THE BEST MACROS
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Construction: www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpzAtyBatMQ
Site: www.cicolupo.com/bull
Cette oeuvre à été crée par Cicolupo, une société d'art suisse dont les trois membres fondateurs, Pascal Martinoli, Filip Wolfensberger et Joel Lobsiger Vargas, sont issus de domaines d'expertise et de cultures très différents.
Ils ont fondé Cicolupo au printemps 2010, après avoir réalisé différents travaux ensemble, et ont depuis réalisé de nombreux projets et organisé une série d'événements à Zurich, Bâle et Berlin.
Joel a lancé ses propres projets aux Philippines en 2014. Pascal et Filip travaillent toujours sur les projets Cicolupo à Bâle.
This work was created by Cicolupo, a swiss art company whose three founding members, Pascal Martinoli, Filip Wolfensberger and Joel Lobsiger Vargas, emerge from very different fields of expertise and cultural backgrounds. They founded Cicolupo in spring 2010, after having done different works together, and have since then realized numerous projects and organized a range of events in Zurich, Basel and Berlin. Joel started his own projects in the Philippines in 2014. Pascal and Filip are still working on Cicolupo projects in Basel.
I had no idea what kind this but it was colorful. kim fleming, aka Myriorama (see comment below) has given a tentative identification, as a dogwood sawfly larva, Macremphytis tarsatus . Knowing her expertise, I'm taking it as accurate.
This wintery scene was actually captured just last month around the summer solstice along the west rim drive at Crater Lake. The road was still closed to traffic at the time but has since opened. I guess that means it’s summer now. You can’t see the lake here but it’s the exact color of the blue sky.
I was off Flickr a little longer than expected due to some unforeseen tech issues but looks like those are pretty much resolved now. Definitely not my area of expertise.
Becoming a judge at a UK county show involves gaining expertise in a specific area (e.g., livestock, horticulture, showjumping, or dog showing)
The specific steps will depend heavily on what you intend to judge:
General Requirements
Specialised Knowledge: You must have significant, proven experience and expertise in the specific class or breed you wish to judge (e.g., owning and exhibiting pedigree dogs for a number of years, or experience in a specific form of agriculture).
Membership & Support: Often, you need to be a member of the relevant breed or discipline-specific association (e.g., the Shetland Pony Stud Book Society or a breed club for dogs) and gain their support for your application.
Stewarding/Experience: Accumulating experience by stewarding at a number of shows is a common prerequisite.
Formal Training/Assessment: You will typically need to attend seminars, workshops, and pass examinations or practical assessments to prove your competence. This often involves both theoretical knowledge (rules and regulations) and practical skills (judging different animals/exhibits).
Mid Devon Show, Knightshayes Court, Tiverton, Devon, UK.
I took this shot back in August when the sun was starting to down. You can see on the upper most tower on the left, there are two osprey sitting on the man-made nest they come to every year to raise a new brood of osprey. Then, if you look at the top of the right tower, you have another one resting there. And, to my surprise, there is even one sitting on the smaller power line pole right below the "X" that the lines make. Thought it was a lucky shot I got most of the family together and fascinating to watch these beauties pull fish out of our river and lakes here. Their expertise at doing so is truly a remarkable feat!
Thank you for your kind visits, comments, awards and faves!
We have a mole hill on my pride and joy lawn building mole hills….(Bottom left)…..So I decided to call in a bit of expertise help……And yes…..I guess you could say that I might have gone in over kill in the numbers…..But they assure me that they are best in mole evictions in the district……. Apparently all it takes is a few well placed Sheltie yaps in the right place…..And that’s it, job done…..And like any canny businessman (Or dog)….These are all asking for half payment up front…..Which is just fine by me, as long as they get this mole to move on before it does any more damage to my lawn….And I very much doubt the Shelties would mind if I sneak in a photo just for you dear reader whilst I have their full attention ….Click…..There, that should do it….
Photographing some of the most remote and spectacular locations is our expertise. And our workshop participants absolutely love it! This particular evening was certainly one we will all remember. It was stormy and rainy as we made our way out to one of shooting locations on our Hidden Gems Workshop this year. When the storm started to break, we stopped momentarily to photograph a brilliant rainbow behind us. As we loaded back up, a large bull elk came running full speed right in front of us, rimmed by soft light and drizzle. It was almost magical! We then had so much fun rallying through mud puddles as water sprayed all around our 4x4 vehicle. When we got to the overlook, we knew sunset was going to be epic. Wouldn't you agree?
The Space Launch System (SLS) blasts off from LC-39B at Kennedy Space Center on Nov 16 2022, as observed from the Banana Creek Viewing Area. Artemis I is the most powerful rocket NASA has ever launched.
What an amazing experience to see this rocket launch. It was fantastic to be at the legendary KSC for a historic launch like this. The extraordinary light in the night sky followed by an intense and loud rumble was spectacular. I was fortunate to be surrounded by NASA engineers and employees that have put so much work and expertise into making this happen. Go Artemis, to the moon!
A thrilling three-way battle between the world's top assassins: a highly skilled army officer, the elite of special forces; a seasoned FBI agent, renowned for unmatched combat expertise; and the CIA’s deadliest female assassin, known for her speed, precision, and flawless tactics.
People dismiss expertise and listen to know-nothing sweet talkers. He told me how difficult it was to reach his expert level. In just becoming a captain, he worked and apprenticed for over 720 days on a 100 ton ship. He then had to study and take a grueling test to get his captain's license. He knew the sea. He knew the ship. He knew the regulations. And man, did he know the shore and ocean contour around that lighthouse.
"That’s quite an accomplishment," I said. "But I suspect programmers and engineers are going to fully automate the piloting of ships with artificial intelligence. Soon."
"They'll still need captains," he said.
"I'm not even sure they'll need lighthouses," said I. "Think of all the land and expenses that would be saved if you could just put a cyber lighthouse on an electronic GPS map."
"What if you don't have an electronic map, or the GPS signal goes out?" queried the captain.
"Then the ship stops."
Aston Martin DBS is a 6.0-litre V12 powered, race-bred, two-seater shaped by the aerodynamic demands of high performance, with an exquisite interior that marries beautifully hand-finished materials with the very latest in performance technology. Race-derived materials and components and Aston Martin’s unrivalled hand-build expertise makes the DBS a luxury sports car without equal.
Aston Martin DBS Specifications:
Body:
- Two-door coupe body style with 2+0 seating
- Bonded aluminium VH structure
- Aluminium, magnesium alloy and carbon-fibre composite body
- Extruded aluminium door side-impact beams
- High Intensity Discharge headlamps (dipped beam)
- Halogen projector headlamps (main beam)
- LED rear lamps and side repeaters
Engine:
- All-alloy, quad overhead camshaft, 48-valve, 5935 cc V12. Compression ratio 10.9:1
- Front-mid mounted engine, rear-wheel drive
- Fully catalysed stainless steel exhaust system with active bypass valves
Projected Performance figures:
- Maximum power: 380 kW (510 bhp/517 PS) @ 6500 rpm
- Maximum torque: 570 Nm (420 lb ft) @ 5750 rpm
- Maximum speed: 307 km/h (191 mph)
- Acceleration: 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) in 4.3 seconds
Transmission:
- Rear-mid mounted, six-speed manual gearbox
- Alloy torque tube with carbon-fibre propeller shaft
- Limited-slip differential
- Final-drive ratio 3.71:1
Steering:
- Rack and pinion
- Servotronic speed-sensitive power-assisted steering
- 3.0 turns lock-to-lock
- Column tilt and reach adjustment
Wheels & Tyres
Wheels:
- Front: 8.5" x 20"
- Rear: 11" x 20"
Tyres:
Pirelli P Zero
- Front: 245/35
- Rear: 295/30
Suspension:
Front:
- Independent double wishbone incorporating anti-dive geometry
- Coil springs
- Anti-roll bar and monotube adaptive dampers
Rear:
- Independent double wishbones with anti-squat and anti-lift geometry
- Coil springs
- Anti-roll bar and monotube adaptive dampers
Adaptive Damping System (ADS) with Track mode
Brakes:
Front: Ventilated carbon ceramic discs, 398 mm diameter with six-piston calipers
Rear: Ventilated carbon ceramic discs, 360 mm diameter with four-piston calipers
Dynamic Stability control (DSC) with Track mode, including anti-lock braking system (ABS), electronic brakeforce distribution (EBD), emergency brake assist (EBA) and traction control.
Dimensions:
Length: 4721 mm
Width: 1905 mm excluding door mirrors, 2060 mm including door mirrors
Height: 1280 mm
Wheelbase: 2740 mm
Fuel tank capacity: 78 litres
Weight: 1695 kg
Interior:
- Semi-aniline leather and Alcantara interior
- Matrix alloy facia trim and Iridium Silver centre console finish
- Carbon-fibre door trims and door pulls
- Auto-dimming rear-view mirror & garage door opener (USA and Canada only)
- Sports seats with ten-way electric adjustment, including height, tilt and lumbar adjustment
- Memory seats & exterior mirrors (three positions)
- Dual-stage driver/passenger front airbags
- Side airbags (sports seats only)
- Heated seats (sports seats only)
- Heated rear screen
- Automatic temperature control
- Organic Electroluminescent (OEL) displays
- Trip computer
- Cruise control
- Hard Disk Drive (HDD) satellite navigation system*1,2
- Bluetooth telephone preparation*1
- Powerfold exterior mirrors
- Front and rear parking sensors
- Tyre-pressure monitoring*1
- Alarm and immobiliser
- Remote-control central door locking and boot release
- Battery disconnect switch
- Battery conditioner
- Tracking device (UK only)
- Boot-mounted umbrella
*1 Not available in all markets
*2 Includes Traffic Messaging Channel (TMC) in Continental Europe
In-car entertainment:
- Aston Martin 700 W premium audio system with Dolby® Pro Logic II®
- MP3 player connectivity
Optional Equipment:
- Lightweight seats with six-way adjustment, including front and rear height adjust (Does not include side airbags or heated seats feature. Not available in USA or Canada)
- 20" alloy wheels with graphite finish
- Satellite radio system (USA only)
- Piano Black facia trim and centre console finish
- Leather storage saddle
- Personalised sill plaques
- Auto-dimming interior rear-view mirror*1
- Auto-dimming interior rear-view mirror with garage door opener (Europe only)
- Alarm upgrade (volumetric and tilt sensor)
- Tracking device*3
- First-aid kit
- Ashtray and cigar lighter
*1 Not available in all markets
*3 Complies with UK Thatcham Category 5 requirements. Excludes subscription. Standard in UK.
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Foregrounding Métis history and aesthetic practices, this painting includes around150,000 to 250,000 bead-like dots and blends Belcourt’s knowledge of beadwork traditions with her expertise in medicinal plants. Various plants are represented, as well as insects, raindrops, dew and birds. The patterns have been adapted from nature, with several inspired by traditional Métis floral beadwork. A visual ode to water, the work recognizes the life that water brings to everything and everyone.
For my video; youtu.be/62pczjGa_dA,
North arm, of the, Fraser River,
Burnaby Fraser Foreshore Park, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada.
Hodder Rasp,
Best seen on a large screen,
Agility, expertise,
Built 1972, Measurement (imp) 29', Builder John Manly Ltd.
Measurement (metric) 8.93m x 4.27m x 1.65m,
Hull Steel, Displacement Gross Tonnage 9.47, Tug,
Registered Tonnage 6.44, Engine 340bhp diesel engine (1972)
Engine Manufacture General Motors Corporation, Detroit MI USA
Repower Propulsion Screw
Zutphen. Stationsplein. Gratis bewaakte fietsenstalling in twee lagen. Deze foto is beschikbaar gesteld door het kenniscentrum voor fietsbeleid: www.fietsberaad.nl. This photograph has been made available by the centre of expertise on bicycle policy: www.bicyclecouncil.org. [P7110061_fb]
Despite his lack of practical farm expertise, William Johnston (1848-1885) was the "founder" of the Ontario Agricultural College and its Principal from 1876-1879. It was his vision that led to the creation of a three-year degree program, affiliated with the University of Toronto, which began in 1887 and continued until 1964. Johnston Hall, built in 1932 as a student residence and administrative offices, is now one of the University's most recognized buildings.
Johnston Hall's stone tower is the University of Guelph's best-known landmark, and its spacious front lawn one of the most loved spots on campus. Administrative offices fill the lower floor, while 315 students live on the top three floors in large double and triple rooms. Built in 1932, Johnston Hall's traditional architecture and its spacious tower lounge make it a favorite with many students.
Preston Mill is a watermill on the River Tyne at the eastern edge of East Linton on the B1407 Preston Road, in East Lothian, Scotland. Preston Mill consists of a kiln, a mill, and the miller's house. The mill wheel dates back to 1909. The mill is loved by visitors, painters and photographers, especially the kiln with its conical red pantile roof.
There has been a mill on the site since the 16th century. The present mill dates from the 18th century and is in the care of the National Trust for Scotland. It was used commercially until 1959, and it produced oatmeal. The River Tyne still drives the water wheel, and the machinery can still be seen at work by visitors taking part in a tour. There is also an exhibition about milling, and a mill pond.
The engineer and millwright Andrew Meikle maintained the mill in the 18th century. In 1948 a flood submerged the buildings, and in 1950 a local land owner gave the mill to the National Trust for Scotland. The milling firm Rank Hovis McDougall provided help with the renovation and expertise to allow the mill to be operative again.
This is a wild Common Kingfisher at home within his riverbank territory on the Adaja; the image was however taken under controlled conditions, from within a hide on the banks of the Adaja. A large fish tank, off-camera synchronised flash, remote trigger and tripod were utilised.
Note the fully deployed ocular nictitating membrane covering the eye.
Avila, Spain
My grateful thanks to José Luis Rodriguez for sharing his expertise in facilitating this complex image capture
Despite his lack of practical farm expertise, William Johnston (1848-1885) was the "founder" of the Ontario Agricultural College and its Principal from 1876-1879. It was his vision that led to the creation of a three-year degree program, affiliated with the University of Toronto, which began in 1887 and continued until 1964. Johnston Hall, built in 1932 as a student residence and administrative offices, is now one of the University's most recognized buildings.
Johnston Hall's stone tower is the University of Guelph's best-known landmark, and its spacious front lawn one of the most loved spots on campus. Administrative offices fill the lower floor, while 315 students live on the top three floors in large double and triple rooms. Built in 1932, Johnston Hall's traditional architecture and its spacious tower lounge make it a favorite with many students. 2
Horace wanted us to take him to explore a location he had googled so he could check out if it would be a suitable bungee jump venue.
You may ask where was Hoof, well following Lewis Hamiltons failure to clinch the formula one world championship last weekend due to a bit of a botched pit stop strategy, Toto Wolff (owner of Lewis’s team) called him up to fly out to Mexico so that Hoof could input his technical expertise and get this job sorted.
Hoof comes from a very distinguished background in motor sport think of the Ferrari Badge and what do you see, yes the prancing horse and the initials S F.
The horse is actually Hoof, and as Hoof is rather shy he did not want his name emblazoned on the side of the badge, he was happy with just S F meaning Shy, and the last letter of his name being the F. If you don’t believe me look on the badge of a Ferrari.
Back to Horace he was very impressed with this as a possible jump site, but was worried about dinosaurs muscling in on the act as this is part of the Jurrassic coast, can’t be to careful these days, call security. So it is back to Cornwall.
Thank you for looking, as always your comments and views are so appreciated.
Go Lewis, bring it home, Vroom vroom🐎🐷🏆😎😂😂
Beams of sunlight filter through towering layers of cloud to fall haphazardly like roving spotlights over the canyon country east of Moab, Utah.
The family and I drove west from Boulder to the Colorado Plateau last spring to find my ailing hermit godfather. At the time, my godfather was living in a miner’s shack southeast of Moab and up a trail-less canyon in a wilderness study area with his horses. His shack is only directly accessible on foot or on horseback. Although he has fully embraced cell-phone technology in the past few years, and save for a solar-panel powered swamp cooler in his shack, the remainder of his technological and lifestyle choices remain firmly lodged in the late 19th century.
My godfather is also currently living with emphysema and a kidney condition, and when we found him at his camp my first thought was that after this visit I might never see him again. He was bright-eyed, humorous and as smart as ever, and he joked that while he wasn’t ready yet, he did have a .45 available when it came time. However, when I went with him to collect firewood, it was clear that his physical capacity to keep warm and take care of himself while living alone was severely diminished. Not far from his shack, we slowly loaded pieces of dead sagebrush into a hand cart that is part wheelbarrow, part travois. When the hand cart was as full as he could manage it, he refused my offer of help and moved it in halting, 20-foot increments back to the shack, pausing repeatedly to regain oxygen and composure.
Last week I received a text from my mother that my godfather’s friends in Moab were worried because they had not heard from him in five days. These folks care for him and help keep his camp supplied, and evidently he is normally relatively quick to respond to their messages. Having failed to connect with him, they decided to walk to his camp to investigate. The weather was worsening with a winter storm’s arrival, and if they didn’t make it in to check on him immediately, it would not have been possible to make a trip for another several days.
Nearing his shack, they found him, collapsed to the side of the footpath too weak to move. Had they not come he would have frozen to death that night. Life Flight arrived some time later, and he was eventually taken to a hospital in Grand Junction, Colorado, to the nearest place with the equipment and expertise to help him with his lung and bladder conditions. Having come to appreciate being supplied with oxygen, less than a week later his nephew drove him to his sister’s ranch in Prineville, Oregon, where he could be more comfortable. She is older than he is but not quite so encumbered with maladies. This is the same ranch that he left on foot back in the 80s with his dog and horses and not much else, walking and camping almost a thousand miles through the desert to get to Moab. He has now completed a circle, of sorts.
Number: Protector -118
Name: Mako
Rank: Lieutenant
Expertise: Tactics, black ops, urban warfare
Weapons: custom T-21B heavy rifle
Equipment: advanced intercom, fireproof cape
So this is war. Finally, we are able to show, what we are made for. The first victory on Geonosis, despite all our losses, did prove what I knew all along: This army is ready. I am ready! I am now in charge of a small squad and we’re about to ship out to the outer rim soon. These men are at the top of their game and together we’ll bring the fight to the separatists! Oya manda!
Number: CT-3031/1199
Name: Linx
Rank: Private
Expertise: Scouting, hacking
Weapons: standard DC-15, tactical headlamp
Linx is one of the regular troopers that fought along us Raysh’olan on Geonosis and surprisingly, he kept up with us very well. He’s an outstanding scout, spotting targets long before the scanners do and his hacking skill is a reliable bypass to most security doors. I’m glad to have him on my squad now.
Number: CT-8787/0055
Name: Bruiser
Rank: Private
Expertise: explosives
Weapons: standard DC-15, tactical headlamp
Bruiser was assigned to Talon squad immediately after Geonosis. Apparently command thinks, we need more firepower, so he was the natural choice. True to his name, he’s an expert at inflicting damage to any target, be it through the use of explosives or else. He’s said to have torn apart a dozen droids with his bare hands. I’m eager to see this spectacle for myself!
_______________________
Here’s the newly formed Talon Squad for the re-launch of the 253rd Elite Legion.
Finally finished the Russia book. Note: I am reworking it, so have taken it down from public view. Will have the second edition out soon (April 2023).
A big note of thanks to my long-time Flickr friend Albion Harrison-Naish who summed up my photographic intentions so succinctly in his beautiful one-page introduction. Also thanks to my friend Robert Dillon here in Launceston for his very helpful design advice - an area of expertise in which I am sadly lacking, but I'm learning. Finally, thanks to Flickr friend Petra van der Ree for permission to quote from her excellent personal blog in my own comment section of the book.
Number: CT-4554/1606
Name: Sakana
Rank: Sergeant
Expertise: Tactics, melee weapons
Weapons: DC-17m, beskade (mandalorian sword)
Equipment: Katarn armor, macrobinoculars, EMP grenades, kama, pauldron, riot control energy shield
The campaign on Vandos Prime did prove to be more of a challenge than I expected before. Those 253rd boys are really giving it their all. I am not sure I have integrated well yet, but I am still alive, which means I can’t have done too bad. Yet, there’s always something to improve. As a first step, I requested some extra gear. EMP grenades have proven to be useful against the droids on Vandos, so I’ll be carrying more of them now. The new mission briefing states that we’ll be deployed for crowd control on Corellia, so I ordered an energy shield, too. You can never know what these protestors are up to and I’d rather not have them scratch my armor. We’ve been instructed to use none-lethal weapons primarily, but I’m not giving up my DC, no matter what. If push comes to shove, I can use it as a baton or use my sword to keep these protestors at arms length.
........................................................................................................................
Number: CT-7007/2828
Name: Koi
Rank: Private
Expertise: Explosives, lock picking, stand up comedy
Weapons: DC-15, energy pike
Koi has proven to be a capable fighter and loyal comrade on Vandos Prime. He does not question direct orders, but still has enough of a brain not to get himself killed right away. I said whoever survived this hell out there was worth fighting by my side and I am keeping this promise. That’s why I requested for Koi to be transferred to Mizu Squad, the newly formed unit under my command. And with his new armor, he has some signature blue stripes to show for it. For this mission he has traded his trusty DC for an energy pike. Wouldn’t be my weapon of choice, but he demonstrated some impressive skill in our short training session. I’m sure he’ll do well.
_________________________
My squad for mission 17 of the 253rd Elite Legion. I gotta get some more of these half blue arms for additional troopers now…
On the Penguin trail at Wigram Airforce Museum.January 2021 Christchurch New Zealand.
Over Term Two and Three in 2020, we had 65 schools from across the city and surrounding towns take part in the Pop Up Penguins Learning Programme. This wasn’t an easy time for students and teachers as Term Two began in the midst of New Zealand’s lockdown period! And yet, with resilience and determination, the schools signed up to take part in this citywide art project.
The Pop Up Penguins Learning Programme has been supported by an amazing line up
of organisations: the International Antarctic Centre, Antarctica New Zealand, the Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs, Gateway Antarctica and the College of Education, Health and Human Development at the University of Canterbury.
The Learning Partners shared their vast knowledge and expertise within the Learning Programme resource pack and educators from International Antarctic Centre, Gateway Antarctica and the College of Education, Human Development and Health delivered a bespoke Pop Up Penguins themed presentation to over 50 of the schools registered on the Learning Programme.
Students across our city have learned about penguin conservation, Christchurch’s global significance as one of five Gateways to Antarctica and kaitiakitanga, guardianship and protection of the environment. As you find the little penguins in displays around the city, learn about the themes that inspired them.
For More Info: popuppenguins.co.nz/popup-waddles/
The Air Force Museum of New Zealand, formerly called The Royal New Zealand Air Force Museum, is located at Wigram, the RNZAF's first operational base, in Christchurch, in the South Island of New Zealand.
For More Info: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Force_Museum_of_New_Zealand
Next time I will try a little harder. Actually, I have taken some pictures were the droplets created some nice images, however I like this sculpture better then the others.
A special thank you to Andy (Andy_1605) for his support, patience and expertise. Below you may see his stunning images of water sculptures.
www.flickr.com/photos/85250064@N07/
Thank you for your comments,
Gemma
Copyright ©Maria Gemma June, 2013, All Rights Reserved, Worldwide.
Please do not download my photographs nor use them without my permission.
Explored
Number: CT-4554/1606
Name: Sakana
Rank: Lieutenant
Expertise: Tactics, melee weapons
Weapons: DC-17m, beskade (mandalorian sword)
Equipment: Katarn armor, macrobinoculars, EMP grenades, kama, half cape
It was a miracle that we did survive the fight with Durge on Corellia. I can’t even remember much, despite running very, very fast and trowing as many EMPs as possible, to confuse this monster. We made it, but this battle has shown that we are in need of much, much more man- and firepower. Other than that, Corellia was a battlefield just to my taste. Cities, factories, urban warfare. That’s what an ARC is made for. Apparently, we managed to bring that across to our superiors, as I was promoted and all my requests for gear and a new recruit were granted. I’ll do my best to fill my new role as Lieutenant properly and be a good example for the men that now form Mizu Squad. And I’ll keep them alive, no matter the threat of monsters like Durge.
Number: CT-7007/2828
Name: Koi
Rank: Private
Expertise: Scouting, explosives, lock picking, stand up comedy
Weapons: DC-15, E-60R rocket launcher
Koi’s sharp eye and quick thinking have proven to be a life saving asset on Corellia for both, me and the civilians around. He’s a capable scout as well as demolitions expert with more intellect behind both those skills than I first imagined. By now, I put a lot of trust in him. After our mission on Corellia, his request for a personal rocket launcher, which he handed in when we came back from Vandos, was finally granted. We could have used it against Durge, for sure. Koi cares for it like it is his baby and I am sure we can expect the next mission to be much more explosive than the previous ones.
Number: CT-9004/7755
Name: Mag’ro
Rank: Private
Expertise:
Weapons: T-21B Target Rifle, tactical headlamp
Mag’ro is our newest addition to the squad, after we rescued him from the minefield inside the foundry complex. He is a silent fellow, but careful in his movements and a surprisingly fast runner, considering he escaped a crab droid on foot. And, by the Force, running has proven to be essential on Corellia. Mag’ro had no chance to prove his abilities to me, yet, but I give him the benefit of the doubt. If only half of what I heard is true, he’ll serve the squad well. His weapon of choice tells a lot about his mindset: Focused on the target and ready to throw a big punch. I like it.
_______________________
Here's my updated squad for mission 18 of the 253rd Elite Legion.
Fungi field is not part of my expertise, but their beauty is undeniable and I understand why so many photographers are devoted to these tiny forest dwellers.
These specimens were growing on the branch of a tree and I captured them from below, taking advantage of the light filtered by the canopy of leaves. With this low-angle shot, I was able to highlight the lower structure, which is called the hymenium (himenio in spanish).
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- Thank you in advance to everyone that comments and/or faves my picture. They are all immensely appreciated.
- Espero que os guste y gracias por pasar por aquí y dejar vuestro comentario. Un saludo.
- Eskerrik asko aldez aurretik argazkia gustatzen zaionari edo komentazen duenari, beti izango zarete ondo etorriak.
Muito obrigado / Vielen dank / Merci / Grazie
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.
Today however, we have travelled twenty-five miles west of London into Berkshire to the picturesque town of Ascot, where the Ascot Racecourse is. The town, built up along meandering roads, is made up mostly of large red brick mansions nestled discreetly amidst well established manicured gardens behind trimmed hedges and closed gates. It is here that Lettice has come to meet a prospective new client: Mrs. Evelyn Hawarden, wife of fabric manufacturer Joseph Hawarden. Hawarden Fabrics have been embraced by the British public since first appearing on the market in 1919, for their quality and affordability, and have proved especially popular amidst the working classes who want colour and something better than what they have had in the post-war boom of optimism, including Lettice’s maid, Edith, who made her friend Hilda a new dance frock using some Hawarden Fabrics russet art silk*. This has raised the Hawarden’s expectations and Mr. Hawarden has recently acquired ‘The Briars’, a red brick Georgian mansion in Ascot that is more suitable for he and his wife’s new social standing.
Against her usual practices, Lettice has foregone the initial meeting she would have had at Cavendish Mews after Mrs. Hawarden explained that she was simply too busy with her new house to come down to Mayfair, and implored Lettice to consider coming up to Ascot for the day. As she rides the train through the rolling green countryside of Berkshire, Lettice cannot help but wonder whether her agreement to Mrs. Hawarden’s demands is against her better judgement. Since the publication of the interiors she completed for her friends and fellow members of her Embassy Club coterie, Dickie and Margot Channon, in the magazine, Country Life**, Lettice’s expertise as an interior designer has suddenly been in great demand after Henry Tipping*** described her as having a “tasteful Modern Classical Revival Style”. She has already had to decline several hopeful clients whose wishes for new interiors do not appeal to her own sense of design. Yet here she is, travelling to see a woman who has shown to be somewhat bombastic at her insistence that Lettice visit her, rather than the other way around, at a house that she knows nothing about beyond the fact that it is a recent acquisition of Mr. Hawarden. As she distractedly turns the page of “Whose Body?”**** in her lap, having only taken in half of Dorothy L. Sayers words as she contemplates her journey, Lettice feels an unease in her stomach.
As requested, when the steam of the train carrying Lettice and a great number of people attending the Ascot Races from London to Ascot railway station cleared, there stood Mrs. Hawarden’s chauffer, dressed in a smart grey uniform and cap, ready to take her to ‘The Briars’. As the Worsley drove up the long and slightly rutted driveway boarded by clipped yew hedges, she prepared for the worst, but was pleasantly surprised when the car pulled into a wide carriage turning circle before a rather lovely two-storey red brick Georgian mansion with two white painted sash windows either side of a porticoed front door and five matching windows spread evenly across the façade of the upper floor. Assisted to alight by the chauffer, Lettice notes looking up at the façade before her that whilst the house is nowhere near as large or as fine as her own palatial Georgian childhood home of Glynes*****, it does have graceful and elegant country charm which makes her feel more at ease with what may lie within its walls.
Striding across the crunching white gravel driveway with the footsteps of the daughter of a Viscount to the front door, it is opened by a maid dressed in her black moire afternoon uniform accessorised with an ornamental lace apron, cuffs and matching cap. Whilst she may look the part, Lettice notes critically that the maid only takes her pea green travelling coat, leaving her holding her matching green stub ended parasol as she shows her into the drawing room, where Lettice is told by the maid that she is expected.
Entering the room Lettice is greeted by a fug of greyish blue cigarette smoke that hangs like a pall in the atmosphere. Beneath a round table in the middle of the room, a small whorl of reddish brown fur in a plaited basket bares its teeth and growls.
“Yat-See! Don’t growl at the guest! My dear Miss Chetwynd!” enthusiastically exclaims a female voice with a thick Mancunian accent Lettice recognises as Mrs. Hawarden’s. “Here you are at last!”
Rising from her place nestled into a very comfortable white upholstered sofa, Mrs Evelyn Hawarden appears to be in her mid thirties, and therefore much younger than her voice portrayed when she telephoned Lettice’s flat. With red hennaed hair set about her rounded face in soft Marcel waves****** she looks quite pert and pretty. Although dressed in a similar style to her mother, Lady Sadie, in a tweed calf length skirt, a flounced white silk blouse and a silk cardigan – the classic uniform of a relaxed country lady – Mrs. Hawarden cannot disguise her more aspiring middle-class origins, for she wears a little too much powder on her nose and sports a pair of round rouge marks on her cheeks that Lady Sadie would never entertain on her own face. Mrs. Hawarden’s hair is perhaps a little too obviously coloured, and she wears four strands of creamy white pearls about her neck, rather than the customary two worn informally. Even as she stands, she tugs awkwardly at her skirt, implying that this is not what she is used to wearing. Nevertheless, she has a pleasant smile and the sparkle in her brown eyes is a jolly one.
“How do you do, Mrs. Hawarden.” Lettice replies.
“Please pardon my pet Pekingese, Yat-See, for growling.” The hostess indicates to the bristling bundle of fur with wary black currant eyes. “He’s rather protective of his Mummy, don’t you know.” Mrs. Hawarden’s painted face falls when she notices Lettice still clutching her parasol. She glances between it and Lettice’s face. “Oh, I’m so sorry, Miss Chetwynd!” she exclaims apologetically. “Please just put your things down there.” She indicates with an open hand to the corner of a second cream sofa opposite the one she has been sitting on. “Barbara is new to being a maid. The house didn’t come with staff I’m afraid, and being new to the area ourselves, well, I think we’re seen as a rather unknown quantity, so getting help hasn’t been all that easy.”
“Oh it’s quite alright,” Lettice assures her hostess, gingerly lowering her parasol as Yat-See starts to growl again from his basket, and leans it against the soft edge of the sofa and deposits her handbag onto its seat. “I know how hard it can be to find good servants. I’m only grateful that I live in a flat and have requirements only for one maid.”
“Oh yes, I spoke to her the first time I telephoned you at Cavendish Mews. She seemed very efficient and was quick to get my details so that you could return my telephone call.”
“Thankfully Edith is a very capable maid, although I think you may have mistaken her efficiency for haste. Sadly, she has no love of the telephone and thinks it quite an unnatural contraption.” Lettice chuckles indulgently.
“What a load of rot!” blusters a burbling male Mancunian voice from behind a wall of newspaper, the utterance accompanied by clouds and curlicues of white cigarette smoke.
Yat-See immediately starts to bark in answer to the voice.
“Yat-see!” scolds Mrs. Hawarden. “Hush, or I’ll get Barbara to come and take you to the kitchen, which is where naughty boys go!”
Silently Lettice wishes her hostess would do just that. The dog seems to understand that he is being scolded and falls silent, but he continues to watch Lettice with his dark and suspicious eyes. Taking her gaze away from the pampered Pekingese and looking to the sofa behind her hostess, Lettice is suddenly made aware that she and Mrs. Hawarden are not the only two people in the room. The newspaper lowers to reveal a middle aged man, probably a little bit older than his wife, in a smart London suit, with slick black hair and a handsome mature face.
“Miss Chetwynd, may I present my husband, Mr. Joseph Hawarden, proprietor of Hawarden’s Fabrics.” Mrs. Hawarden says proudly, clasping her hands together.
“I say, how do you do, Miss Chetwynd!” Mr. Hawarden says, not getting up from his seat, but reaching forward and extending his hand to his guest. “Jolly glad to have you here. Evelyn’s done nothing but talk about your skills and what she wants you to do here, for the last few weeks. She was most impressed with your interiors in ‘Country Life’.” he adds, glancing across to the inlaid round top of the table between the two sofas upon which sit a collection of newspapers, magazines and periodicals, including the copy of ‘Country Life’ featuring the interiors for ‘Chi an Treth’.
Lettice extends her own hand and allows it to be shaken in a rather heavy and businesslike fashion by the industrialist. “How do you do, Mr. Hawarden. I’m delighted to be here,” She glances at Mrs. Hawarden. “Although I wasn’t expecting you to be here for this meeting.”
“Oh, Joseph just happens to be home this afternoon, Miss Chetwynd.” laughs Mrs. Hawarden a little awkwardly. “It isn’t by design. I’ll be the one making the decisions.”
“Yes,” agrees Mr. Hawarden, leaning forward and snatching a dainty teacup decorated with blue roses from the table and taking a rather large gulp from it, the cup’s rim disappearing beneath his finely manicured thick black moustache. “This interiors business is more Evelyn’s department than mine. My fabrics are fashion, not furniture fabrics.” He chortles good-naturedly. “But since I’ll be the one footing the bills, you should give me an estimate of your costs.”
“Oh,” Lettice begins a little nervously. “I shouldn’t think we’ll be discussing that today, Mr. Hawarden.”
“What?” he scoffs. “No costs today?”
“I shouldn’t think so.” Lettice assures him. “Today is really, just about consultation. I would usually have conducted it at my premises in Mayfair,” She momentarily looks at Mrs. Hawarden again before returning to the industrialist. “However, your wife was insistent that she didn’t have the time to come down. Today is about discussing what Mrs. Hawarden hopes to do with the interiors of ‘The Briars’.”
“I see,” Mr. Hawarden replies, tapping his nose knowingly with his right hand, still clutching the smoking end of his cigarette. “You’re a smart businesswoman, Miss Chetwynd. Best lull Evelyn into a sense of security, so then you can unleash the bills on me, eh?”
“Oh no…” stammers Lettice. “I don’t mean… I mean it would…”
The man bursts out laughing, his fulsome guffaws intermixing with the slightly more timid and higher pitched giggle of his wife.
“Don’t listen to Joseph, Miss Chetwynd,” Mrs. Hawarden assures her guest. “He’s just trying to be funny, within his limited ability of being a boring businessman.” She rolls her eyes at her husband, who smiles back sheepishly at her before putting up the paper again. “He doesn’t mean what he says, Miss Chetwynd.” Indicating to the sofa again she continues, “Please have a seat, won’t you.” She walks up to the table. “Barbara may not know what to do with an umbrella, Miss Chetwynd, but she does make a fine cup of tea. When Johnston went to pick you up from the railway station, I had her brew us up a pot. May I interest you?” She picks up third, as of yet unused, china teacup and a pretty sleek silver Art Deco teapot. “Or would you prefer coffee?”
“Oh no, tea will be most satisfactory,” Lettice replies as she sinks into the comfortable enveloping upholstery of the sofa next to her handbag. “Thank you, Mrs. Hawarden.”
As Mrs. Hawarden fixes her tea, Lettice tries to ignore the hostile stare of Yat-See and glances around the well lit drawing room flooded with light from one of the ground floor windows she had spied upon her arrival. Tastefully appointed, the room features what looks like original Eighteenth Century hand painted wallpaper, which whilst dulled somewhat from many decades of warm wood fires, and perhaps more recently cigarette smoke – she glances at Mr. Hawarden as he sits, absorbed in his newspaper once more, his cigarette smouldering between his right index and middle finger poking around the edge of the newsprint – it still shows off lovely rich hues. Some of the furnishings are possibly original to the room too, such as a small demilune table to the left of the fireplace and the inlaid round table between the two sofas, but the room has been overlaid with other styles over time. The cream damask sofas are obviously pre-war, but perhaps not much more than a decade old. Paintings of different eras and styles hang on the walls in an easy comfort of familiarity. The objects scattered about the surfaces of the room suggest an eclectic, yet restrained hand: silver candlesticks, tall vases, decorative bowls, Meissen figurines and two pretty ‘cottage orneé’ pastille burners******* on the mantle.
Lettice gratefully accepts the cup of tea proffered by her hostess. “So, you were saying that you are newcomers to Ascot, Mrs. Hawarden?”
“Yes,” Mrs. Hawarden replies, subconsciously reaching up to her strands of pearls and worrying them at the mention of them being newly arrived. “My husband and I are from Manchester originally, as I’m sure you can tell from our accents.” Lettice politely sips her tea and doesn’t remark upon either of their thick accents which are so different to those born in the south of England. “We only recently acquired ‘The Briars’ so that my husband can be closer to his new fabric factory in Croydon and to his London office, and I have been craving the space and fresh air of the south.” The woman opens a small silver cigarette case on the table, offers one to Lettice, who politely declines with s small shake of her head, and then takes out a thin cigarette for herself and lights it. Walking across the carpet she tosses the spent match into the grate as she leans against the fireplace.
“Indeed.” muses Lettice as she watches Mrs. Hawarden take a long drag on her cigarette before blowing out a plume of bluish grey acrid smoke into the air between she and Lettice.
Yat-See suddenly picks himself out of his basket, making Lettice flinch and her cup rattle in its saucer as she fears he is about to attack her legs. Yet he pads across the Chinese rug and sits in front of his mistress protectively keeping guard to protect her from the stranger in the drawing room.
“And this place was up for sale, and I fell in love with it instantly, didn’t I Joseph?”
“Indeed, you did, Evelyn.” agrees her husband without looking up from his newspaper.
“So, we bought it: lock, stock and barrel.”
“Then the furnishings aren’t yours, Mrs. Hawarden?” Lettice asks, gesturing to their surrounds as she places her teacup on the small Georgian pedestal table at her right.
“No. Oh no!” Mrs, Hawarden replies, evidently wishing to distance herself from the elegant, yet comfortably lived in country house style. “Not at all Miss Chetwynd! That’s why I couldn’t come down to Mayfair to meet you like you had originally suggested. We’re only freshly moved in, and I’m still trying to find my feet here. I haven’t even had time to unpack my photos from our Manchester house yet.”
“Yet you already know that you want to redecorate, Mrs. Hawarden,” Lettice queries. “Even though you are only newly minted here?”
“Goodness yes, Miss Chetwynd!” exclaims the hostess, blowing out another cloud of smoke as she speaks. She bends down and strokes her dog on the head, his black eyes closing in pleasure ar her touch. With a slight groan she stretches back into an upright position. “These,” she gesticulates with a languid hand around her. “Are the interiors of a dead woman.”
“A dead woman?” Lettice queries again in concern.
“Yes. You see we bought ‘The Briars’ from the descendants of the last occupier. Alice… Alice… Oh, what was her name, Joseph? Moynahan?”
“Mainwaring, Evelyn my dear.” Mr. Hawarden looks up from his paper to his wife. “Alice Mainwaring.”
“Yes!” Mrs. Hawarden claps her hands, sending a tumble of ashes cascading through the air where they land in Yat-See’s red dioxide coat and on the dark slate hearth surrounding the fireplace. “That’s it! Alice Mainwaring. Her widowed aunt or some such lived here alone and died a few years ago, and she didn’t want to hold onto the place.”
“Humph!” mutters Mr. Hawarden. “More like she couldn’t afford to hold onto the place, owing to these bloody awful rates of Income Tax******** the Government dare to charge us all now. Mind you, she put a good face on it, I’ll say that.”
Yat-See starts barking again.
“Yat-See!” scolds Mrs. Hawarden again. “She didn’t even want the old family paintings.”
“I doubt she could afford to keep them, Evelyn my dear, even if she’d wanted to.” Her husband counters. “I would have offered her less for the place if she’d taken them.”
“Anyway, whatever the circumstances, I felt the house could do with a little,” Mrs. Hawarden weaves her hand dramatically through the air as if holding a magic wand. “Sprucing up********.”
“Sprucing up?” Lettice queries again, looking uncertainly at Mrs. Hawarden.
“Yes!” Mrs. Hawarden says with a sigh, sending two plumes of smoke rushing from her nostrils. “Brighten it up a bit and make it a bit more,” She pauses whilst she thinks of the right word she is seeking. “Modern.”
“And you are expecting furnishings from Manchester, Mrs. Hawarden?” Lettice asks.
“Good lord no!” the hostess exclaims. “The furniture from our Audenshaw house is even worse than these bits of sticks. Yat-See, our clothes, my photos and a few bits and bobs are about all we wanted to bring from there. Isn’t that right, Joseph?”
“Quite, my dear Evelyn. Quite.”
“No.” She smiles with smug pleasure. “We’ve left that life behind, and now we plan to make a new start here.”
“You do know,” Lettice remarks tentatively. “That some people would be quite happy, if acquiring a country house and its contents in its entirety, to leave it all in situ.”
“Ahh.” Mrs. Hawarden says with a wagging bejewelled finger and a knowing smile at Lettice. “But Joseph and I aren’t just anyone. That’s why as soon as I saw your article, I knew I wanted your expertise to help me bring life back into this poor old house.” She slaps the mantlepiece with the palm of her hand. “I read in Country Life that the rooms of the Channon’s house were a bit dark, so you lightened it.”
“Well, yes,” Lettice agrees hesitantly. “I did, but the house really was rather damp being built by the sea, and awfully neglected after having stood empty for many years. This house appears to be in much better condition and is far cosier than ‘Chi an Treth’ was, Mrs. Hawarden.”
“And,” Mrs. Hawarden continues, appearing not to have heard Lettice’s protestations. “I also read that some of the statues you used to furnish the house came from the Portland Gallery in Mayfair.”
“They did, Mrs. Hawarden, but I…”
“And I just love the modernity of some of the art in there. I’m currently in the process of acquiring some nice new modern artworks from several London galleries, although not The Portland, to hang in place of some of these rather drab daubs.” she indicates to the classical oil painting of a landscape hanging above the fireplace behind her.
Lettice glances sadly at the small, rather pretty late Nineteenth Century oil painting of a mother and daughter gathering flowers just to the right of the fireplace, silently apologising to the possible former owner of the house.
“Actually, Evelyn my dear, I think you’ll find, I’m acquiring them.” remarks Mr. Hawarden rather definitely.
“Don’t be bore, dear Joseph.” Mrs. Hawarden retorts kindly. “Yes, it’s true, you may be putting up the money for them, but we both know that of the two of us, I’m the one with the real artistic vision.”
“If you say so, Evelyn.” Mr. Hawarden returns to his paper.
Lettice looks sadly around her at the well appointed and comfortable room. In her mind, she can’t see anything wrong with it, other than perhaps the hostile presence of Yat-See, and sadly he cannot be papered over. The room’s décor has grown with the house, mellowed and softened into a comfortable semi-formal Edwardian country house interior over the decades since its original construction, not entirely dissimilar to that of her brother Leslie’s new home with his wife in the Dower House at Glynes, only not quite so old, it having been built in the 1850s. A queasiness begins to roil about in the pit of her stomach. Yat-See seems to pick up on it and quietly growls at Lettice again, until he receives a small nudge on the bottom by the dainty toe of Mrs. Hawarden’s brown leather shoe.
“You do know that my style is Modern Classical Revival, don’t you, Mrs, Hawarden?” Lettice explains politely. “I do not believe in flinging everything out and replacing it with something new.”
“Yes of course I know, Miss Chetwynd.” Mrs, Hawarden smiles. “I’m not suggesting we ‘fling it all out’ as you say. I’d be happy if you felt it worth repurposing a few sticks of furniture. I believe you did repaint a demilune table, not unlike this one,” She reaches behind her and pats the surface of the table Lettice had noticed before. “For Mrs. Channon. You could do the same here, if you like. I’m happy to be led by you, Miss Chetwynd.”
“Well,” Lettice says. “Really, I should be the one who is led by you, Mrs. Hawarden. Perhaps you could suggest to me what you were thinking and we’ll… work from there. Shall we?” She takes a small sip of her tea. “What do you envisage, Mrs. Hawarden?”
The woman looks around her, humming and hawing as she screws up her mouth in concentration.
“Well, for a start, if I’m going to have new paintings hanging in here, I’ll need new wallpaper. How old do you think this paper is, Miss Chetwynd?”
“I would say it is probably Eighteenth Century.” Lettice says with concern. “You do realise that it’s probably hand painted. My parents have similar at our home in Wilt…”
“Well there you go!” interrupts Mrs. Hawarden. “That explains why it’s so dull and dreary! No: new paper for new paintings. Definitely!” the Pekingese starts barking animatedly. “See, even my beloved little boy agrees, don’t you darling?” She blows him a kiss. “Maybe something geometric?” She looks questioningly at Lettice who simply smiles up politely at her from her place on the sofa but says nothing. She casts her eyes around the room. “And of course these dreadful settees will have to go!”
Lettice quietly cringes at the use of the word ‘settee’, giving away Mr. Hawarden’s aspiring middle-class origins**********.
“Pity Evelyn my dear,” her husband pipes up. “I quite like these. They really are rather nice and comfy.” He starts bouncing up and down slightly in his seat, making the springs inside the sofa protest quietly beneath the white damask upholstery which makes Yat-See start quietly growling again.
“No! I want something more streamlined,” Mrs, Hawarden insists. “Rather like Mrs. Channon’s settees I think.”
A discreet knock on the drawing room door interrupts Mrs. Hawarden’s thoughts and makes Yat-See yap loudly as he scurries over to the door.
“Yes.” she calls out imperiously.
Barbara, the maid who had opened the door to Lettice upon her arrival and shown her into the drawing room opens the door and steps in, almost stepping on the dog, who barks savagely at the poor domestic.
“Yat-See! Hush darling! Yes Barbara?”
“Begging your pardon, mum, but lunch is ready.” The maid bobs a curtsey. “You said I ought to tell you when it was ready, and Cook is serving up now.”
“Yes, yes,” mutters Mrs. Hawarden dismissively with a final puff of smoke, dropping her cigarette butt into the grate next to the spent match. “Thank you, Barbara.”
The maid bobs another curtsey and turns to go.
“Oh Barbara!” Mrs. Hawarden calls after her gaily.
“Yes, mum?” the maid asks.
“Barbara, next time we are receiving guests and they are carrying an umbrella,” Mrs. Hawarden adeptly snatches up Lettice’s green umbrella from the floor and holds it out to her maid in a smooth movement. “Make sure you put it in the receptacle that it was designed to be inserted into.”
“Mum?” the maid asks queryingly, reaching tentatively out and accepting the umbrella.
“Put it in the hallstand, Barbara, with the other umbrellas.”
“Oh, yes mum!” Barbara apologises and bobs another curtsey, first at her mistress and then at Lettice, before quickly withdrawing.
Lettice silently cringes slightly again at witnessing the public beration of the poor, inexperienced maid, however mild it was.
“Well!” gasps Mrs. Hawarden, snatching up her beloved dog from the floor with a swoop. “Shall we go through then, Miss Chetwynd? I’m sure after your trip up from London, you must be starving.”
“Oh, yes.” Lettice lies brightly, depositing the teacup and saucer back onto the small Georgian occasional pedestal table and standing up. She eyes the dog warily as he hangs from his owner’s left arm.
“Good! Good!” her hostess replies, clapping her hands with delight. “That’s just as well. I’ve asked Cook to prepare a lovely lamb roast. You love titbits from the table, don’t you Yat-See?” She rubs her dog’s forehead lovingly before she winds her right arm through Lettice’s left. “Please, let me show you the way. Just wait until you see the dining room! It’s yellow!” She cringes. “Positively gruesome! I shall be very keen to hear your thoughts around what we can do about that.”
Mrs. Hawarden gently, yet at the same time forcefully, guides Lettice to the door from whence the maid came.
“Are you coming my dear?” Mrs, Hawarden calls to her husband over her shoulder.
“Yes, of course Evelyn!” Mr. Hawarden deposits the newspaper on the sofa cushions and extinguishes his cigarette in the ashtray on the table and follows the figure of his wife and Lettice arm-in-arm. “I shouldn’t wish to miss one of Cook’s wonderful roasts!”
As Lettice is guided down the hallway by her hostess, she senses what feels like a boulder in the very pit of her stomach. For the first time ever, she has a potential client with whom she is completely at odds with aesthetically, and she isn’t quite sure how she is going to explain her difference in opinions to the insistent Mrs. Hawarden diplomatically.
*The first successful artificial silks were developed in the 1890s of cellulose fibre and marketed as art silk or viscose, a trade name for a specific manufacturer. In 1924, the name of the fibre was officially changed in the U.S. to rayon, although the term viscose continued to be used in Europe.
**Country Life is a British weekly perfect-bound glossy magazine that is a quintessential English magazine founded in 1897, providing readers with a weekly dose of architecture, gardens and interiors. It was based in London at 110 Southwark Street until March 2016, when it became based in Farnborough, Hampshire. The frontispiece of each issue usually features a portrait photograph of a young woman of society, or, on occasion, a man of society.
***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.
****Whose Body? is a 1923 mystery novel by English crime writer and poet Dorothy L. Sayers. It was her debut novel, and the book in which she introduced the character of Lord Peter Wimsey.
*****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 and his wife Arabella.
******Marcelling is a hair styling technique in which hot curling tongs are used to induce a curl into the hair. Its appearance was similar to that of a finger wave but it is created using a different method. Marcelled hair was a popular style for women's hair in the 1920s, often in conjunction with a bob cut. For those women who had longer hair, it was common to tie the hair at the nape of the neck and pin it above the ear with a stylish hair pin or flower. One famous wearer was American entertainer, Josephine Baker.
*******The Industrial Revolution in England caused a migration of people into the big cities in search of better wages and better working conditions. For the working class often this resulted in overcrowding in their housing conditions. There was poor sanitation and smells could be appalling. Pastille burners, sometimes called ‘cottage orneés’ were a way of combating these odours by burning pastilles of aromatic substances, which emitted sweet scented perfume into the room. They were made of porcelain or silver for the upper classes and by the late Eighteenth and early Nineteenth Centuries, pottery burners were bought by the middle and lower classes. They were modelled as cottages with a removable thatched roof, tollhouses, dovecotes decorated with flowers and by the 1830s the cottages had open windows so they became night lights as well. By 1840 designs for pastille burners included Chinese temples, Swiss cottages and turreted castles, all of which appealed to the Victorian taste. Pastille burners remained popular for all classes until 1870 when improvements to sanitary conditions were made.
*******In order to repay the expenditures made by the British during the Great War, like had been occurring since the Napoleonic Wars, the government increased Income Tax. The standard rate of income tax, which was six per cent in 1914, stood at thirty per cent in 1918. As a result of this, income tax rates amongst the wealthy were maintained at a high level, far in excess of those charged in the years before the war, making the management of estates very difficult if they were not productive, and many properties with stately homes left the ownership of their original families for the first time in generations, sold more often to wealthy industrialists or in the post-war era, wealthy Americans wishing for their own slice of British aristocratic history.
*********The verb spruce up means “to make neat or smart in appearance,” and it first appeared in English around the end of the 1500s.
**********Before, and even after the Second World War, a great deal could be attained about a person’s social origins by what language and terminology they used in class-conscious Britain by the use of ‘”U and non-U English” as popularised by upper class English author, Nancy Mitford when she published a glossary of terms in an article “The English Aristocracy” published by Stephen Spender in his magazine “encounter” in 1954. There are many examples in her glossary, amongst which are the word “sofa” which is a U (upper class) word, versus “settee” or “couch” which are a non-U (aspiring middle-class) words. Whilst quite outdated today, it gives an insight into how easily someone could betray their humbler origins by something as simple as a single word.
This comfortable country house drawing room interior may appear like something out of a historical stately country house, or a copy of ‘Country Life’, but it is in fact part of my 1:12 miniatures collection and includes items from my childhood, as well as those I have collected as an adult.
Fun things to look for in this tableau include:
The Georgian style fireplace I have had since I was a teenager and is made from moulded plaster. The peacock fire screen and gilt fire tools I bought at the same time as the fireplace. Standing on the mantlepiece of the fireplace are two miniature diecast lead Meissen figurines: the Lady with the Canary and the Gentleman with the Butterfly, manufactured by Warwick Miniatures in Ireland, who are well known for the quality and detail applied to their pieces. They have been hand painted by me. Next to them on the mantlepiece are two silver candlesticks from Karen Ladybug Miniatures in the United Kingdom. Also on the mantlepiece are two pottery cottage orneé pastille burners which have been hand made, painted and gilded by Welsh miniature ceramist Rachel Williams who has her own studio, V&R Miniatures, in Powys. The dainty gilded clock is also made by Warwick Miniatures in Ireland.
The two tall vases of flowers on the demilune tables flanking the fireplace are made by Falcon Miniatures, who are renown for the realism and detail in their miniatures.
The bowl decorated with fruit on the table on the left hand side of the fireplace was hand decorated by British artisan Rachael Maundy. The one on the right is a hand painted artisan miniature fluted bowl.
The two white damask sofas were supplied by Kathleen Knight’s Dolls House Shop in the United Kingdom. The round table, an artisan miniature with a marquetry inlaid top, also came from Kathleen Knight’s Dolls House Shop, as did the small pedestal table next to the right hand sofa.
Lettice’s green handbag is also a hand-made artisan piece of soft green leather, made by Karen Ladybug Miniatures. Her furled umbrella is a 1:12 artisan piece made of hand painted wood, metal and satin.
The silver Art Deco tea and coffee pots and square tray on the round table were made by Warwick Miniatures in Ireland. The blue rose tea set came from a miniatures stockist on E-Bay. The Elite Styles magazine from 1923 sitting on the table was made by hand by Petite Gite Miniatures in the United States. The 1:12 miniature copies of ‘The Times’, ‘The Mirror’ and the ‘Daily Express’, are made by Little Things Dollhouse Miniatures in Lancashire. The copy of ‘Country Life’ sitting on the table was made by me to scale using the cover of a real 1923 edition of ‘Country Life’. The vase of red roses in the foreground was made by Falcon Miniatures.
All the paintings around ‘The Briars’ drawing room in their gilded frames are 1:12 artisan pieces acquired through Kathleen Knight’s Dolls House Shop and the wallpaper is an authentic copy of hand-painted Georgian wallpaper from the 1770s.
The expertise of firefighting pilots is extraordinary.
They have to land and take-off in dangerous places and constantly risk their lives fighting fires…for me they are part of the unknown heroes group!
I wrote a history of this house several years ago for credit in a university course on documenting historical properties. This entailed, among other things, researching the house's owners and renters and writing brief biographies of each.
What follows is the abridged version of my biography of the man for whom the house was built in 1910.
Until the city of Portland revised its street system in the early 1930s, this house was at 624 Halsey Street.
At the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century, it was the convention to refer to men not by their first and last names but by the initials of their first and middle names and their surname. I can still remember the delight I felt when I finally came across a source that gave W. T. Branch's first and middle names.
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William Tully Branch (26 October 1836-June 1921)
In July, 1909, when William Tully “W.T.” Branch took title to the lot in Holladay’s Addition where he would build the house at 624 Halsey street, he was 72 years old.
Searches of publicly available documents have yielded little information about Branch’s first four decades. However, from 1884 to 1891, Branch worked for a hardware company as a bookkeeper.
Perhaps because of his accounting expertise, in 1891 W.T. was drafted to run for the office of city auditor and clerk. Branch was elected to a two-year term on June 15, 1891.
When he failed to win re-election in 1893, W.T.
returned to his field, bookkeeping and accounting.
A local Republican powerbroker brought Branch back into city politics in 1900, and he was elected to represent the 4th Ward on Portland’s city council, then known as the Common Council.
As a councilmember, W.T. distinguished himself through his accounting acumen and his work as chair of the ways and means committee.
Though some expected Branch would go on to serve another term, in the end he did not run in the June, 1902, election.
After leaving City Hall, Branch established an accounting practice and served as president of a local electrical company from 1902 to 1903.
For reasons not discovered in this research, W. T. Branch resided in Tacoma, Washington, from 1904 to 1908; the city directories do not give an occupation.
During his sojourn in Tacoma, W.T. made at least
eight overnight visits to Portland. More importantly, during that time, Branch purchased and sold investment real estate in Portland, as he had been doing intermittently since at least 1889 and would continue doing until 1919.´´
In multiple real-estate transactions during those years, W.T. Branch paid at least $66,260 to purchase land and sold real property for a total of $13,350.
Between 1893 and 1908, W.T. also earned an income
stream from auditing engagements involving municipalities, public bodies, troubled businesses and private parties.
Searches of Portland-area newspapers show that W. T.
Branch was active in several churches and faith-based organizations from 1885 to 1915.
Branch died in Los Angeles in June 30, 1921, about four months short of his 84th birthday.
On July 20, 1909, Eleanor Harding, a widow, sold W. T. Branch the land where he would build his house.
Two months later, the Oregonian reported that Branch had received a permit to build a “two-story frame dwelling,” which the Herdman Brothers contractors were to build for $9,000.
In October of the same year, the newspaper, which
was following construction activity on the East Side, mentioned Branch’s project twice in the space of a week.
One item was preceded by the observation that “some beautiful homes are being erected”30 in Irvington and Holladay Park.
The other bore the headline “Many Handsome Homes Planned.” Both pieces stated the home’s cost and its dimensions; one even described interior details:
“The first floor will be finished with quarter-sawed oak flooring and oak finish. Birch doors, highly polished, and enamel finish will be used in the second floor.”
After this short series of items, the Oregonian,did not mention Branch and 624 Halsey in the same piece again.
The only indication that W. T. occupied the house was his entry in the 1911 city directory, which listed him at the Halsey Street address.
On June 12, 1911, just under two years from the date he acquired the property, W. T. Branch and his wife Ellen deeded it to John and Mary Carmody.
W. T. Branch was then about three months short of his 75th birthday. The house was then less than two years old.
Pretty self explanatory.. A group of reformed supervillains, led by Bronze Tiger. Dr. Cyber, Coldsnap, Bronze Tiger, Man-Bat, Plastic Man, Bizarro, and Pied Piper. Huge thanks to Ken for helping me figure out the roster of the team. Also, this wouldn't have been thought of if Jake hadn't done the Redeemables first. So thanks to Jake as well. Plastic man is influenced off his Young Justice Outsiders appearance.
Dr. Cyber
Backstory: Was mostly a cyber criminal, commanding a worldwide network of hackers, and other secret operatives. Getting into places that no one else really could. Her first encounter with Wonder Woman would leave her heavily scarred and disfigured. Years later, after being broken out of prison by Giganta, Cyber would create a super suit for herself, and face off against Wonder-Woman once more. Again, she lost. Eventually she just realized it wasn't really worth the hassle of facing off against Diana. She would soon be approached to join the Reformers, and having nothing better to do, she accepted.
Coldsnap
Backstory: Caitlin Snow, a former STAR Labs scientist turned heat vampire, Killer Frost. For years, she would feed off the heat of humans, encountering the hero Firestorm more often than she would've liked. Nobody really believed in her being capable of change, until Ryan Choi, aka Micron, came along. He truly believed that there was good inside of her, and would visit her in prison almost every day. Caitlin felt comfortable around Ryan, in a way she never allowed herself before, always afraid of what would happen. She opened up to him about her struggles with her powers. Through this, they found love, in each other. Ryan would ask the Justice League to give her a second chance, but they refused. Caitlin truly wants to do better, as Ryan believes she can. Finally, she would be offered a spot on the Reformers team, as they saw the need for her medical expertise, as well as her powers. She tries her best to keep her powers in check, making sure to not be the killer she once was.
Man-Bat
Backstory: Kirk Langstrom was a brilliant scientist, dedicated to finding a cure for cancer. He first would try using vampire bat DNA, but the experiment went wrong. It took days before Langstrom noticed the effects. His newfound hunger for blood. Becoming the monstrous Man-Bat, he would encounter Batman while feeding on a human in crime alley. The cycle would go on for years, getting put in Arkham, only to be released soon after. Batman would visit Kirk in Arkham, truly believing that he could change. It took months before Kirk would reflect upon those words, wanting to do more with his life, and to give back to those he's hurt. Upon being released from Arkham, he would get in contact with his old friend Will Magnus, trying to figure out what to do with his life. Will referred him to Francine Lee, a doctor at Gotham General. She would get him a job at the hospital. Just months after working together, they would fall in love, though Francine was still unaware of Kirk's thirst for blood. Magnus developed a specialized suit for Kirk, which he would wear when he goes out to fight crime. After a long talk with Francine, Langstrom would reveal his vampiric nature. But for some reason, it didn't scare her. It was then that she would help him find legal ways of getting the blood he needs to survive. He would soon get an offer from Ben Turner, aka Bronze Tiger, to join his team of reformed villains, simply called the Reformers.
Plastic Man
Backstory: Previously a member of Kite-Man's gang, Patrick "Eel" O'Brian was doing everything he could to give his son a better life. Though all he was doing was pushing his son further away. It would take some time spent in prison before he would decide to change his lifestyle for the better, and to be a better example for his son. It was a year or so later, that he would get the second chance he hoped for, asking to be part of the Reformers team.
Bizarro
Backstory: Misunderstood, and controlled by Lex Luthor, ever since he was created, he would be his personal security force, coming into conflict with Superman, along with the rest of the Superfamily, quite often. He thought of himself as Superman, or "Pup Pup" as he liked to use as a nickname. It would take several magic users to undo the mind control Luthor put him under, and at that point, he joined the Reformers, wanting to redeem himself, and be the Superman he knows he is.
Pied Piper
Backstory: After years of working with the Rogues on their various heists, facing off against Flash in a battle of wits and force, Hartley would reform, realizing that a life of crime was not for him. Another reason was that it was slowly tearing him and Captain David Singh apart.
For 20 years, Franco Sbarro is sharing his expertise with young people in its various schools. For 20 years, Dominique Chapatte is sharing his passion for the automobile in one of the oldest french TV mag: Turbo. A simple phone call between the two men led to celebrate this anniversary common: the Turbo S20 roadster was born.
The design began, as always in Espera, by a specification, then sketches, drawings, ideas. Gradually, the idea of two-seater roadster has become. A model was made and the colors chosen (gray matte and gloss red).
The issue then is the transition to real model. To do this, Espera students have changed tubular chassis from a 1985 Isdera, in which they placed in a central position, a Mercedes AMG V8 developing 350 horsepower, associated with a manual 5-speed. The front lights were taken off on a Smart and taillamps from a Fiat Seicento.
By 4 months, the Turbo S20 was ready. A beautiful roadster, which of course took all the honors in the broadcast Turbo M6. During the test, it appeared that the Turbo S20 behavior was very healthy despite the limited time students have had for the design and manufacture.
The Picasso Cup impressed me greatly. The Turbo S20 strike even harder. Sbarro and his students did not have to meet specifications from a large manufacturer which often requires the recognition of the original model. There, all started from a blank sheet. And the result is superb. A car that deserves a building in small series. The Turbo S20 is also one of the last cars to leave their homes in Pontarlier Espera, the structure has moved to Monbéliard witha little different spirit.
SCOUT: "Hullo Madames, Mademoiselles and Monsieurs to Monsieur Scout\'s Fancy Frock Shop! We stock the very latest in Parisian fashions, laces and ribbons at very reasonable prices. Please feel free to look around, and if we can be of service, my assistant Monsieur Prince Peter or I will be happy to help you!"
PETER: "Oh thank you minj beste vriend Monsieur Scout for letting me be part of Monsieur Scout\'s Fancy Frock Shop!"
SCOUT: "Oh I was so happy mijn beste vriend Monsieur Prince Peter when you suggested coming and being my assistant!"
PETER: "Well, I did used to own a grocery shop and can sell very well."
SCOUT: "Mais oui, Monsieur Prince Peter!"
PETER: "No, I don\'t need to go wee or poop, Monsieur Scout. Ahem!" *Clears throat and lowers voice.* "I went to the Lady Louisa before, so that way I can serve customers without having to be excused."
SCOUT: "No! No! Monsieur Prince Peter!" *Shakes head.* "I was just being fancy, talking a foreign language like they do in some of the fancy frock shops in Daddy’s books. Oui means yes in a foreign language that some people and bears speak. A little froggie taught me." *Nods enthusiastically.*
PETER: "Do I have to speak Froggie as well, Monsieur Scout?"
SCOUT: "Well no, not if you don\'t want to, unless of course a froggie comes in to buy something, which I think is highly unlikely."
PETER: "Phew!" *Wipes forehead with paw.* "Well that\'s a relief! Speaking Dutch and English is quite enough. Adding fluent froggie would be very hard for me to master. Now, I hope I meet your standards, Monsieur Scout and that I look good and neat. I put on my very smartest tie for you."
SCOUT: "Oh you look splendid, mijn beste vriend Monsieur Prince Peter! You make Monsieur Scout\'s Fancy Frock Shop proud!"
PETER: "Now all we need are some customers, Monsieur Scout."
SCOUT: "Fear not! I am sure they will be here soon! We are expecting many online orders through the interweb from Odessa, but Daddy will take care of those for us. I\'m sure that Rosie and Cornelia will be in soon."
PETER: "Oh Mijn Princess Rosie! Hoorah!" *Claps paws in delight.*
SCOUT: "And Ilona\'s (.ilona.) bears Miss Molly and Miss Frida will soon be here as well. That is why I need you as my assistant Monsieur Prince Peter."
PETER: "Well, I am here to help serve, mijn beste vriend Monsieur Scout."
SCOUT: "And then after we have served our customers, we will go and have something to eat! All this hard work gives me a grumbly tummy! Grumbly tummy Monsieur Prince Peter! Grumbly tummy!" *Rubs tummy vigorously.*
A very dear friend who enjoys photography as much as I do, and knows that I collect beautiful and vintage pieces, gave me a wonderful selection of antique ribbons, buttons, buckles, lace and other fine notions. Scout has used these to help create Monsieur Scout’s Fancy Frock Shop.
My bears Paddy and Scout have made very good friends with two bears in Holland called Peter and Oleg (www.flickr.com/photos/40262251@N03/galleries/721577154558...) and their Mummy (www.flickr.com/photos/66094586@N06/) . Peter and Scout are very similar and have become best friends. When Peter saw that Scout had set up a shop, he offered his skills and expertise having once run his own grocery shop, and Scout readily agreed. I\'m sure that once word gets around the bear community, Monsieur Scout\'s Fancy Frock Shop will be very popular indeed!
Scout was a gift to Paddy from my friend. He is a Fair Trade Bear hand knitted in Africa. His name comes from the shop my friend found him in: Scout House. He tells me that life was very different where he came from, and Paddy is helping introduce him to many new experiences. Scout catches on quickly, and has proven to be a cheeky, but very lovable member of our closely knit family.
Thank you Marian Kloon (on and off) for the use of Peter\'s photo in my collage of images.
Unfortunately, my expertise in early railroad construction is not sufficient to explain everything about this structure three miles east of the depot in Abingdon, Va., A quick look reveals generations of structural solutions to carry the rails safely over Old Saltworks Road below.
The East Tennessee & Georgia was building northward from Chattanooga as early as 1848. It would take a few more years to reach Knoxville in 1855, but construction continued toward Bristol—on the Tennessee-Virginia state line. The objective was to form an unbroken rail route from New York to Memphis. As with many early lines, the lack of earth-moving equipment and heavy reliance on hand labor and mule power required many alignment compromises --shallow cuts and low fills--that added curvature and grade. However, Bristol was reached in 1858, and the through route (in conjunction with the Virginia & Tennessee from that point north) became a reality.
This antebellum line was a perpetual work in progress in subsequent years as timber trestles were later replaced by fills, and flimsy bridges upgraded to handle larger locomotives and cars over the years. This structure was one of them.
Look at the cut stone elements of the original bridge—the abutments, and even the span itself. It was sturdy enough for 4-4-0s and wooden cars, but there was no way it would have supported the motive power and cars of such size the line’s designers could have never imagined in the years before the Civil War. Would they have envisioned the hammering hulk of an N&W Y-6a compound 2-8-8-2 in 1858, let alone a Class J 4-8-4 capable of reaching 100 MPH with a passenger train? Hardly. It would appear successor Norfolk & Western solved the strength issue once and for all with a concrete arch built beneath the original span and anchored left and right to the cut stone abutments.
On January 12, 1991, the SD40-2 on the point of this Bristol-bound freight offers little challenge to the structure’s Cooper rating. Since this shot was taken (with Kodachrome 64 on a perfectly gloomy day), train frequency, motive power weight, and car sizes and weights have all gone up even more. This route was nearing death rattle before the creation of Norfolk Southern in 1982. Today, it’s an important freight corridor linking the Northeast and South---the very vision its original proponents, financiers, and constructors planned so many years ago. This arched span near Abingdon has seen it all---and carried it safely across Old Saltworks Road.
My first published nonfiction book.
I'm a professional psychic and medium with 50 years expertise and a worldwide clientele. As a paranormal investigator/researcher I've experienced over 1,000 physical supernatural manifestations, some of which are documented on film and audio, and many times witnessed by others.
For over 15 years I've been a featured guest on many popular radio shows and podcasts, with 8 appearances to date on Coast to Coast AM with George Noory, and I filmed a TV pilot for The History Channel in which I psychically explored the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. In the period of a year and a half I was interviewed over 100 times and I continue to be a featured guest on many prominent podcasts and radio shows in the United States and the UK.
And I've been an avid motorcyclist for over 50 years.
Now, as the multiple award-winning author of my first nonfiction book—Riding with Ghosts, Angels, and the Spirits of the Dead—I'll bring you along with me on a truly magical ride as I travel thousands of miles off the beaten path to explore the paranormal from the seat of my beloved motorcycle, Melissa. Everywhere I roam ghosts, angels, and the spirits of the dead come to greet me, communicating intriguing messages to me and providing me with an incredible array of otherworldly manifestations.
Come along with me on an exciting daylong ride filled with mind-blowing supernatural interactions that appear to have been instigated by the intelligences behind crop circles.
Hike with me through vast, lonely woods as I experience a lifesaving encounter with a ghostly owl and a Native American Indian Spirit in a haunted forest.
Let's enjoy together a day's ride from my home base in Florida to Georgia, arriving at Savannah's famed Bonaventure Cemetery for a revealing paranormal investigation that left me astounded, giving proof that invisible intelligences watch us and hear the words we speak.
And then, just imagine: making a phone call...to a ghost?
Encountering—and having interactions with—multiple UFOs.
In the aftermath of a notorious tropical storm ride along with me as I experience mystical weather events that are so bizarre that it makes me wonder if storms are controlled by intelligent entities, or if the tempests themselves may be cognizant.
Join me as I ride to a historic Civil War battlefield and share in my amazement when I'm treated to one of the most authentic battle reenactments possible...conducted by the phantoms of the soldiers who fought there.
Enjoy these and more incredible true stories of the paranormal. Come along for the ride! Buy your copy today.
LINKS FOR INFO:
www.amazon.com/Riding-Ghosts-Angels-Spirits-Dead-ebook/dp...