolized the Guelphs' believe in the Papacy. They backed the papal party against the Holy Roman Emperor in the Investiture Controversy and later conflicts.
The Saint Louis of Toulouse was Donatello's earliest bronze sculpture, that we know of, not only of this size. It measures 2.26 m high with a widest diameter of about 0.75 m and 0.85 m at the bottom. An (above) life-sized bronze statue wasn't done since late-antiquity and the knowledge was almost lost, at least in Tuscany. For the first Baptistry door (1330–1336) modeled after its sole predecessor, Bonanno Pisano's doors for Pisa Cathedral from the end of the 12th century, a hundred and fifty years later Andrea Pisano needed the help of bronze-casters from Venice, where the late-antique/byzantine tradition and the knowledge about casting bigger pieces had been preserved. At the turn of the 15th century, the second door for the Florence Baptistry then marked a new beginning. For Lorenzo Ghiberti, a trained goldsmith, it was a huge challenge, and it took him 20 years (1403–1424), before he immediately took on the commission for the third door.
But in 1412 Ghiberti also had the chance to create the first life-size bronze figure since antiquity, his Saint John the Baptist (finished by 1416). No surprise that it also was commissioned for one of the niches of Orsanmichele again by one of the most wealthiest guilds in Florence, the Arte di Calimala , who were responsible for the Baptistery and for the commission of its bronze doors to Ghiberti. Subsequently the Arte del Cambio and the Arte della Lana were evenly keen to promote their prestige and show their wealth by commissioning also bronze statues of their patron saints for the designated niches at Orsanmichele, and both asked Ghiberti to do it. The Bankers Guild even demanded explicitly that their Saint Matthew should be taller than the Baptist of the Calimala. Ghiberti executed the Saint Matthew between 1419–1422, the Saint Stephen for the Arte della Lana in 1427–1428, replacing an earlier, less prestigious marble figure of their patron saint.
Completed in 1425 the Saint Louis of Toulouse was then the third monumental bronze statue since several centuries, with Donatello also designing its niche according to Vasari, but in 1459 the niche was instead sold to the Tribunale della Mercanzia and used for their commission of the Christ and St. Thomas.
Donatello was still alive when due to political pressure the Parte Guelfa had to give up their prestigious representational space at Orsanmichele, the economical centre of Florence. The statue was instead taken to "the next best location" (Janson), Santa Croce, which their patron saint Louis of Anjou had visited and therefore the Guelphs were affiliated with. It was placed in a niche above the central portal of the facade, in which the coat of arms of the Parte Guelfa were formerly displayed. Aesthetically the niche was "a poor choice", it was too high up, but it also was too shallow for the statue. Today the statues's hollow shell is open on its back, and it is believed that parts of the drapery on the back were taken off the figure to make it fit into its new space. An indicator for this to be true is the fact that the statue doesn't sustain itself and tilts forwards so it has to be held by additional support that is not original.
When the 19th-century facade was built (in 1860) the sculpture was put into store and then into the museum. In 1943 the Orsanmichele sculptures and others were placed in secure storage for the duration of the war. After the war the Saint Louis was briefly placed in then the supposedly original niche at Orsanmichele, and it was first prooven that it was indeed Donatello's sculpture for the Guelphs.
This is the gravesite of the first and only female prisoner to be executed in South Australia. Charged with poisoning her husband.
shot executed by pinhole Auloma Feris 4x5 , filter for view camera green aulomacolor, negative scan by Canon EOS 1100D
Press L to view large.
MacKenzie and MacRae
During the Jacobite rising in 1745-46, Kenneth MacKenzie, 6th Earl of Seaforth and later known as Lord Fortrose, supported the government and did not bring his clan out for Bonnie Prince Charlie. He had seen the many sufferings of his father and his clan from the prior Jacobite rising and chose to preserve the status quo. He did not lead the MacKenzies or the MacRaes into battle.
George MacKenzie, 3rd Earl of Cromartie together with Simon Fraser, Lord Lovat made a joint recruiting effort in the east around Glenurquhart on the Black Isle, and took part in the Battle of Falkirk on 17 January 1746. Many MacKenzies fought in his regiment but very few MacRaes, perhaps because their population was greater in Seaforth's domain. Both the Earl and his son Lord MacLeod were taken prisoner the day before Culloden. They were later pardoned, but Lord Lovat was also taken prisoner and was executed with great barbarity at the advanced age of 80 via the method known as hung, drawn, and quartered. He was the last nobleman executed in Britain. The majority of the men taken at Culloden were either executed or transported.
As a result of Seaforth's non-participation and Cromartie's recruiting being in the east and not the west, very few MacRaes fought in this decisive battle.
The English never claimed battle honors for the Battle of Culloden, perhaps in shame at the butchery by Cumberland, the King's son, whose policy was give no quarter. Fallen soldiers were murdered where they lay wounded on the field. Of the English who attended the public executions in Carlisle and London, it is said that many turned away. It is hard to believe how savagely the Scots were treated in defeat during the alleged Age of Enlightenment, and historians who want to understand the causes of the American Revolution can look to the aftermath of this one battle and take note of the many Scots names who led America to independence.
Written by:
Cornelia W. Bush
Oundle School Chapel
One of the three apse windows that constitute the first major stained glass commission of John Piper & Patrick Reyntiens, executed 1954-6 and portraying nine aspects of Christ's divinity.
The also constitute the first major flowering of a new, contemporary approach to stained glass design, radically different from anything produced in this country before, and therefore a milestone in the evolution of modern stained glass in Britain.
Left hand (north east) window representing Christ as the Way, the Truth & the Life.
Once again I had been called into the field for a last minute operation for the Triumvirate, I had my orders to go to Iridonia, a planet covered in rocks sand and acid pools. The planet was an important one to capture as it had access to many useful hyper lanes, leading straight to the hearts of some of our greatest threats, so it was key that we executed the orders without fail.
Once landing, I had been dispatched from the main group with a squad of elite death troopers, who were to help me target a specific group of rebels while the rest rounded out other rebels. We arrived at the house, which was surrounded by an acid lake, typical of this part of the planet, where we entered peacefully, the Zabrak I talked claimed he knew nothing but I k ew who he was, Baak Chiser, freedom fighter of Iridonia, as I continued to pursue answers from him about the hideouts located around the planet, the remainder of my squad located those that were there and executed them without question. We had them all where we wanted them except for one, there was a child of Chiser’s who was hidden from us, I tapped into their fins but found nothing, my troopers arrived back to me and reported they had done what they had asked. “I will escort Chiser back the ship personally, he has a child find it!”
Sophie Scholl — 1921–1943
Sophie Scholl was a university student in Munich and a central figure of the nonviolent resistance group known as the White Rose. Together with friends and comrades (including her brother Hans Scholl and Christoph Probst), Sophie distributed leaflets and wrote pamphlets exposing Nazi atrocities, the persecution of Jews, and the destruction of human dignity. Their words called for civic conscience and urged Germans to refuse blind obedience to the regime.
On February 18, 1943, Sophie and Hans were caught by the Gestapo while distributing leaflets at the University of Munich. They were arrested, subjected to a summary trial before the People’s Court (Volksgerichtshof), and sentenced to death within days. On February 22, 1943, Sophie, Hans, and Christoph Probst were executed by guillotine.
Their action was not violent but moral: a choice to speak the truth when silence meant complicity. Sophie Scholl remains a symbol of youthful courage, intellectual integrity, and moral resistance against totalitarianism.
Why I publish her:
I publish Sophie Scholl because her choice shows that individual conscience and truth can stand up to the most brutal powers. Remembering her is an invitation not to look away: the courage of a few can light the responsibility of many.
"A public apology to those accused of witchcraft between the 16th and 18th Centuries would send a powerful symbolic signal, campaigners have said.
They said a statement from the Scottish government would help to right a terrible wrong from Scotland's past".
Witch hunts took place in many countries during that period, but academics say Scotland's execution rate was five times the European average. (Not surprising the Romans had to build a wall when they were here).
Supposedly it would send an important message to countries where witch hunts still take place today.
The Witches of Scotland campaign wants Nicola Sturgeon to make a statement on International Women's Day on 8 March.
Update 27 January 2022 — The Catalan regional parliament has formally pardoned hundreds of women executed for witchcraft between the 15th and 18th centuries.
Executing a lovely topside whilst performing a missed approach at RAF Fairford ahead of their attendance at Ex Ramstein Flag 2025.
Nicely executed sharpness from the Tessar.
Full review here: almost-hasselblad.blogspot.com/2022/02/ica-icarette-b.html
This image was initially inspired by the great work of Kevin Best, who used to post on here many years ago.
This is an image I’ve been planning for a couple of years, collecting the props, planning how to execute it and finally processing. It’s been a long and sometimes head scratching exercise, but I’ve loved every single minute of it. Thankfully I have somewhere I can leave the set up, and come back to it over days, and weeks. I started this just before Christmas and finished it yesterday.
This probably took a total of 60 hours work (maybe more) from set up, taking the images – and there are a lot of versions on my hard drive, to processing.
There are a lot of subtleties that have been included, although I doubt many of them will be easy to see on screen, as this is designed to be seen in print - which even at 300px is over a meter wide.
Every item on here, has been moved several times (even down to the cheese crumbs), all have a meaning to the narrative. Many of the original “cast” have been replaced – in fact I considered doing another image just of the ‘could have been’s’.
It’s a true panoramic – in so much as it’s a stitch of 15 images - 3 banks of 5. I chose to use exposure blending, as I only wanted one light source, other than the candle – but the exposure difference from left to right is probably about 2 stops. Originally I had planned to do a light painting version, and indeed tried, but couldn’t get the blending right. I had to make a heath Robinson pano head out of an old macro rail to avoid parallax.
I have curtailed my still life projects, as the competitions I tend to enter are not really geared for this type of image. They require an instant ‘hook’ for a judge. This is really meant for seeing in a print – a very large print. Where you can come back and see something else. I will in future be doing a lot more of these (tho maybe not as ambitious !!).
The Image is inspired by the great Baard Shakespeare and his play “As you like it” and the monologue of the same title as the image.
Now the words of the great man himself.
“ All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first, the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms.
Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress’ eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon’s mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slippered pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.”
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Excerpt from phillips.com:
In 1986, during the centennial of the Statue of Liberty’s arrival in America, Andy Warhol executed his indelibly famous silkscreens employing the pattern of camouflage. In the present lot, Statue of Liberty, 1986, Warhol spins the colors of war into a tribute to international solidarity. Appropriating the historical pattern of violence and concealment, Warhol brilliantly rebrands camouflage as a stylistic statement. And, in doing so, he bequeaths the symbol of cooperation between the United States and France with an aesthetic grace that rivals any of his work from this prolific period in his life.
Yet camouflage did not appear in Warhol’s paintings until more than twenty years later. Previous to 1986, Warhol had been working in a variety of techniques and stylistic formats, including the reversal series and the infamous oxidation paintings. But perhaps the most telling harbinger of his work with camouflage was the “shadow paintings”, which appeared with regularity throughout the decade leading up to 1986. In these paintings, we see his tendency for color-field patterns with varying shapes and border patterns. “Shape and shadow are the two principles most central to the concept of camouflage.”
On a face already defined by the dramatic presence of shadow, Warhol’s camouflage pattern lends an exhilarating chromatic dimension. His canvas, six feet square, bears three layers of silkscreened image. The underlayer is composed of only the face and upper arm of the statue of liberty, resplendent in her classical glory. Here, Warhol exhibits a remarkable attention to detail in terms of the distribution of the paint and its equal distribution across the canvas; nowhere can we spot smudges or a visually unintelligible section due to over saturation of pigment. Atop his original layer, Warhol lays his camouflage pattern. Crawling at every whim across the face of the statue and her outstretched arm, we behold four shades of lavender-blue that make the stern face even more intimidating. She looks as an enlisted soldier does, but instead, her mission is to pronounce the greatness of American liberty.
But even as Warhol fortifies the Statue with a fierce resolve, his third layer of silkscreen is tongue-in-cheek: he inserts a label for the French cookie company, “Fabis”, into the lower right-hand corner of his picture. The image bears French and American flags flying together, corroborating the international solidarity represented by the Statue of Liberty with a delightful piece of kitsch. While we may be whisked away temporarily or perhaps even inspired by the Statue dressed in military garb, Warhol stamps his work with a comment on the commercialism for which he is known best; both France and America are trademarks, at peace with each other’s brand of business.
Statue of Liberty, 1986, has the benefit of being hotly suggestive but not prescriptive, which was one of Warhol’s many gifts as an artist. However, what begins to show through in the work executed close to his time of death was his unprecedented level of self-reflection. Later in the year, he even employed camouflage as a pattern over one of his many self-portraits. But we need not look so far for Warhol’s self-reference; in the craggy recessions and stoic lines on the face of the Statue, we observe Warhol’s own aging mask, weighted with connotations yet unwilling to yield any personal truth.
Type of Item: New Release! Item Details: Kate Set comes with top, shorts and hud w/22 solid colors & 12 dot colors! Release Date: December 25, 2021!
Sitting on the wooden trestle just outside the little town of Enterprise, KS, the crew of Santa Fe #3415 executes a bottom blow-down of their boiler, opening the blow-down valves on both sides of their firebox. Steam locomotive crews execute this procedure fairly frequently, as boiler treatment chemicals they put in their water precipitate out solid particles, which can form a sludge on the bottom surface of the boiler if not expelled. The blow-down valves are typically placed just above the boiler's "mud-ring" area, which is the lowest point in the boiler, so if anything was accumulating there, it is flushed out by this process. As the valves are opened, superheated water at a temperature well above 300F is expelled at 200 psi, instantly flashing to steam. Needless to say, this creates a loud roar and would scare the life out of anybody nearby, so crews typically choose the places where they do this carefully. Although there looks to be a scalding hazard here, that only extends a few feet from the valve, as the rapid expansion and evaporative cooling rapidly reduce the temperature of the plume. If anyone was nearby, they would just get soaking wet.
This image was captured during a September, 2023 photo shoot on the Abilene & Smoky Valley Railroad, which featured the AT&SF #3415.
A very well executed US Specification Healy Fiesta rep with few giveaways of it being a replica other than the RHD set-up.
Modifications from GL include:
Federal bumpers
US spec rear lights (red turn signals!)
Escort MK2 Ghia front lamps
1.6 XR2 engine
US spec fuel filler cap and expansion tank
Custom steel front lower valance and arch extensions
Two versions of Medusa were created by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio – one in 1596 and the other in 1597 – depicting the exact moment she was executed by Perseus. He plays with the concept by replacing Medusa's face with his own, as an indication of his immunity to her dreadful gaze. Due to its bizarre and intricate design, the painting is said to complement Caravaggio's unique fascination with violence and realism. It was commissioned by Italian diplomat Francesco Maria del Monte as a means of giving it to the Grand Duke of Tuscany, and is now located in the Uffizi Museum in Florence without signature.
In the 1590s Caravaggio had just started becoming a successful and wealthy artist in Rome. However, the time in which he painted the two versions of the Medusa were characterized by several run-ins with the law. In July 1597, Caravaggio and his partner Prospero Orsi became involved as witnesses in a crime that occurred near San Luigi de' Francesi. In one instance, a barber named Luca gave a testimony about Caravaggio where he provided a description regarding his mysterious attire:
"This painter is a stocky young man…with a thin black beard, thick eyebrows and black eyes, who goes dressed all in black, in a rather disorderly fashion, wearing black hose that is a little bit threadbare, and who has a thick head of hair, long over his forehead."
At the time, there was an unsolved case in which two items were reported as being missing – a dark cloak and a small dagger. As a result of his mysterious behavior and also due to his affiliation with cloaks, Caravaggio was arrested several times in which he indicated that he favored dressing in dark attire to avoid being seen by the public, which is also why he preferred to make late night trips to evade excessive or unnecessary attention. On May 4, 1598, he was arrested again for possessing a sword in public, in which he asserted:
“I was arrested last night…because I was carrying a sword. I carry the sword by right because I am Painter to Cardinal del Monte. I am in his service and live in his house. I am entered on his household payroll.”
Caravaggio's paintings were never in tune with the idealized themes that were prevalent during the time period. Instead, he became more intrigued with the idea of realism and incorporated it into his paintings such as Boy with a Basket of Fruit, The Fortune Teller, The Cardsharps, Bacchus, and even The Musicians, which were all painted within the same time period. When he painted Medusa, Caravaggio hit a great milestone in his life - he was given a chance to decorate the Contarelli Chapel, in which he created realistic images regarding the life of St. Matthew himself. Some of these paintings include Saint Matthew and the Angel, The Martyrdom of Saint Matthew, and The Calling of Saint Matthew. This opportunity to paint the chapel gave him great advantage and a sense of motivation to incorporate more realism in his artworks.
The first version of the painting created in 1596 is known as Murtula, named after poet Gaspare Murtola, who wrote "flee, for if your eyes are petrified in amazement, she will turn you to stone." It measures 48 by 55 cm in length and is signed Michel A F, indicating "Michel Angelo made [this]", with Michelangelo being Caravaggio's first name after all. This work is privately owned.
The second version of the painting created in 1597 is known as Medusa (Italian: Testa di Medusa). It is slightly bigger than the first, measuring 60×55 cm in length and although it's not signed, it is often dated with the year 1597. This work is held in the Uffizi Museum located in Florence.
For its subject matter, Caravaggio drew on the myth of Medusa. The painting depicts the severed head of Medusa, a monster described as a woman with bronze hands and golden wings who had countless venomous snakes on her head in place of her own hair. Anyone who even so much as glanced at her would be turned to stone. Medusa, along with her two sisters Stheno and Euryale, was known as a Gorgon, a powerful mythical creature in ancient Greek mythology. She was cursed by the Roman goddess Minerva (or the Greek goddess Athena), who turned her into the venomous monster she was. Perseus, son of Greek god Zeus and princess Danae, decapitated Medusa using a shield given by Athena.
In his painting, Caravaggio depicts a self-portrait of his own face in the place of Medusa's, as a way of indicating his immunity to her dreadful gaze. Though the head is decapitated, it still appears conscious as the painting captures its final moments in silence before being atrociously defeated. Blood pours down in many streaks, while the mouth hangs wide open baring teeth. With brows creased and eyes amplified, an appalling expression is portrayed.
The painting was commissioned as a commemoration shield by Cardinal Francesco Maria Del Monte, who wanted to give it to the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Ferdinando I de' Medici, for his courage, and have it placed in the Medici collection
This was a test for finding some behaviors of the magic donkey (interestingness algorithm), which executed as a black-box test, with tuning inputs and evaluationg outputs.
You can check the experience results here.
The following is original description of this photo, before publishing the results:
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سلام رفيق
ميخواستم اگر پررويي نباشه، خودم هديه تولدم رو بگم چي باشه
اگه عيبي نداره، اين عكس رو به فوورايتهات اضافه كن
(به خاطر محدوديت تعداد تگ، اين قسمت حذف شد، تگهاي دوستاني كه لطف كرده بودند و اسمشون رو اضافه كرده بودند هم به خاطر حفظ عدالت حذف شد)
(اگر مثل من توي فو كردن خسيسي، كافيه اين رو اد كني و 10 روز ديگه برش داري)
ميخوام ببينم اگه همه دوستام يه عكي رو فو كنن، چه رتبهاي پيدا ميكنه
All my dear friends,
I want to ask you for a birthday gift!
I would be appreciated if you please add this photo to your favorites.
(Because of tags limitation, I removed this part of my request. I also removed all your kindly added tags just because of respecting those who couldn't add a tag!)
(For those who are scrimpy in fave-ing (like me), you can add it to your list, and remove it after 10 days)
I just want to check if all flickr members who like my photos fave this, what rank it should gain in Explore ;)
So please do not add this photo as a favorite if you don't know me or I'm not a contact of you. I mean if you want to fave this just because of itself, please do not do that. I want to count my friends ;)
Of course you will be appreciated as a new friend, if you fave this..
I won't post this photo to any set or group for ten days!
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I started a discussion thread in FlickrCentral about this shot and my test:
A hack, or a test? "Interestingness"!
And another better discussion on hep forum:
Strange action of "interestingness" algorithm
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Last hours of day 2:
- Seems visits and faves are almost finished.
- Now I want to add it to "iranian" group and a set just for evaluating the result.
First hours of day 3:
- Interestingness rank of this shot in my own photostream increased from 56 to 38 after adding to Iranian group!
- I'll try 1-2-3 style groups now
Day 3, 5 o'clock:
- It is #28 now
- I'm going to remove from all 123 style groups
End of day 3:
- #21
Day 8:
- Not yet in Explore
- #17 in my stream
Test is over!
Nurse Edith Cavell was executed by German forces during WWI as she had aided British POWs to escape.
There was great diplomatic efforts to have her death sentence commuted or delayed, but to no avail.
She was shot by eight soldiers, and in time, her body was repatriated, the wagon her body was carried from Dover is the same used for the body of the Unknown Soldier.
The luggage wagon usually rests at Bodiham on the Kent and East Sussex Railway, but for November it has been brought back to the former Dover Marine station.
I got tickets, so after lunch we would visit, not just to see the wagon and pay our respects, but the station is now a cruise terminal, and is rarely open to the public, and it had been a decade or so since my last visit.
I slept late, late enough so that Jools driving off to yoga woke me up at ten past six. Outside rain was bouncing down, and there was the bins to do.
I got up and put them out, dodging the raindrops, and back inside to make a coffee.
With rain expected all day, other than doing to the station after lunch, not much else planned, whilst Jools had her craft and gossip morning at the village library.
Jools came back from yoga as I was finishing my coffee, so I made breakfast giving her an hour before she had to leave again.
I listened to podcasts and watched videos for the morning, not much else to do, really.
Sadly, we had what we thought was the plumber coming to fix the overflow, but instead Craig came to touch up some paint in the toilet.
So Jools stayed home and I drove down to the Western Docks, over the flyover, past the former Lord Warden Hotel, then round to where lines from London entered Dover Marine, forming a large flat crossing in a tangle of lines.
You can still see how the lines used to curve west to join the main line to Folkestone, but is now concreted over, as are the tracks between the platforms, so to create a large flat parking area for cruisers.
I showed my ticket, and walked up through the central arch along what was the path of platforms 2 and three, past the former station buildings and under the footbridge.
At the far end there was the wagon, so I walked up, showed my ticket again, had my name ticked off, and went to look inside.
Inside there is a coffin, a replica of the one that brought the body of the unknown soldier back from France, and on the walls there were information boards on the only three bodies to be brought back from the war.
I exited it, took shots all around it, then walked to the war memorial, which is a splendid thing, and should be more accessible.
And I was done.
I thanked the volunteers and walked out, getting shots of the walkway linking the former hotel with the station and the Admiralty pier before taking shelter from the rain in the car and driving home.
I had been gone all of 40 minutes.
Once back I began to cook dinner/lunch: chicken pie, roast potatoes, steamed leeks, sprouts and spring greens, gravy and shop bought Yorkshire puddings.
It was all done by four, by which time Craig had done two coats of paint and had left.
I poured a beer and a cider, then dished up, the potatoes lovely and crunchy, without being burnt.
I won the music quiz at six, which was nice, then after washing up I settled down to watch Northern Ireland play in Slovakia.
A poor game, ended 1-0 to the home side, but Northern Ireland go to the play-offs anyway.
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Edith Louisa Cavell (/ˈkævəl/ KAV-əl; 4 December 1865 – 12 October 1915) was a British nurse. She is celebrated for treating wounded soldiers from both sides without discrimination during the First World War and for helping some 200 Allied soldiers escape from German-occupied Belgium. Cavell was arrested, court-martialled under German military law and sentenced to death by firing squad. Despite international pressure for mercy, the German government refused to commute her sentence, and she was shot. The execution received worldwide condemnation and extensive press coverage.
The night before her execution, she said, "Patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone". These words were inscribed on the Edith Cavell Memorial[1] opposite the entrance to the National Portrait Gallery near Trafalgar Square. Her strong Anglican beliefs propelled her to help all those who needed it, including both German and Allied soldiers. She was quoted as saying, "I can't stop while there are lives to be saved."[2] The Church of England commemorates her in its Calendar of Saints on 12 October.
Cavell, who was 49 at the time of her execution, was already notable as a pioneer of modern nursing in Belgium.
In November 1914, after the German occupation of Brussels, Cavell began sheltering British soldiers and funnelling them out of occupied Belgium to the neutral Netherlands. Wounded British and French soldiers as well as Belgian and French civilians of military age were hidden from the Germans and provided with false papers by Prince Réginald de Croÿ at his château of Bellignies near Mons. From there, they were conducted by various guides to the houses of Cavell, Louis Séverin, and others in Brussels, where their hosts would furnish them with money to reach the Dutch frontier, and provide them with guides obtained through Philippe Baucq.[18] This placed Cavell in violation of German military law.[4][19] German authorities became increasingly suspicious of the nurse's actions, which were further fuelled by her outspokenness.
The night before her execution, Cavell told the Reverend H. Stirling Gahan, the Anglican chaplain of Christ Church Brussels, who had been allowed to see her and to give her Holy Communion, "I am thankful to have had these ten weeks of quiet to get ready. Now I have had them and have been kindly treated here. I expected my sentence and I believe it was just. Standing as I do in view of God and Eternity, I realise that patriotism is not enough, I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone."[30][31] These words are inscribed on her statues in London and in Melbourne, Australia.[32][33] Cavell's final words to the German Lutheran prison chaplain, Paul Le Seur, were recorded as, "Ask Father Gahan to tell my loved ones later on that my soul, as I believe, is safe, and that I am glad to die for my country.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edith_Cavell
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Situated on Admiralty Pier for connection to ships, this was constructed on an expanded pier by SECR, finished in 1914, began to be used on 2 February 1915 but was not available for public use until 18 January 1919; in the meantime it had been renamed Dover Marine on 5 December 1918. It was a large terminus with four platforms covered by a full roof. Platforms were extended to take 12-car trains in February 1959.[6] It was renamed again to Dover Western Docks on 14 May 1979, and was closed by British Rail on 26 September 1994[1] with the demise of boat trains and the opening of the Channel Tunnel. It has since been turned into a cruise-liner terminal.[7]
Work on the new train ferry pier at the station suffered damage worth £300,000 during the Great storm of 1987.[8]
Regie voor Maritiem Transport used to run ferries until 1994 from here to Oostende railway station which connected into Belgian railway line 50A run by NMBS. There was a fast ferry service using the Jetfoil as well as conventional ferries.
The Southern Railway opened a large locomotive depot at the site in 1928. This was closed in 1961 and demolished.
Winton Wetlands The Water Gallery was a project designed, produced and executed by indigenous artist Troy Firebrace and contemporary artist Bailey Bish. The project merged both indigenous and non-indigenous artists in creating a culturally significant landmark on the site. The project was implemented to coincide with the Benalla Wall to Wall Festival in 2017. Not sure if this is by same artists.
Meanwhile, at Dunder Mifflin, new hire George Constanza* has executed his plan to chat with Pam at the copier.
"-so I thought we could print double-sided for the daily QR reports and that alone would save a ton of paper. I mean, even though we are a paper company we can still be environmentally conscious."
"Wow, Pam, that's exactly the way I think. I'm very big into environmental. Very big. I saved a whale one time."
"Oh, wow! A whale."
George thinking: "No laugh track!** I can't tell what's going on! Is she liking my angle? Maybe I should throw in something about Greenpeace. Why does she have to be one of those environuts? It's always so difficult to come up with something for that. I wonder if she's into architecture..."
"Yeah, yeah, a whale. Had a golf ball stuck in his blowhole. snrt! Say, do you like architecture?"
"Architecture? I guess... why?"
"Well, there's a new expansion on a building downtown and... let's just say I may have had a hand in it. I'd love to show you!"
"Oh, you're in architecture?"
"Well, I dabble."
"That's cool, let me ask Jim. I think he'd like to see it too."
"Jim? Oh, Jim! Jim at the desk over there!"
"Yes, we're going out."
"Oh, of course you are..."
__________________________
A year of the shows and performers of the Bijou Planks Theater.
Funko
Mini Moments
The Office
Michael Scott
Dwight Schrute
Jim Halpert
Pam Beesly
Darryl Philbin
Funko
Mini Moments
Seinfeld - Jerry's Apartment
George
* George's interview was seen in BP 2022 Day 173!
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/52164948582/
** George has been thrown off by the lack of a laugh track at The Office, as seen in BP 2022 Day !
A meet is executed at Big Stone Gap as an empty hopper train powers through the siding behind SD40-2 8122 and three other six-motor units. The Chessie unit on the right is a U30B, and formerly C&O 8207. The GE is the rear of three four-motor units serving as the rear end pusher. As soon as the empty train clears, the NS dispatcher will likely give the loaded train clearance to head for the NS-CSX junction ahead and across Powell River.
KIRBY MUXLOE CASTLE, KNOWN ALSO AS KIRBY CASTLE IS AN UNFINISHED 15TH CENTURY FORTIFIED MANOR HOUSE IN KIRBY MUXLOE, LEICESTERSHIRE. THE MANSION WAS LEFT UNFINISHED WHEN ITS OWNER WAS EXECUTED FOR TREASON. THE OWNER WAS WILLIAM, LORD HASTINGS, WHO BEGAN WORK ON KIRBY MUXLOE CASTLE IN 1480, CREATING A FORTIFIED HOUSE OF RED BRICK SURROUNDED BY A WIDE MOAT. THERE WAS ALREADY A 14TH CENTURY HOUSE ON THE SITE, BUILT BY THE PAKEMAN FAMILY, WHEN HASTINGS BEGAN HIS CASTLE. FOUNDATIONS OF THAT FIRST HOUSE CAN BE SEEN WITHIN THE CASTLE ENCLOSURE. THE HASTINGS FAMILY GAINED OWNERSHIP OF THE KIRBY MUXLOE ESTATE IN 1460, AND LORD HASTINGS DEMOLISHED MUCH OF THE EARLIER HOUSE IN ORDER TO USE THE STONE TO BUILD HIS NEW CASTLE.
WORK HAD ONLY BEEN GOING ON FOR THREE YEARS WHEN LORD HASTINGS WAS CAUGHT UP IN THE TRANSITION OF POWER FROM EDWARD IV TO RICHARD III. HASTINGS HAD BEEN A FIRM A FAVOURITE OF EDWARD, AND ACTUALLY SUPPORTED RICHARD'S CLAIM TO THE THRONE. SO IT CAME AS SOME SURPRISE WHEN, IN JUNE 1483, RICHARD HAD HASTINGS SUDDENLY SEIZED, CHARGED WITH TREASON, AND SUMMARILY EXECUTED. ONE THEORY IS THAT HASTINGS REFUSED TO SUPPORT RICHARD'S PLANS TO KILL HIS YOUNG NEPHEWS, THE SO-CALLED PRINCES IN THE TOWER. WHILE WE WILL PROBABLY NEVER KNOW THE TRUE REASONS FOR HASTING'S EXECUTION, THE EFFECT ON KIRBY MUXLOE CASTLE WAS DRAMATIC. WORK DID NOT CEASE IMMEDIATELY, FOR LADY HASTINGS CONTINUED CONSTRUCTION FOR A BRIEF TIME, BUT ACTIVITY PETERED OUT AFTER 1484 AND ONLY SPORADIC WORK WAS EVER DONE AFTER THAT POINT, AND EVENTUALLY THE SITE WAS ABANDONED.
THE CASTLE SITE IS ENTERED BY WAY OF AN IMPOSING GATEHOUSE, AND A STRONG THREE STORY TOWER STANDS SILENT WATCH OVER THE MOAT. THE MOAT ENCLOSES A SITE 110 METRES LONG AND 90 METRES WIDE, WHILE THE ISLAND UPON WHICH THE CASTLE STANDS IS 80 METRES BY 60 METRES. THE GATEHOUSE AND WEST TOWER ARE IN RED BRICK DRESSED WITH STONE, MAKING THIS ONE OF THE FIRST GROUPS OF BRICK BUILDINGS IN THE MIDLANDS. HARDER WEARING STONE IS USED FOR BOTH DOOR AND WINDOW SURROUNDS, HOWEVER.
THE GATEHOUSE IS VERY STRIKING; IT IS ONE OF THE FIRST IN ENGLAND TO HAVE GUNPORTS FOR FIRING AT ATTACKERS. SEVERAL OF THE GUNPORTS ARE BELOW THE WATERLINE, OUT OF SIGHT TO MODERN VISITORS. WHAT IS THE POINT OF HAVING GUNPORTS UNDER WATER? PRESUMABLY THEY WERE INTENDED FOR USE WHEN WATER LEVELS IN THE MOAT WERE LOW. THERE IS A LARGE, EMPTY PANEL OVER THE ENTRANCE ARCHWAY, PREPARED FOR LORD HASTINGS COAT OF ARMS, BUT THE CARVINGS WERE NEVER ADDED BEFORE THE OWNER'S DEATH LED TO BUILDING WORK BEING ABANDONED. THE GATEHOUSE IS REACHED BY A DRAWBRIDGE OVER THE MOAT, AND THE GATEWAY PASSAGE IS FURTHER DEFENDED BY A PORTCULLIS AND TWO SETS OF GATES.
THE SITE IS A ROUGH OBLONG, RATHER THAN A SQUARE PLAN LIKE ASHBY CASTLE. ONE PART OF THE CASTLE THAT WAS COMPLETE IS THE LOVELY CORNER TOWER, STANDING THREE STOREYS HIGH, WITH A SPIRAL STAIR RISING TO A CRENELLATED PARAPET WALK. THE STAIR IS MADE OF BRICK; ONE OF THE EARLIEST AND MOST IMPRESSIVE USE OF BRICK FOR A STAIRCASE IN ENGLAND.
The sculpture "Soviet Soldiers are the Liberators of Riga" by LV KBukovsky, part of the 1985 Victory Memorial to the Soviet Army. Needless to say the name of this sculpture might be even more controversial to many Latvians than the memorial itself: for many 1945 brought Soviet occupation more than liberation from Nazism. In 1946 Obergruppenführer Friedrich Eckeln SS. police general in the Baltic under Nazism, and four leaders of the Nazi administration in Latvia was executed on this site. In 1997 it was unsuccessfully bombed by members of the Latvian ultra-nationalist group Pērkonkrusts, two of whom died during the bombing. Alexander Bugaev was the architect whose concept was used for the piece. Large numbers of people still gather here and lay flowers on 9 May, Soviet Victory Day.
After executing single-ship takeoffs in rapid-fire fashion, the 10 "Ponies" of Italy's Frecce Tricolor aerobatic team have joined their Delta Formation for their opening pass at the Rochester, NY International Airport. In the lead, Major Pierluigi Raspa drives the formation in from behind the crowd as Italy's beautiful national anthem "Il Canto degli Italiani" plays on the PA system. The national pride of Italy is about to go on display for a very receptive American audience.
English Queens, nobles and a trio of unfortunate Scottish soldiers are amongst the names commemorated on a new permanent memorial, unveiled at the Tower of London on September 4 2006.
Designed by British artist Brian Catling, the circular memorial focuses on the ten executions that have taken place on Tower Green, within the Royal castle’s walls. It is intended to remember all those executed over the years at the Tower - providing a focal point for contemplation, reflection and remembrance.
This bodypainting was executed with khidab. Khidab is a Gall ink which is employed in Yemen mainly in the mountainous regions around the capital Sanaa instead of henna. For an account how it is made you can download an article:
Yemeni Women’s Body Painting with Black Gall Ink Khidab, Production Methods,
from my colleage Dr. Hanne Schönig at www.henna-und-mehr.de/pdf/Khidabartikel_eu.pdf; (Englisch)
or www.henna-und-mehr.de/pdf/schoenig_deutsch.pdf (German)
If you like to see original Yeminite bodypaintings with this ink visit: www.henna-und-mehr.de/de/khidabslide.html (German) or
Cavendish Mews is a smart set of flats in Mayfair where flapper and modern woman, the Honourable Lettice Chetwynd has set up home after coming of age and gaining her allowance. To supplement her already generous allowance, and to break away from dependence upon her family, Lettice has established herself as a society interior designer, so her flat is decorated with a mixture of elegant antique Georgian pieces and modern Art Deco furnishings, using it as a showroom for what she can offer to her well heeled clients.
Tonight however, we are at Simpson’s-in-the-Strand*, near Covent Garden and the theatre district of London’s West End. Here, amidst the thoroughly English surrounds of wooden panelling, beautifully executed watercolours of British landscapes and floral arrangements in muted colours, men in white waistcoats and women a-glitter with jewels are ushered into the dining room where they are seated in high backed chairs around tables dressed in crisp white tablecloths and set with sparkling silver and gilt china. The large room is very heavily populated with theatre patrons enjoying a meal before a show and therefore it is full of vociferous conversation, boisterous laughter, the clink of glasses and the scrape of cutlery against crockery as the diners enjoy the traditional English repast that Simpson’s is famous for. Seated at a table for two along the periphery of the main dining room, Lettice and Selwyn are served their roast beef dinner by a carver. Lettice is being taken to dinner by Selwyn to celebrate the successful completion of his very first architectural commission: a modest house built in the northern London suburb of Highgate built for a merchant and his wife. Lettice has her own reason to celebrate too, but has yet to elaborate upon it with Selwyn.
“I do so like Simpson’s.” Lettice remarks as the carver places a plate of steaming roast beef and vegetables in front of her. Glancing around her, she admires the two watercolours on the wall behind her and the jolly arrangement of yellow asters and purple and yellow pansies on the small console to her right.
“I’m glad you approve.” Selwyn laughs, smiling at his companion.
“I’m always put in mind of Mr. Wilcox whenever it’s mentioned, or I come here.”
“Who is Mr. Wilcox?” Selwyn asks, his handsome features showing the signs of deep thought.
“Oh,” Lettice laughs and flaps her hand, the jewels on her fingers winking gaily in the light. “No-one. Well, no one real, that is.” she clarifies. “Mr. Wilcox is a character in E. M. Forster’s novel, ‘Howard’s End’**, who thoroughly approves of Simpson’s because it is so thoroughly English and respectable, just like him.”
“I can’t say I’ve read that novel, or anything by him.” Selwyn admits as the carver places his serving of roast beef and vegetables before him. “My head has been too buried in books on architecture.” Selwyn reaches into the breast pocket of his white dinner vest and takes out a few coins which he slips discreetly to the man in the crisp white uniform and chef’s hat.
“Thank you, Your Grace,” the carver says, tapping the brim of his hat in deference to the Duke of Walmsford’s son before placing the roast beef, selection of vegetables in tureens and gravy onto the crisp white linen tabletop, and then wheeling his carving trolley away.
Lettice giggles as she picks up the gravy boat and pours steaming thick and rich dark reddish brown gravy over her dinner.
“Well, what’s so funny, my Angel?” Selwyn asks with a querying look as he accepts the gravy boat from Lettice’s outstretched hands and pours some on his own meal.
“Oh you are just like Mr. Wilcox.”
“You know,” He picks up his silver cutlery. “And please pardon me for saying this, but I didn’t take you for reading much more than romance novels.”
“Oh!” Lettice laughs in mild outrage. “Thank you very much, Selwyn!”
“I didn’t mean it like that,” Selwyn defends himself, dropping his knife and fork with a clatter onto the fluted gilt edged white dinner plate.
“Then what do you mean?” Lettice asks, trying to remain serious as she looks into the worried face of her dinner companion, which makes her want to reach out and stroke his cheek affectionately and smile.
“I… I merely meant that most ladies of your background have had very little education, or inclination to want to read anything more than romance novels.”
“Well,” Lettice admits. “I must confess that I do quite enjoy romance novels, and I wouldn’t be as well read if it weren’t for Margot.”
“Aha!” Selwyn laughs, popping some carrots smeared in gravy into his mouth.
“But,” Lettice quickly adds in her defence. “I’ll have you know that my father is a great believer in the education of ladies, and so was my grandfather, and I applied myself when I studied, and I enjoyed it.”
“It shows my Angel,” Selwyn assures her. “You are far more interesting than any other lady I’ve met in polite society, most of whom haven’t an original thought in their heads.”
“I take after my Aunt Egg, who learned Greek amongst other languages, which served her well when she decided to go there to study ancient art. Although Mater insisted that I not go to a girl’s school, so I would not become a bluestocking*** and thereby spoil my marriage prospects by demonstrating…”
“That’s what I was implying,” Selwyn interrupts in desperate defence of his incorrect assumptions about Lettice. “Most girls I have met either feign a lack of intelligence, or more often genuinely are dim witted. Admittedly, it’s not really their fault. With mothers like yours, who believe that the only position for a girl of good breeding is that of marriage, they seldom get educated well, and their brains sit idle.”
“Well, I have a brain, and I know how to use it. Pater and Aunt Egg drummed into me the importance of intelligence as well as good manners and looks in women of society.”
“Well, there are a great many ladies whom I have met who could take a leaf out of your book. I know you have a mind of your own, my Angel,” Selwyn purrs. “And that’s one of the many attributes about you that I like. Having a conversation with you about art, or my passion of architecture, is so refreshing in comparison to speaking about floral arrangements or the weather, as I shall soon have to when I start escorting my cousin Pamela for the London Season.”
Lettice cannot help but shudder silently at the mention of Selwyn’s cousin, Pamela Fox-Chavers, for she is immediately reminded of what Sir John Nettleford-Hughes said to her at the society wedding of her friend Priscilla Kitson-Fahey to American Georgie Carter in November. He pointed out to her that Selwyn’s mother, Lady Zinnia, plans to match Selwyn and Pamela. From his point of view, it was already a fait accompli.
“I like my cousin,” Selwyn carries on, not noticing the bristle pulsating through Lettice. “But like so many of the other debutantes of 1923, she is lacking interests beyond the marriage market and social gossip and intrigues. You, on the other hand, my Angel, are well informed, and have your own opinions.”
“Well, you can thank Pater for instilling that in me. He hired some very intelligent governesses to school my sister and I in far more than embroidery, floral arranging and polite conversation.”
“And I’m jolly glad of it, my darling.”
“And Aunt Egg told me that I should never be afraid to express my opinion, however different, so long as it is artfully couched.”
“I like the sound of your Aunt Egg.”
“I don’t think your mother would approve of her, nor of me having a brain, Selwyn. Would she? I’m sure she would prefer you to marry one of those twittering and decorous debutantes.” She tries her luck. “Like your cousin Pamela, perhaps?”
“Oh, come now, Lettice darling!” Selwyn replies. If she has thrown a bone, he isn’t taking it as he rests the heels of his hands on the edge of the white linen tablecloth, clutching his cutlery. He chews his mouthful of roast beef before continuing. “That isn’t fair, even to Zinnia. She’s a very intelligent woman herself, with quite a capacity for witty conversation about all manner of topics, and she reads voraciously on many subjects.”
“I was talking to Leslie about what his impressions of your mother were when I went down to Glynes**** for his wedding in November.”
“Were you now?” Selwyn’s eyebrows arch with surprise over his widening eyes.
“Yes,” Lettice smirks, taking a mouthful of roast potato drizzled in gravy which falls apart on her tongue. Chewing her food, she feels emboldened, and sighs contentedly as she wonders whether Sir John was just spitting sour grapes because she prefers Selwyn’s company rather than his. Finishing her mouthful she elucidates, “Leslie is a few years older than us, and of course, I only remember her as that angry woman in black who pulled you away after we’d played in the hedgerows.”
“Well, she obviously left a lasting impression on you!” Selwyn chortles.
“But it isn’t a fair one, is it?” she asks rhetorically. “So, I asked Leslie what he remembered of her from time they spent together in the drawing room whilst you and I were tucked up in bed in the nursery.”
“And what was Leslie’s impression of Zinnia?”
“That, as you say, she is a witty woman, and that she liked to hold men in her thrall with her beauty, wit and intelligence.”
“Well, he’s quite right about that.”
“But that she didn’t much like other ladies for company, especially intelligent ones who might draw the gentlemen’s attention away from her glittering orbit.”
Selwyn chews his mouthful of dinner and concentrates on his dinner plate with downcast, contemplative eyes. He swallows but remains silent for a moment longer as he mulls over his own thoughts.
After a few moments of silence, Lettice airs an unspoken thought that has been ruminating about her head ever since Selwyn mentioned her. “You know, I’d love to meet Zinnia.”
Selwyn chuckles but looks down darkly into his glass of red wine. “But you have met her, Lettice darling. You just said so yourself. She was that angry woman yelling at you as I was dragged from the hedgerows of your father’s estate.”
“I know, but that doesn’t count! We were children. No, I’ve heard of her certainly over the years, but now that I’ve become reacquainted with you as an adult, and now that we are being serious with one another.” She pauses. “We are being serious with one another, aren’t we Selwyn?”
“Of course we are, Lettice.” Selwyn replies, unable to keep his irritation at her question out of his voice. “You know we are.” Falling back into silence, he runs his tongue around the inside of his cheek as he retreats back into his own inner most thoughts.
“Then I’d so very much like to meet her. You have met my toadying mother. Why shouldn’t I meet yours?”
“Be careful what you wish for, my Angel.” he cautions.
“What do you mean, Selwyn darling?”
Selwyn doesn’t answer straight away. He absently fiddles with the silver salt shaker from the cruet set in front of him, rolling its bulbous form about in his palm, as if considering whether it will give him an answer of some kind.
“Selwyn?” Lettice asks, leaning over and putting a hand on her companion’s broad shoulder.
“Just that you may not like her when you meet her.” He shrugs. “That’s all. Toadying is certainly not a word I would associate with Zinnia on any given day, that’s for certain.”
“Or you might be implying she might not like me.” Lettice remarks downheartedly. “Is that it?”
Softening his tone, Selwyn assures her, “I like you, and I’m sure she will too. You will get to meet her soon enough, Lettice darling. I promise. But not yet.” He suddenly snaps out of his contemplations and starts to cut a piece off his roast beef, slicing into the juicy flesh with sharp jabs of his knife. “We have plenty of time for all that. Let’s just enjoy us for now, and be content with that.”
“Oh of course, Selwyn darling,” Lettice stammers. “I didn’t… I didn’t mean, now.”
“I know you didn’t may angel.” He sees the look of concern she is giving him as she stiffens and sits back in her straight backed chair, afraid that she has offended him. “I just like it being just us for now, without the complication of Zinnia.”
“Is she complicated?”
“More than you’ll ever know, my angel. Aren’t most mothers?”
“I suppose.”
“Anyway, enough about Zinnia! I don’t want this evening to be about Zinnia! I want it to be about us. So not another word about her. Alright?” When Lettice nods shallowly, he continues, “I’m here to celebrate the success of Mr. and Mrs. Musgrave of Highgate being happy with their newly completed home.”
“Oh yes! Your first architectural commission completed and received with great success!” Lettice enthuses. “Let’s raise a toast to that.” She picks up her glass of red wine, which gleams under the diffused light of the chandeliers in Simpson’s dining room. “Cheers to you Selwyn, and your ongoing success.”
Their glasses clink cheerily.
“And what of Bruton?”
“Oh, Gerald is doing very well!” Lettice assures Selwyn, returning her glass to the tabletop. “His couture business is really starting to flourish.”
“It’s a bit of rum business*****, a chap making frocks for ladies, isn’t it?” Selwyn screws up his nose in a mixture of a lack of comprehension and distaste.
“It’s what he’s good at,” Lettice tugs at the peacock blue ruched satin sleeve of her evening gown as proof, feeling proud to wear one of her friend’s designs. “And he’s hardly the first couturier who’s a man, is he, Selwyn Darling?”
“I suppose not. Zinnia does buy frocks from the house of Worth******, and he was a man.”
“Exactly.” Lettice soothes. “And who would know what suits a lady better than a man?”
“Yes, and I must say,” Selwyn says, looking his companion up and down appreciatively in her shimmering evening gown covered in matching peacock blue bugle beads. “You do look positively ravishing in his creation.”
“Thank you, Selwyn.” Lettice murmurs, her face flushing at the compliment.
“We never see him at the club any more. I think the last time I saw him was the night I met you at your parents’ Hunt Ball, and that was almost a year ago.”
“Oh well,” Lettice blusters awkwardly, thinking quickly as to what excuse she can give for her dearest friend. She knows how dire Gerald’s finances are, partially as a result of his father’s pecuniary restraints, and she suspects that this fact is likely the reason why Gerald doesn’t attend his club any longer, even if he is still a member. Even small outlays at his club could tilt him the wrong way financially. However she also knows that this is a fact not widely known, and it would embarrass him so much were it to become public knowledge, especially courtesy of her, his best friend. “Running a business, especially in its infancy like Gerald’s and mine, can take time, a great deal of time as a matter of fact.”
“But you have time, my Angel, to spend time with me.” He eyes her. “Are you covering for Bruton?”
Lettice’s face suddenly drains of colour at Selwyn’s question. “No… no, I.”
Lowering his voice again, Selwyn asks, “He hasn’t taken after his brother and found himself an unsuitable girl, has he?”
Lettice releases the breath she has held momentarily in her chest and sighs.
“I know Gerald wouldn’t go for a local publican’s daughter, like Roland did, but being artistic like he is, I could imagine him with a chorus girl, and I know if news of that ever got back to Old Man Bruton, there would be fireworks, and it would be a bloody******* time for Bruton. Poor chap!”
“No, no, Selwyn darling!” Lettice replies with genuine relief. “I can assure you,” And as she puts her hand to her thumping heart, she knows she speaks the truth. “Gerald hasn’t taken up with a chorus girl. He genuinely is busy with his couture business. Establishing oneself, as you know only too well, isn’t easy, even for a duke’s son, much less a lower member of the aristocracy without the social profile. And my business is ticking along quite nicely now, so I don’t need to put in as much effort as Gerald does.”
“But how selfish of me, my Angel!” Selwyn exclaims, putting his glass down abruptly and looking to his companion. “What a prig I’m being, aggrandising myself and bringing up Bruton, when you said that you had something to celebrate tonight too. What is it?”
“Oh, it’s nothing like you’ve done, by finishing a house for someone.” Lettice says, flapping her hand dismissively.
“Well, what is it, Lettice darling?” Selwyn insists. “Tell me!”
Lettice looks down at her plate for a moment and then remarks rather offhandedly, “It was only that I had a telephone call from Henry Tipping******** the other day, and received confirmation that my interior for Dickie and Margot Channon’s Cornwall house ‘Chi an Treth’ will be featured in an upcoming edition of Country Life.”
“Oh may Angel!” Selwyn exclaims. “That’s wonderful!” He leans over and kisses her affectionately, albeit with the reserve that is expected between two unmarried people whilst dining in a public place, but with no less genuine delight for her. “That’s certainly more than nothing, and is something also worth celebrating!” I say, let’s raise a toast to you.” He picks up his glass of red wine again. “Cheers to you Lettice, and may the article bring you lots of recognition and new business.”
The pair clink glasses yet again and smile at one another.
*After a modest start in 1828 as a smoking room and soon afterwards as a coffee house, Simpson's-in-the-Strand achieved a dual fame, around 1850, for its traditional English food, particularly roast meats, and also as the most important venue in Britain for chess in the Nineteenth Century. Chess ceased to be a feature after Simpson's was bought by the Savoy Hotel group of companies at the end of the Nineteenth Century, but as a purveyor of traditional English food, Simpson's has remained a celebrated dining venue throughout the Twentieth Century and into the Twenty-First Century. P.G. Wodehouse called it "a restful temple of food"
**Howards End is a novel by E. M. Forster, first published in 1910, about social conventions, codes of conduct and relationships in turn-of-the-century England. Howards End is considered by many to be Forster's masterpiece. The book was conceived in June 1908 and worked on throughout the following year; it was completed in July 1910
***The term bluestocking was applied to any of a group of women who in mid Eighteenth Century England held “conversations” to which they invited men of letters and members of the aristocracy with literary interests. The word over the passing centuries has come to be applied derisively to a woman who affects literary or learned interests.
****Glynes is the grand Georgian family seat of the Chetwynds in Wiltshire, and the home of Lettice’s parents, the presiding Viscount and Countess of Wrexham and the heir, their eldest son Leslie.
*****Rum is a British slang word that means odd (in a negative way) or disreputable.
******Charles Frederick Worth was an English fashion designer who founded the House of Worth, one of the foremost fashion houses of the Nineteenth and early Twentieth centuries. He is considered by many fashion historians to be the father of haute couture. Worth is also credited with revolutionising the business of fashion. Established in Paris in 1858, his fashion salon soon attracted European royalty, and where they led monied society followed. An innovative designer, he adapted 19th-century dress to make it more suited to everyday life, with some changes said to be at the request of his most prestigious client Empress Eugénie. He was the first to replace the fashion dolls with live models in order to promote his garments to clients, and to sew branded labels into his clothing; almost all clients visited his salon for a consultation and fitting – thereby turning the House of Worth into a society meeting point. By the end of his career, his fashion house employed 1,200 people and its impact on fashion taste was far-reaching.
*******The old fashioned British term “looking bloody” was a way of indicating how dour or serious a person or occasion looks.
********Henry Tipping (1855 – 1933) was a French-born British writer on country houses and gardens, garden designer in his own right, and Architectural Editor of the British periodical Country Life for seventeen years between 1907 and 1910 and 1916 and 1933. After his appointment to that position in 1907, he became recognised as one of the leading authorities on the history, architecture, furnishings and gardens of country houses in Britain. In 1927, he became a member of the first committee of the Gardens of England and Wales Scheme, later known as the National Gardens Scheme.
Comfortable, cosy and terribly English, the interior of Simpson’s-in-the-Strand may look real to you, but it is in fact made up of pieces from my 1:12 miniatures collection, including pieces from my childhood.
The dining table is correctly set for a four course Edwardian dinner partially ended, with the first course already concluded using cutlery, from Beautifully Handmade Miniatures in Kettering in the United Kingdom. The delicious looking roast dinner on the dinner plates, the bowls of vegetables, roast potatoes, boat of gravy and Yorkshire puddings and on the tabletop have been made in England by hand from clay by former chef turned miniature artisan, Frances Knight. Her work is incredibly detailed and realistic, and she says that she draws her inspiration from her years as a chef and her imagination. The red wine glasses bought them from a miniatures stockist on E-Bay. Each glass is hand blown using real glass. The silver cruet set in the middle of the table has been made with great attention to detail, and comes from Warwick Miniatures in Ireland, who are well known for the quality and detail applied to their pieces. The silver meat cover you can just see in the background to the left of the photo also comes from Warwick Miniatures.
The table on which all these items stand is a Queen Anne lamp table which I was given for my seventh birthday. It is one of the very first miniature pieces of furniture I was ever given as a child. The Queen Anne dining chairs were all given to me as a Christmas present when I was around the same age.
The vase of flowers in the background I acquired from Kathleen Knight’s Dolls House Miniatures in the United Kingdom.
The wood panelling in the background is real, as I shot this scene on the wood panelled mantle of my drawing room. The paintings hanging from the wooden panels come from an online stockist on E-Bay.