The consequences of the problems that arose with 45231's wheel-flats discovered on Good Friday, 2 April 2021 have almost concluded in south Wales as today (16 April 2021) the Black 5 was taken away by low-loader from Port Talbot 'Up' Sidings for rectification. For those that know nothing about the movement from where the failure was declared, Llandeilo and the aforementioned Port Talbot 'Up' Sidings, on 13 April two EE Type 3s, D6817/D6851 worked light engine from Crewe to Llandeilo. From there they worked a slow moving rescue to get 45231 complete with a wheel-skate on the tender's leading front axle to a suitable location to load the locomotive and tender onto low-loaders, Port Talbot 'Up' Sidings. Once the removal of 45231 was complete the two Type 3s led the support coach as 5Z37, the 13.54 Port Talbot 'Up' Sidings to Crewe. The working is seen passing through Pyle station and about to get stuck in to Stormy bank, I doubt if speed was reduced by the weight of the load!

 

D6817 was new in March 1963 and allocated to Tinsley, being renumbered 37117 and then 37521; D6851 is a little younger having been commissioned in July 1963 at Canton, renumbered 37151 and later 37667. They both looked superb in BR Green with small warning panels, about six photographers gathered on the station to witness the event.

The Church of Saint Matthew is a Church of England Grade II* listed church located in the High Elswick area of Newcastle upon Tyne, within the Georgian suburb of Summerhill.

 

History

Saint Matthew's was formed out of Saint John's parish in November, 1869, and the Parish is the home of four former parishes - Saint Philip (Elswick), Saint Augustine (Brighton Grove), Saint Matthew (Big Lamp), and Saint Mary the Virgin (Rye Hill).

 

Tradition

Saint Matthew's was founded after the foundations of the Catholic Revival had been set; with its first Vicar, Father Robert Daunt, being described by the time of his death as "a decided High Churchman, who held strong views on the question of the independence of the Church in spiritual matters.". As such, the church has, from its founding, followed the Anglo-Catholic High Church tradition — a rarity within the diocese.

 

Elswick is a district and electoral ward of the city and metropolitan borough of Newcastle upon Tyne, in the county of Tyne and Wear, England, 1.9 miles west of the city centre, bordering the River Tyne. Historically in Northumberland, Elswick became part of Newcastle upon Tyne in 1835. Elswick is home to the Newcastle Utilita Arena; and Newcastle College, with approximately 45,000 students.

 

History

In Roman times the Vallum, a defensive barrier behind Hadrian's Wall, reached its easternmost limit in Elswick. The Wall itself carried on as far as Wallsend.

 

The township of Elswick had originally formed part of the Barony of Bolam and was owned by Tynemouth Priory from 1120-1539, with a fishery present on the site. One of the earliest references to the coal mining industry of the north east occurs in 1330, when it was recorded that the Prior of Tynemouth let a colliery, called Heygrove, at "Elstewyke" for a rent of £5 per year. Elswick Colliery had 3 pits working from 1860 onwards. Elswick was owned by the Crown from 1539 to 1628, until it was sold by Charles I.

 

The Priors held a mansion in the middle of Elswick which was later occupied by Elswick Hall. Having been rebuilt a number of times, the last rebuild took place in 1810. The grounds of Elswick Hall became Elswick Park in 1881. Elswick changed significantly in the late 19th century with the extension of the railway from Carlisle to Newcastle in 1839 and the establishment of Armstrong's manufacturing works in 1847. Population increased rapidly during this period, from about 300 in 1801 to 59,165 in 1901. Tyneside flats were built in the area around Scotswood Road to accommodate the workforce.

 

The Elswick works was founded in 1847 by engineer William George Armstrong. It manufactured hydraulic machinery, cranes and bridges and, later, artillery. In 1882 the company merged with the shipbuilding firm of Charles Mitchell to form Armstrong, Mitchell & Company. Armstrong Mitchell merged again with the engineering firm of Joseph Whitworth in 1897, forming Armstrong, Whitworth & Co.

 

Elswick railway station was opened in 1889 to serve the area. It was located at the western end of the Elswick Works, whose workforce made up a significant proportion of travellers. The area suffered as a result of the inter-war and subsequent depressions, culminating in the demolition of the Elswick works. The station was closed and then demolished in 1967.

 

Elswick was hit hard by the decline of Tyneside's shipbuilding industry during the second half of the 20th century, and by the 1990s was widely regarded as one of the worst parts of Tyneside, if not the whole of Britain. According to a report by The Independent newspaper, unemployment stood at nearly 30% and the area had a widespread problem with drug abuse and arson attacks.

 

Elswick was formerly a township in the parish of Newcastle-St. John, in 1866 Elswick became a separate civil parish, on 1 April 1914 the parish was abolished to form Newcastle upon Tyne. In 1911 the parish had a population of 58,352. It is now in the unparished area of Newcastle upon Tyne.

 

Elswick today

Present day Elswick consists of a number of distinct neighbourhoods including the Adelaide Terrace area, Bentinck Estate, Condercum and Denhill Park, Cruddas Park (part renamed Riverside Dene), Elswick Triangle, Gill Street and the Courts, Grainger Park, Jubilee Estate, North Benwell, and both from the St John's and St Paul's areas. The local authority ward also incorporates Newcastle College, and the Utilita Arena Newcastle. As of the 2011 census, Elswick had one of the lowest White populations in Newcastle at around 55% with a large Asian population of 33.4% (including 15.9% Bangladeshi, 8.3% Pakistani), and 5.6% Black or Black British. Elswick has a large Muslim population of 31.9% and a Christian population of 43.4%. In 2018 it had an estimated population of 15,869.

 

The ward profile shows Elswick is the ward with the highest percentage of children under 14 years in Newcastle and has a lower than average number of senior citizens (10%) than Newcastle as a whole. Elswick has a lower than average number of houses in owner-occupation (26.3% compared with 49.9% for Newcastle city).

 

Elswick's Location

Located at a height of 53.1m, Elswick overlooks the River Tyne and is a suburban area in the West End of Newcastle upon Tyne.

 

Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle is a cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is located on the River Tyne's northern bank, opposite Gateshead to the south. It is the most populous settlement in the Tyneside conurbation and North East England.

 

Newcastle developed around a Roman settlement called Pons Aelius, the settlement became known as Monkchester before taking on the name of a castle built in 1080 by William the Conqueror's eldest son, Robert Curthose. It was one of the world's largest ship building and repair centres during the industrial revolution. Newcastle was part of the county of Northumberland until 1400, when it separated and formed a county of itself. In 1974, Newcastle became part of Tyne and Wear. Since 2018, the city council has been part of the North of Tyne Combined Authority.

 

The history of Newcastle upon Tyne dates back almost 2,000 years, during which it has been controlled by the Romans, the Angles and the Norsemen amongst others. Newcastle upon Tyne was originally known by its Roman name Pons Aelius. The name "Newcastle" has been used since the Norman conquest of England. Due to its prime location on the River Tyne, the town developed greatly during the Middle Ages and it was to play a major role in the Industrial Revolution, being granted city status in 1882. Today, the city is a major retail, commercial and cultural centre.

 

Roman settlement

The history of Newcastle dates from AD 122, when the Romans built the first bridge to cross the River Tyne at that point. The bridge was called Pons Aelius or 'Bridge of Aelius', Aelius being the family name of Roman Emperor Hadrian, who was responsible for the Roman wall built across northern England along the Tyne–Solway gap. Hadrian's Wall ran through present-day Newcastle, with stretches of wall and turrets visible along the West Road, and at a temple in Benwell. Traces of a milecastle were found on Westgate Road, midway between Clayton Street and Grainger Street, and it is likely that the course of the wall corresponded to present-day Westgate Road. The course of the wall can be traced eastwards to the Segedunum Roman fort at Wallsend, with the fort of Arbeia down-river at the mouth of the Tyne, on the south bank in what is now South Shields. The Tyne was then a wider, shallower river at this point and it is thought that the bridge was probably about 700 feet (210 m) long, made of wood and supported on stone piers. It is probable that it was sited near the current Swing Bridge, due to the fact that Roman artefacts were found there during the building of the latter bridge. Hadrian himself probably visited the site in 122. A shrine was set up on the completed bridge in 123 by the 6th Legion, with two altars to Neptune and Oceanus respectively. The two altars were subsequently found in the river and are on display in the Great North Museum in Newcastle.

 

The Romans built a stone-walled fort in 150 to protect the river crossing which was at the foot of the Tyne Gorge, and this took the name of the bridge so that the whole settlement was known as Pons Aelius. The fort was situated on a rocky outcrop overlooking the new bridge, on the site of the present Castle Keep. Pons Aelius is last mentioned in 400, in a Roman document listing all of the Roman military outposts. It is likely that nestling in the shadow of the fort would have been a small vicus, or village. Unfortunately, no buildings have been detected; only a few pieces of flagging. It is clear that there was a Roman cemetery near Clavering Place, behind the Central station, as a number of Roman coffins and sarcophagi have been unearthed there.

 

Despite the presence of the bridge, the settlement of Pons Aelius was not particularly important among the northern Roman settlements. The most important stations were those on the highway of Dere Street running from Eboracum (York) through Corstopitum (Corbridge) and to the lands north of the Wall. Corstopitum, being a major arsenal and supply centre, was much larger and more populous than Pons Aelius.

 

Anglo-Saxon development

The Angles arrived in the North-East of England in about 500 and may have landed on the Tyne. There is no evidence of an Anglo-Saxon settlement on or near the site of Pons Aelius during the Anglo-Saxon age. The bridge probably survived and there may well have been a small village at the northern end, but no evidence survives. At that time the region was dominated by two kingdoms, Bernicia, north of the Tees and ruled from Bamburgh, and Deira, south of the Tees and ruled from York. Bernicia and Deira combined to form the kingdom of Northanhymbra (Northumbria) early in the 7th century. There were three local kings who held the title of Bretwalda – 'Lord of Britain', Edwin of Deira (627–632), Oswald of Bernicia (633–641) and Oswy of Northumbria (641–658). The 7th century became known as the 'Golden Age of Northumbria', when the area was a beacon of culture and learning in Europe. The greatness of this period was based on its generally Christian culture and resulted in the Lindisfarne Gospels amongst other treasures. The Tyne valley was dotted with monasteries, with those at Monkwearmouth, Hexham and Jarrow being the most famous. Bede, who was based at Jarrow, wrote of a royal estate, known as Ad Murum, 'at the Wall', 12 miles (19 km) from the sea. It is thought that this estate may have been in what is now Newcastle. At some unknown time, the site of Newcastle came to be known as Monkchester. The reason for this title is unknown, as we are unaware of any specific monasteries at the site, and Bede made no reference to it. In 875 Halfdan Ragnarsson, the Danish Viking conqueror of York, led an army that attacked and pillaged various monasteries in the area, and it is thought that Monkchester was also pillaged at this time. Little more was heard of it until the coming of the Normans.

 

Norman period

After the arrival of William the Conqueror in England in 1066, the whole of England was quickly subjected to Norman rule. However, in Northumbria there was great resistance to the Normans, and in 1069 the newly appointed Norman Earl of Northumbria, Robert de Comines and 700 of his men were killed by the local population at Durham. The Northumbrians then marched on York, but William was able to suppress the uprising. That same year, a second uprising occurred when a Danish fleet landed in the Humber. The Northumbrians again attacked York and destroyed the garrison there. William was again able to suppress the uprising, but this time he took revenge. He laid waste to the whole of the Midlands and the land from York to the Tees. In 1080, William Walcher, the Norman bishop of Durham and his followers were brutally murdered at Gateshead. This time Odo, bishop of Bayeux, William's half brother, devastated the land between the Tees and the Tweed. This was known as the 'Harrying of the North'. This devastation is reflected in the Domesday Book. The destruction had such an effect that the North remained poor and backward at least until Tudor times and perhaps until the Industrial Revolution. Newcastle suffered in this respect with the rest of the North.

 

In 1080 William sent his eldest son, Robert Curthose, north to defend the kingdom against the Scots. After his campaign, he moved to Monkchester and began the building of a 'New Castle'. This was of the "motte-and-bailey" type of construction, a wooden tower on top of an earthen mound (motte), surrounded by a moat and wooden stockade (bailey). It was this castle that gave Newcastle its name. In 1095 the Earl of Northumbria, Robert de Mowbray, rose up against the king, William Rufus, and Rufus sent an army north to recapture the castle. From then on the castle became crown property and was an important base from which the king could control the northern barons. The Northumbrian earldom was abolished and a Sheriff of Northumberland was appointed to administer the region. In 1091 the parish church of St Nicholas was consecrated on the site of the present Anglican cathedral, close by the bailey of the new castle. The church is believed to have been a wooden building on stone footings.

 

Not a trace of the tower or mound of the motte and bailey castle remains now. Henry II replaced it with a rectangular stone keep, which was built between 1172 and 1177 at a cost of £1,444. A stone bailey, in the form of a triangle, replaced the previous wooden one. The great outer gateway to the castle, called 'the Black Gate', was built later, between 1247 and 1250, in the reign of Henry III. There were at that time no town walls and when attacked by the Scots, the townspeople had to crowd into the bailey for safety. It is probable that the new castle acted as a magnet for local merchants because of the safety it provided. This in turn would help to expand trade in the town. At this time wool, skins and lead were being exported, whilst alum, pepper and ginger were being imported from France and Flanders.

 

Middle Ages

Throughout the Middle Ages, Newcastle was England's northern fortress, the centre for assembled armies. The Border war against Scotland lasted intermittently for several centuries – possibly the longest border war ever waged. During the civil war between Stephen and Matilda, David 1st of Scotland and his son were granted Cumbria and Northumberland respectively, so that for a period from 1139 to 1157, Newcastle was effectively in Scottish hands. It is believed that during this period, King David may have built the church of St Andrew and the Benedictine nunnery in Newcastle. However, King Stephen's successor, Henry II was strong enough to take back the Earldom of Northumbria from Malcolm IV.

 

The Scots king William the Lion was imprisoned in Newcastle, in 1174, after being captured at the Battle of Alnwick. Edward I brought the Stone of Scone and William Wallace south through the town and Newcastle was successfully defended against the Scots three times during the 14th century.

 

Around 1200, stone-faced, clay-filled jetties were starting to project into the river, an indication that trade was increasing in Newcastle. As the Roman roads continued to deteriorate, sea travel was gaining in importance. By 1275 Newcastle was the sixth largest wool exporting port in England. The principal exports at this time were wool, timber, coal, millstones, dairy produce, fish, salt and hides. Much of the developing trade was with the Baltic countries and Germany. Most of the Newcastle merchants were situated near the river, below the Castle. The earliest known charter was dated 1175 in the reign of Henry II, giving the townspeople some control over their town. In 1216 King John granted Newcastle a mayor[8] and also allowed the formation of guilds (known as Mysteries). These were cartels formed within different trades, which restricted trade to guild members. There were initially twelve guilds. Coal was being exported from Newcastle by 1250, and by 1350 the burgesses received a royal licence to export coal. This licence to export coal was jealously guarded by the Newcastle burgesses, and they tried to prevent any one else on the Tyne from exporting coal except through Newcastle. The burgesses similarly tried to prevent fish from being sold anywhere else on the Tyne except Newcastle. This led to conflicts with Gateshead and South Shields.

 

In 1265, the town was granted permission to impose a 'Wall Tax' or Murage, to pay for the construction of a fortified wall to enclose the town and protect it from Scottish invaders. The town walls were not completed until early in the 14th century. They were two miles (3 km) long, 9 feet (2.7 m) thick and 25 feet (7.6 m) high. They had six main gates, as well as some smaller gates, and had 17 towers. The land within the walls was divided almost equally by the Lort Burn, which flowed southwards and joined the Tyne to the east of the Castle. The town began to expand north of the Castle and west of the Lort Burn with various markets being set up within the walls.

 

In 1400 Henry IV granted a new charter, creating a County corporate which separated the town, but not the Castle, from the county of Northumberland and recognised it as a "county of itself" with a right to have a sheriff of its own. The burgesses were now allowed to choose six aldermen who, with the mayor would be justices of the peace. The mayor and sheriff were allowed to hold borough courts in the Guildhall.

 

Religious houses

During the Middle Ages a number of religious houses were established within the walls: the first of these was the Benedictine nunnery of St Bartholomew founded in 1086 near the present-day Nun Street. Both David I of Scotland and Henry I of England were benefactors of the religious house. Nothing of the nunnery remains now.

 

The friary of Blackfriars, Newcastle (Dominican) was established in 1239. These were also known as the Preaching Friars or Shod Friars, because they wore sandals, as opposed to other orders. The friary was situated in the present-day Friars Street. In 1280 the order was granted royal permission to make a postern in the town walls to communicate with their gardens outside the walls. On 19 June 1334, Edward Balliol, claimant to be King of Scotland, did homage to King Edward III, on behalf of the kingdom of Scotland, in the church of the friary. Much of the original buildings of the friary still exist, mainly because, after the Dissolution of the Monasteries the friary of Blackfriars was rented out by the corporation to nine of the local trade guilds.

 

The friary of Whitefriars (Carmelite) was established in 1262. The order was originally housed on the Wall Knoll in Pandon, but in 1307 it took over the buildings of another order, which went out of existence, the Friars of the Sac. The land, which had originally been given by Robert the Bruce, was situated in the present-day Hanover Square, behind the Central station. Nothing of the friary remains now.

 

The friary of Austinfriars (Augustinian) was established in 1290. The friary was on the site where the Holy Jesus Hospital was built in 1682. The friary was traditionally the lodging place of English kings whenever they visited or passed through Newcastle. In 1503 Princess Margaret, eldest daughter of Henry VII of England, stayed two days at the friary on her way to join her new husband James IV of Scotland.

 

The friary of Greyfriars (Franciscans) was established in 1274. The friary was in the present-day area between Pilgrim Street, Grey Street, Market Street and High Chare. Nothing of the original buildings remains.

 

The friary of the Order of the Holy Trinity, also known as the Trinitarians, was established in 1360. The order devoted a third of its income to buying back captives of the Saracens, during the Crusades. Their house was on the Wall Knoll, in Pandon, to the east of the city, but within the walls. Wall Knoll had previously been occupied by the White Friars until they moved to new premises in 1307.

 

All of the above religious houses were closed in about 1540, when Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries.

 

An important street running through Newcastle at the time was Pilgrim Street, running northwards inside the walls and leading to the Pilgrim Gate on the north wall. The street still exists today as arguably Newcastle's main shopping street.

 

Tudor period

The Scottish border wars continued for much of the 16th century, so that during that time, Newcastle was often threatened with invasion by the Scots, but also remained important as a border stronghold against them.

 

During the Reformation begun by Henry VIII in 1536, the five Newcastle friaries and the single nunnery were dissolved and the land was sold to the Corporation and to rich merchants. At this time there were fewer than 60 inmates of the religious houses in Newcastle. The convent of Blackfriars was leased to nine craft guilds to be used as their headquarters. This probably explains why it is the only one of the religious houses whose building survives to the present day. The priories at Tynemouth and Durham were also dissolved, thus ending the long-running rivalry between Newcastle and the church for control of trade on the Tyne. A little later, the property of the nunnery of St Bartholomew and of Grey Friars were bought by Robert Anderson, who had the buildings demolished to build his grand Newe House (also known as Anderson Place).

 

With the gradual decline of the Scottish border wars the town walls were allowed to decline as well as the castle. By 1547, about 10,000 people were living in Newcastle. At the beginning of the 16th century exports of wool from Newcastle were more than twice the value of exports of coal, but during the century coal exports continued to increase.

 

Under Edward VI, John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, sponsored an act allowing Newcastle to annexe Gateshead as its suburb. The main reason for this was to allow the Newcastle Hostmen, who controlled the export of Tyne coal, to get their hands on the Gateshead coal mines, previously controlled by the Bishop of Durham. However, when Mary I came to power, Dudley met his downfall and the decision was reversed. The Reformation allowed private access to coal mines previously owned by Tynemouth and Durham priories and as a result coal exports increase dramatically, from 15,000 tons in 1500 to 35,000 tons in 1565, and to 400,000 tons in 1625.

 

The plague visited Newcastle four times during the 16th century, in 1579 when 2,000 people died, in 1589 when 1700 died, in 1595 and finally in 1597.

 

In 1600 Elizabeth I granted Newcastle a charter for an exclusive body of electors, the right to elect the mayor and burgesses. The charter also gave the Hostmen exclusive rights to load coal at any point on the Tyne. The Hostmen developed as an exclusive group within the Merchant Adventurers who had been incorporated by a charter in 1547.

 

Stuart period

In 1636 there was a serious outbreak of bubonic plague in Newcastle. There had been several previous outbreaks of the disease over the years, but this was the most serious. It is thought to have arrived from the Netherlands via ships that were trading between the Tyne and that country. It first appeared in the lower part of the town near the docks but gradually spread to all parts of the town. As the disease gained hold the authorities took measures to control it by boarding up any properties that contained infected persons, meaning that whole families were locked up together with the infected family members. Other infected persons were put in huts outside the town walls and left to die. Plague pits were dug next to the town's four churches and outside the town walls to receive the bodies in mass burials. Over the course of the outbreak 5,631 deaths were recorded out of an estimated population of 12,000, a death rate of 47%.

 

In 1637 Charles I tried to raise money by doubling the 'voluntary' tax on coal in return for allowing the Newcastle Hostmen to regulate production and fix prices. This caused outrage amongst the London importers and the East Anglian shippers. Both groups decided to boycott Tyne coal and as a result forced Charles to reverse his decision in 1638.

 

In 1640 during the Second Bishops' War, the Scots successfully invaded Newcastle. The occupying army demanded £850 per day from the Corporation to billet the Scottish troops. Trade from the Tyne ground to a halt during the occupation. The Scots left in 1641 after receiving a Parliamentary pardon and a £4,000,000 loan from the town.

 

In 1642 the English Civil War began. King Charles realised the value of the Tyne coal trade and therefore garrisoned Newcastle. A Royalist was appointed as governor. At that time, Newcastle and King's Lynn were the only important seaports to support the crown. In 1644 Parliament blockaded the Tyne to prevent the king from receiving revenue from the Tyne coal trade. Coal exports fell from 450,000 to 3,000 tons and London suffered a hard winter without fuel. Parliament encouraged the coal trade from the Wear to try to replace that lost from Newcastle but that was not enough to make up for the lost Tyneside tonnage.

 

In 1644 the Scots crossed the border. Newcastle strengthened its defences in preparation. The Scottish army, with 40,000 troops, besieged Newcastle for three months until the garrison of 1,500 surrendered. During the siege, the Scots bombarded the walls with their artillery, situated in Gateshead and Castle Leazes. The Scottish commander threatened to destroy the steeple of St Nicholas's Church by gunfire if the mayor, Sir John Marley, did not surrender the town. The mayor responded by placing Scottish prisoners that they had captured in the steeple, so saving it from destruction. The town walls were finally breached by a combination of artillery and sapping. In gratitude for this defence, Charles gave Newcastle the motto 'Fortiter Defendit Triumphans' to be added to its coat of arms. The Scottish army occupied Northumberland and Durham for two years. The coal taxes had to pay for the Scottish occupation. In 1645 Charles surrendered to the Scots and was imprisoned in Newcastle for nine months. After the Civil War the coal trade on the Tyne soon picked up and exceeded its pre-war levels.

 

A new Guildhall was completed on the Sandhill next to the river in 1655, replacing an earlier facility damaged by fire in 1639, and became the meeting place of Newcastle Town Council. In 1681 the Hospital of the Holy Jesus was built partly on the site of the Austin Friars. The Guildhall and Holy Jesus Hospital still exist.

 

Charles II tried to impose a charter on Newcastle to give the king the right to appoint the mayor, sheriff, recorder and town clerk. Charles died before the charter came into effect. In 1685, James II tried to replace Corporation members with named Catholics. However, James' mandate was suspended in 1689 after the Glorious Revolution welcoming William of Orange. In 1689, after the fall of James II, the people of Newcastle tore down his bronze equestrian statue in Sandhill and tossed it into the Tyne. The bronze was later used to make bells for All Saints Church.

 

In 1689 the Lort Burn was covered over. At this time it was an open sewer. The channel followed by the Lort Burn became the present day Dean Street. At that time, the centre of Newcastle was still the Sandhill area, with many merchants living along the Close or on the Side. The path of the main road through Newcastle ran from the single Tyne bridge, through Sandhill to the Side, a narrow street which climbed steeply on the north-east side of the castle hill until it reached the higher ground alongside St Nicholas' Church. As Newcastle developed, the Side became lined with buildings with projecting upper stories, so that the main street through Newcastle was a narrow, congested, steep thoroughfare.

 

In 1701 the Keelmen's Hospital was built in the Sandgate area of the city, using funds provided by the keelmen. The building still stands today.

 

Eighteenth century

In the 18th century, Newcastle was the country's largest print centre after London, Oxford and Cambridge, and the Literary and Philosophical Society of 1793, with its erudite debates and large stock of books in several languages predated the London Library by half a century.

 

In 1715, during the Jacobite rising in favour of the Old Pretender, an army of Jacobite supporters marched on Newcastle. Many of the Northumbrian gentry joined the rebels. The citizens prepared for its arrival by arresting Jacobite supporters and accepting 700 extra recruits into the local militia. The gates of the city were closed against the rebels. This proved enough to delay an attack until reinforcements arrived forcing the rebel army to move across to the west coast. The rebels finally surrendered at Preston.

 

In 1745, during a second Jacobite rising in favour of the Young Pretender, a Scottish army crossed the border led by Bonnie Prince Charlie. Once again Newcastle prepared by arresting Jacobite supporters and inducting 800 volunteers into the local militia. The town walls were strengthened, most of the gates were blocked up and some 200 cannon were deployed. 20,000 regulars were billeted on the Town Moor. These preparations were enough to force the rebel army to travel south via the west coast. They were eventually defeated at Culloden in 1746.

 

Newcastle's actions during the 1715 rising in resisting the rebels and declaring for George I, in contrast to the rest of the region, is the most likely source of the nickname 'Geordie', applied to people from Tyneside, or more accurately Newcastle. Another theory, however, is that the name 'Geordie' came from the inventor of the Geordie lamp, George Stephenson. It was a type of safety lamp used in mining, but was not invented until 1815. Apparently the term 'German Geordie' was in common use during the 18th century.

 

The city's first hospital, Newcastle Infirmary opened in 1753; it was funded by public subscription. A lying-in hospital was established in Newcastle in 1760. The city's first public hospital for mentally ill patients, Wardens Close Lunatic Hospital was opened in October 1767.

 

In 1771 a flood swept away much of the bridge at Newcastle. The bridge had been built in 1250 and repaired after a flood in 1339. The bridge supported various houses and three towers and an old chapel. A blue stone was placed in the middle of the bridge to mark the boundary between Newcastle and the Palatinate of Durham. A temporary wooden bridge had to be built, and this remained in use until 1781, when a new stone bridge was completed. The new bridge consisted of nine arches. In 1801, because of the pressure of traffic, the bridge had to be widened.

 

A permanent military presence was established in the city with the completion of Fenham Barracks in 1806. The facilities at the Castle for holding assizes, which had been condemned for their inconvenience and unhealthiness, were replaced when the Moot Hall opened in August 1812.

 

Victorian period

Present-day Newcastle owes much of its architecture to the work of the builder Richard Grainger, aided by architects John Dobson, Thomas Oliver, John and Benjamin Green and others. In 1834 Grainger won a competition to produce a new plan for central Newcastle. He put this plan into effect using the above architects as well as architects employed in his own office. Grainger and Oliver had already built Leazes Terrace, Leazes Crescent and Leazes Place between 1829 and 1834. Grainger and Dobson had also built the Royal Arcade at the foot of Pilgrim Street between 1830 and 1832. The most ambitious project covered 12 acres 12 acres (49,000 m2) in central Newcastle, on the site of Newe House (also called Anderson Place). Grainger built three new thoroughfares, Grey Street, Grainger Street and Clayton Street with many connecting streets, as well as the Central Exchange and the Grainger Market. John Wardle and George Walker, working in Grainger's office, designed Clayton Street, Grainger Street and most of Grey Street. Dobson designed the Grainger Market and much of the east side of Grey Street. John and Benjamin Green designed the Theatre Royal at the top of Grey Street, where Grainger placed the column of Grey's Monument as a focus for the whole scheme. Grey Street is considered to be one of the finest streets in the country, with its elegant curve. Unfortunately most of old Eldon Square was demolished in the 1960s in the name of progress. The Royal Arcade met a similar fate.

 

In 1849 a new bridge was built across the river at Newcastle. This was the High Level Bridge, designed by Robert Stephenson, and slightly up river from the existing bridge. The bridge was designed to carry road and rail traffic across the Tyne Gorge on two decks with rail traffic on the upper deck and road traffic on the lower. The new bridge meant that traffic could pass through Newcastle without having to negotiate the steep, narrow Side, as had been necessary for centuries. The bridge was opened by Queen Victoria, who one year later opened the new Central Station, designed by John Dobson. Trains were now able to cross the river, directly into the centre of Newcastle and carry on up to Scotland. The Army Riding School was also completed in 1849.

 

In 1854 a large fire started on the Gateshead quayside and an explosion caused it to spread across the river to the Newcastle quayside. A huge conflagration amongst the narrow alleys, or 'chares', destroyed the homes of 800 families as well as many business premises. The narrow alleys that had been destroyed were replaced by streets containing blocks of modern offices.

 

In 1863 the Town Hall in St Nicholas Square replaced the Guildhall as the meeting place of Newcastle Town Council.

 

In 1876 the low level bridge was replaced by a new bridge known as the Swing Bridge, so called because the bridge was able to swing horizontally on a central axis and allow ships to pass on either side. This meant that for the first time sizeable ships could pass up-river beyond Newcastle. The bridge was built and paid for by William Armstrong, a local arms manufacturer, who needed to have warships access his Elswick arms factory to fit armaments to them. The Swing Bridge's rotating mechanism is adapted from the cannon mounts developed in Armstrong's arms works. In 1882 the Elswick works began to build ships as well as to arm them. The Barrack Road drill hall was completed in 1890.

 

Industrialisation

In the 19th century, shipbuilding and heavy engineering were central to the city's prosperity; and the city was a powerhouse of the Industrial Revolution. Newcastle's development as a major city owed most to its central role in the production and export of coal. The phrase "taking coals to Newcastle" was first recorded in 1538; it proverbially denotes bringing a particular commodity to a place that has more than enough of it already.

 

Innovation in Newcastle and surrounding areas included the following:

 

George Stephenson developed a miner's safety lamp at the same time that Humphry Davy developed a rival design. The lamp made possible the opening up of ever deeper mines to provide the coal that powered the industrial revolution.

George and his son Robert Stephenson were hugely influential figures in the development of the early railways. George developed Blücher, a locomotive working at Killingworth colliery in 1814, whilst Robert was instrumental in the design of Rocket, a revolutionary design that was the forerunner of modern locomotives. Both men were involved in planning and building railway lines, all over this country and abroad.

 

Joseph Swan demonstrated a working electric light bulb about a year before Thomas Edison did the same in the USA. This led to a dispute as to who had actually invented the light bulb. Eventually the two rivals agreed to form a mutual company between them, the Edison and Swan Electric Light Company, known as Ediswan.

 

Charles Algernon Parsons invented the steam turbine, for marine use and for power generation. He used Turbinia, a small, turbine-powered ship, to demonstrate the speed that a steam turbine could generate. Turbinia literally ran rings around the British Fleet at a review at Spithead in 1897.

 

William Armstrong invented a hydraulic crane that was installed in dockyards up and down the country. He then began to design light, accurate field guns for the British army. These were a vast improvement on the existing guns that were then in use.

 

The following major industries developed in Newcastle or its surrounding area:

 

Glassmaking

A small glass industry existed in Newcastle from the mid-15th century. In 1615 restrictions were put on the use of wood for manufacturing glass. It was found that glass could be manufactured using the local coal, and so a glassmaking industry grew up on Tyneside. Huguenot glassmakers came over from France as refugees from persecution and set up glasshouses in the Skinnerburn area of Newcastle. Eventually, glass production moved to the Ouseburn area of Newcastle. In 1684 the Dagnia family, Sephardic Jewish emigrants from Altare, arrived in Newcastle from Stourbridge and established glasshouses along the Close, to manufacture high quality flint glass. The glass manufacturers used sand ballast from the boats arriving in the river as the main raw material. The glassware was then exported in collier brigs. The period from 1730 to 1785 was the highpoint of Newcastle glass manufacture, when the local glassmakers produced the 'Newcastle Light Baluster'. The glassmaking industry still exists in the west end of the city with local Artist and Glassmaker Jane Charles carrying on over four hundred years of hot glass blowing in Newcastle upon Tyne.

 

Locomotive manufacture

In 1823 George Stephenson and his son Robert established the world's first locomotive factory near Forth Street in Newcastle. Here they built locomotives for the Stockton and Darlington Railway and the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, as well as many others. It was here that the famous locomotive Rocket was designed and manufactured in preparation for the Rainhill Trials. Apart from building locomotives for the British market, the Newcastle works also produced locomotives for Europe and America. The Forth Street works continued to build locomotives until 1960.

 

Shipbuilding

In 1296 a wooden, 135 ft (41 m) long galley was constructed at the mouth of the Lort Burn in Newcastle, as part of a twenty-ship order from the king. The ship cost £205, and is the earliest record of shipbuilding in Newcastle. However the rise of the Tyne as a shipbuilding area was due to the need for collier brigs for the coal export trade. These wooden sailing ships were usually built locally, establishing local expertise in building ships. As ships changed from wood to steel, and from sail to steam, the local shipbuilding industry changed to build the new ships. Although shipbuilding was carried out up and down both sides of the river, the two main areas for building ships in Newcastle were Elswick, to the west, and Walker, to the east. By 1800 Tyneside was the third largest producer of ships in Britain. Unfortunately, after the Second World War, lack of modernisation and competition from abroad gradually caused the local industry to decline and die.

 

Armaments

In 1847 William Armstrong established a huge factory in Elswick, west of Newcastle. This was initially used to produce hydraulic cranes but subsequently began also to produce guns for both the army and the navy. After the Swing Bridge was built in 1876 allowing ships to pass up river, warships could have their armaments fitted alongside the Elswick works. Armstrong's company took over its industrial rival, Joseph Whitworth of Manchester in 1897.

 

Steam turbines

Charles Algernon Parsons invented the steam turbine and, in 1889, founded his own company C. A. Parsons and Company in Heaton, Newcastle to make steam turbines. Shortly after this, he realised that steam turbines could be used to propel ships and, in 1897, he founded a second company, Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company in Wallsend. It is there that he designed and manufactured Turbinia. Parsons turbines were initially used in warships but soon came to be used in merchant and passenger vessels, including the liner Mauretania which held the blue riband for the Atlantic crossing until 1929. Parsons' company in Heaton began to make turbo-generators for power stations and supplied power stations all over the world. The Heaton works, reduced in size, remains as part of the Siemens AG industrial giant.

 

Pottery

In 1762 the Maling pottery was founded in Sunderland by French Huguenots, but transferred to Newcastle in 1817. A factory was built in the Ouseburn area of the city. The factory was rebuilt twice, finally occupying a 14-acre (57,000 m2) site that was claimed to be the biggest pottery in the world and which had its own railway station. The pottery pioneered use of machines in making potteries as opposed to hand production. In the 1890s the company went up-market and employed in-house designers. The period up to the Second World War was the most profitable with a constant stream of new designs being introduced. However, after the war, production gradually declined and the company closed in 1963.

 

Expansion of the city

Newcastle was one of the boroughs reformed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835: the reformed municipal borough included the parishes of Byker, Elswick, Heaton, Jesmond, Newcastle All Saints, Newcastle St Andrew, Newcastle St John, Newcastle St Nicholas, and Westgate. The urban districts of Benwell and Fenham and Walker were added in 1904. In 1935, Newcastle gained Kenton and parts of the parishes of West Brunton, East Denton, Fawdon, Longbenton. The most recent expansion in Newcastle's boundaries took place under the Local Government Act 1972 on 1 April 1974, when Newcastle became a metropolitan borough, also including the urban districts of Gosforth and Newburn, and the parishes of Brunswick, Dinnington, Hazlerigg, North Gosforth and Woolsington from the Castle Ward Rural District, and the village of Westerhope.

 

Meanwhile Northumberland County Council was formed under the Local Government Act 1888 and benefited from a dedicated meeting place when County Hall was completed in the Castle Garth area of Newcastle in 1910. Following the Local Government Act 1972 County Hall relocated to Morpeth in April 1981.

 

Twentieth century

In 1925 work began on a new high-level road bridge to span the Tyne Gorge between Newcastle and Gateshead. The capacity of the existing High-Level Bridge and Swing Bridge were being strained to the limit, and an additional bridge had been discussed for a long time. The contract was awarded to the Dorman Long Company and the bridge was finally opened by King George V in 1928. The road deck was 84 feet (26 m) above the river and was supported by a 531 feet (162 m) steel arch. The new Tyne Bridge quickly became a symbol for Newcastle and Tyneside, and remains so today.

 

During the Second World War, Newcastle was largely spared the horrors inflicted upon other British cities bombed during the Blitz. Although the armaments factories and shipyards along the River Tyne were targeted by the Luftwaffe, they largely escaped unscathed. Manors goods yard and railway terminal, to the east of the city centre, and the suburbs of Jesmond and Heaton suffered bombing during 1941. There were 141 deaths and 587 injuries, a relatively small figure compared to the casualties in other industrial centres of Britain.

 

In 1963 the city gained its own university, the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, by act of parliament. A School of Medicine and Surgery had been established in Newcastle in 1834. This eventually developed into a college of medicine attached to Durham University. A college of physical science was also founded and became Armstrong College in 1904. In 1934 the two colleges merged to become King's College, Durham. This remained as part of Durham University until the new university was created in 1963. In 1992 the city gained its second university when Newcastle Polytechnic was granted university status as Northumbria University.

 

Newcastle City Council moved to the new Newcastle Civic Centre in 1968.

 

As heavy industries declined in the second half of the 20th century, large sections of the city centre were demolished along with many areas of slum housing. The leading political figure in the city during the 1960s was T. Dan Smith who oversaw a massive building programme of highrise housing estates and authorised the demolition of a quarter of the Georgian Grainger Town to make way for Eldon Square Shopping Centre. Smith's control in Newcastle collapsed when it was exposed that he had used public contracts to advantage himself and his business associates and for a time Newcastle became a byword for civic corruption as depicted in the films Get Carter and Stormy Monday and in the television series Our Friends in the North. However, much of the historic Grainger Town area survived and was, for the most part, fully restored in the late 1990s. Northumberland Street, initially the A1, was gradually closed to traffic from the 1970s and completely pedestrianised by 1998.

 

In 1978 a new rapid transport system, the Metro, was built, linking the Tyneside area. The system opened in August 1980. A new bridge was built to carry the Metro across the river between Gateshead and Newcastle. This was the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, commonly known as the Metro Bridge. Eventually the Metro system was extended to reach Newcastle Airport in 1991, and in 2002 the Metro system was extended to the nearby city of Sunderland.

 

As the 20th century progressed, trade on the Newcastle and Gateshead quaysides gradually declined, until by the 1980s both sides of the river were looking rather derelict. Shipping company offices had closed along with offices of firms related to shipping. There were also derelict warehouses lining the riverbank. Local government produced a master plan to re-develop the Newcastle quayside and this was begun in the 1990s. New offices, restaurants, bars and residential accommodation were built and the area has changed in the space of a few years into a vibrant area, partially returning the focus of Newcastle to the riverside, where it was in medieval times.

 

The Gateshead Millennium Bridge, a foot and cycle bridge, 26 feet (7.9 m) wide and 413 feet (126 m) long, was completed in 2001. The road deck is in the form of a curve and is supported by a steel arch. To allow ships to pass, the whole structure, both arch and road-deck, rotates on huge bearings at either end so that the road deck is lifted. The bridge can be said to open and shut like a human eye. It is an important addition to the re-developed quayside area, providing a vital link between the Newcastle and Gateshead quaysides.

 

Recent developments

Today the city is a vibrant centre for office and retail employment, but just a short distance away there are impoverished inner-city housing estates, in areas originally built to provide affordable housing for employees of the shipyards and other heavy industries that lined the River Tyne. In the 2010s Newcastle City Council began implementing plans to regenerate these depressed areas, such as those along the Ouseburn Valley.

 

Lacey refused to play tug with the pillow. She had no problem rolling around in the feathers though. :)

Day two of our rain, none of the predicted damage has happened in the foothills and it's doing a lot of good to our thirsty state. There should be 3 or 4 feet of snow in the mountains and several inches here in Southern California. I'm loving it!

A little something going on the next street over, out by a driveway. I'm inside the Mini Cooper.

Dirty Rotten Scoundrel

In …Regrets

  

Like most of us, I have regretted some of my actions over the years…

 

Which, coming from a journey” man” burglar and pickpocket, may seem to be quite the understatement, and possibly just a bit of a daft viewpoint…

 

But in my defense, the majority of them( actions done by me, that eventually came regretfully creeping into my consciousness) were not planned, but spur-of-the-moment, frying pan-hot, decisions. The vast majority of which were from my younger days, but not all, for as a thief, I am very much an opportunist of the moment.

 

Which sometimes can get the better of me.

 

^^^^^^^^^^^

 

A Regrettable Affair

 

As I developed my craft, growing older in the process, I began to lean towards mainly working those avenues that attracted the wealthiest of guests. There were several logical based reasons for this, which I will not expand upon here.

 

One of the first times, as a still young lady, was a large mega-ultra-rich wedding reception that I succeeded in crashing.

 

Security at this affair was very salt and peppered about, they had attempted to prevent gatecrashers, but the affair was so large, so very spread about, that the seams of the event had as many leaks as it had guarded entrances.

 

But getting in was the easy part.

 

The freedom to ply my trade was another.

 

As I stated security was scattered about, but instead of just watching certain main entrances and exits, they were watching the bar area, dance floors, and ( no surprises here) the buffet. The only problem was that those were my favorite patches to work over.

 

But that is not to say I was going away empty-handed, by no means.

 

I did manage to early on successfully lift solid gold lighter from an unattended evening purse in the lady's powder. The owner, resplendent in a taffeta dress, was busy applying colour to her eyelashes and had her shiny back to me.

 

A silver Rolex from a rather courteous young man who had somehow not seen me and had bumped my hand, spilling my drink on his sleeve in the process was next.

 

Then I ran into two wealthy young men, Gary and Sean, who soon tried to outdo themselves to grab my undivided attention.

 

I ended up seated at a far side table with both, dancing with first one and then the other.

 

At various times one would leave to get drinks and the other would seize the opportunity to say something incredibly sweet to me. I would then envelope them in a most feeling hug, during which I lifted in turn, both of their leather billfolds from fancy tux coat pockets.

 

Slipping my hand inside their tux jacket pockets, feeling the warmth of their bodies while we hugged, my hand carefully extracted the long leather billfolds each was carrying, as my eyes were lustfully locked into theirs. It was, and is, a very sensuous feeling when I perform a lift like that on my victims.

 

Especially these two, Gary and Sean, who were both such sweethearts that robbing them was such a delightfully heightened feeling for me. And I suspect there was a certain amount of pleasure coming from their end also.

 

But that is getting ahead of myself, for obviously none of that was regrettable.

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Now let us go back to the beginning:

 

An understatement would be to say that “The formal dress” wedding was a bit over the top.”

 

I have seldom seen such a collection of slinky designer gowns and tight-fitting tuxes, along with expensively glittery jewels and lovely designer purses, outside of a BAFTA after-party filled with overpaid actors and actresses.

 

Which, for the record, are events I have worked over.

 

For jewellery worn out on loan from upscale stores for such events is heavily insured, and simply worn loosely enough to fall easy victim to my lifting fingers at such affairs.

 

I very seldom lifted wallets from pockets or purses when attending.

 

That’s not atoll where the real money was at.

 

So that evening, as I watched the well-jeweled wedding reception guests arriving to party for this event, I licked my red-coloured lips, anticipating the same delicious scores to be made.

 

Knowing about this affair ahead of time, I came prepared. I was wearing an elegant sleek sky blue satin gown that I had acquired from a successful burglary of a mansion.

 

I modified it by adding secret pockets in several strategic locations. It was a nice fit and a smashing look, judging by the staring eyes of the males there that evening.

 

I was carrying a matching blue purse. My only other accessory was a pair of sparking long rhinestone earrings of the same style the bridesmaids had in. This was no coincidence, I had intentionally found out what they would be wearing and ordered a set so it would look like I was in with them.

 

Now the wealthy bride, dressed in white lace with a green/gold tartan sash, wanted her equally wealthy bridal party girl’s dresses to be something to be remembered, so the gowns she had designed were a little too over-the-top showy.

 

The maid of honour wore a red silk version; the six Bridesmaids wore theirs in black satin.” The gowns had plunge necklines, rhinestone-trimmed bodices and sleekly long straight skirts touching the tops of glittery silver open-toed shoes.

 

Each of the girls had also been presented with a matching collection of rather expensive Swarovski rhinestones. Which they proudly wore, throwing in some really expensive ones of their own to additionally show off with.

 

The blazing brite jewelry, when added to the bridal party girl’s ensemble, further enhanced the red carpet-like atmosphere of the Bridal party, and fit right in with her other guests over the top evening attire.

 

The groom wore a grey tux, and his groom’s men wore grey. All the men had on ascot ties that matched the colour of their escort's gowns, all the ties had gemstone pins, green tie, emerald for the groom, red tie, ruby for the best man, and all the rest grey tie, with diamond pins.

 

A handsome lot.

 

Watching the smart members of the wedding party interact was smashing fun, and I was enjoying the excitement of watching, inwardly drooling, over their shimmering shiny bits.

 

^^^^^^^^^

 

Now, for the regrettable part of my saga.

 

^^^^^^^^^

 

It involved two principal characters, not including myself.

 

The first principal character was a shy awkward 13-year-old girl, redhead, wearing heavy glasses whose makeup and style of dress made her appear far older, but not wiser.

 

Zeroing in, I soon learned she was named Cadey. Her glamorous parents were both with the bridal party, and a young Aunt who was a partying type, was supposed to be chaperoning her. So Cadey was alone, a lot.

 

But she was certainly a living doll, leaving me speechless as I watched the lass scurrying about in her smashing, fluidly flowing, shiny in the lights, fancy party attire, and dazzling emeralds and diamonds.

 

Sorry for all the verbiage, but it is hard to describe just how incredibly fetching she was.

 

That party attire was in the form of a fitted, richly slick long mint green satin gown with the neckline tied together with a ribbon bow with the ends hanging past her fast-developing, wriggling plump breasts. The slit shoulders of her gown ended in long scalloping ruffles at her elbows.

 

It was both very elegant and adorably attractive.

 

Though she wouldn’t be able to wear that gown again in a few months without letting the cleavage out.

 

Her bare minimum jewels, were very sparkly, very desirable calling out to the female and thief sides of me, especially her lovely necklace.

 

Cadey wore a longish silver chain embedded with diamonds, ending with a teardrop rhinestone pendant made up of a big round emerald surrounded by more diamonds. It fetchingly fell swinging down from where it hung around her neck, to just below her minty-coloured shiny gown tightly fitted bosom.

 

In later years I watched a fictitious movie about the Titanic where the wealthy main heroine wore a very similar necklace of sapphire, albeit a bit larger than Miss Cadey’s emerald one.

 

Still, it was an adult necklace and easily worth a nice around £10,000 to anyone capable of getting it from her.

 

I managed to discreetly be close enough several times to get a good examination of her delicious attire.

 

Close enough also to observe a few other things.

 

Miss Cadey would play with her pendant, and as she did, I notice her fingers blatantly stroking along her breasts, perking them up. Which explained her secret smiles.

 

Her only other jewel was an emerald Diamond ring that glittered from one of her self-stimulating bare fingers, all of which sported long emerald green painted manicured nails.

 

I also caught her at times sitting with her hands between her legs, probing inside her silken lap as Cadey watched the guests dancing to slow music. I could tell she was petting herself down there, using the ring on her finger to arouse herself, as Cadey’s breasts again noticeably were bulging from the self-stimulation

 

I thought if she was pleasing herself, I could perhaps please myself by liberating from her fanciful attired person, that sumptuous diamond/ emerald necklace. Especially since it was entirely on her sleekly slick gown, front and back, absolutely no part of the cold metal touched bare flesh.

 

With tingling fingers, I could imagine how easily the jeweled piece could smoothly be slipped off her like an ice cube will slip across a steamy slippery surface. It would be that easy to pluck it off.

 

But alas I never was quite close enough to her inner circle to use my light touch to acquire her dazzling necklace.

 

And I was just forced to be content on watching it sparkle as it dripped down from her throat, with Cadey oblivious to the sinister attention it was attracting that evening as she wore it.

 

^^^^^^^

 

The second principal character came in the form of a cheeky 15-year-old blonde boy, handsome as all get out. His name was Heyden.

 

I could tell from just watching him interacting with the guests that he was a brassy cocky self-assured sort of young male. With a rough cockney accent that helped promote a bad boy image that young girls swoon over.

 

He wore a fitted suit over some surprisingly bulging muscles. Rugby player I guessed.

 

He decidedly was a budding teenage player, with all the common burgeoning male attributes.

 

His raging hormones were a reflection of his character, as he was deliberately stalking, then going up to countless numbers of young well dressed female guests and giving hugs. Which they mostly returned giggling in the process. But to me, it was quite obvious the lad was doing it to cope with a feel from his victims, of both their touchable fine soft gowns and voluptuously fine nuzzling breasts.

 

His home base was a table in a far corner just off the dance floor where he sat for brief stints with two exceptionally well-dressed girls.

 

One lass shared some similarities to him but was not more than 5 years his senior, so I assumed she was a sister or cousin. The other also may have been related but also may have only been a friend of the other lass.

 

The supposed sister (or cousin) was stunning in velvet with an array of diamond sparklers that made my heart beat and fingers tingle. Her necklace was especially showy and worth just a bit over £75,000

 

The one I assumed was a friend was dressed like many of the lad’s hugging victims, a touchable gold halter style dress of shiny soft satin, with a pair of rather succulent unbridled breasts just peaking out of the dress's low v-cut neckline. She was wearing a petite set of sapphires, not showy, but worth a small kingdom's ransom. Half of which value was in the gold necklace set with a collection of larger sapphires and diamonds.

 

I saw he reluctantly was behaving himself while with the pair, (no hugging) though I saw him longingly looking both of the girls over. But he had to satisfy his hunger by sneaking off as much as he could get away with it, to play out his sexually charged games on other prey.

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

Spoiler alert:

 

Now, I never made the appealing connection between the sexually charged touching 13-year-old Cadey and the equally sexually charged 15-year-old hugger Heyden, until much later… And then almost too late, or too early depending on one’s perspective.

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^

  

So watching the boy's antics as well as trying to catch peaks of roving finger Cadey’s dangling necklace, as well as playing my table mates, Gary and Sean, off on each other to try and win me over, I really was having me self a bloody enjoyable time.

 

Since I was still a young lady I was all for having fun with these types of affairs I crashed. So my mind at that point was being placed on pleasure rather than business.

 

Though I was eyeing the wristwatch worn by Gary, and the diamond tie pin Sean was sporting as potential targets to be further lifted from the now wallet-less lads.

 

Before I could let my thoughts turn into action, the bridal bouquet Toss was announced, I knew it was time to go back to serious work, and I indicated I was going to have a go for it to Gary and Sean.

 

Not caring to watch the show, both lads then took my leave to go upstairs to a

covered deck on the roof to join the other male guests for bourbon and cigar. Neither soul trusted the other to be alone with me.

 

I went up and joined in with the crowd of swishing-gowned ladies.

 

Wading into what felt like the inside of a diamond mine.

 

Licking my lips as I eagerly was looking around and soon set my thieve’s sights on a diamond-laden miss, whose flashy broach was hanging loosely at the waistline of the most silkiest of satin gowns imaginable. It was coloured purple and tightly worn over the voluptuous curves of the rather giddy-looking black-haired, red-lipped, vixen.

 

A perfect mark during a perfect opportunity!

 

As the bouquet was tossed and all the ladies were reaching up, I was leaning against the lady wearing my diamond-encrusted target.

 

My one hand touched the utter softness of her gown, whilst my left hand was slipping in and soon was caressing her glistening broach. In the process I nimbly undid the clasp and slipped it away, palming it.

 

As the bouquet was caught and everyone was squealing over the lucky lady. I slipped out and went back to my seat.

 

I was catching my breath before gathering my purse in preparation for leaving the premises before the boys came back.

 

The broach I had just nicked from “purple silk” was with around £8000 and it would take something special to make me risk staying.

 

It was then, out of the corner of my eye, I spied young master Heyden working the crowd of departing ladies by sneaking up and giving his usual touchy-feely “sneak” hugs.

 

He happened to give my vixen in the purple silk gown a from-behind hug and she turned with a squeal and hugged him back.

 

“Oh, ain’t you just a darling one!”

 

Inspired by her response, his eager hands wrapped around her pulling her close, and I saw his fingertips were mere centimeters away from the jeweled clasp of her necklace that was hanging loosely down from the back of her bare skin neckline.

 

A delicious epiphany swept warmly over me, and I knew that I had to stay and at least give it a try.

 

I picked up my purse and began following the lad after he left his total work over hugging Miss “Slithering Purple Silk.”

 

I reached him as he stopped to watch the dancers on the floor. The band had started up what would be a series of slow dances now that the bouquet toss was over.

 

I had to admit I didn’t blame Master Hayden, it was an amazing show, with the lights dimmed, jewels sparking, and tightly worn gowns shimmering as they swished about in the dim lights.

 

I walked up and tapped his shoulder, feeling him jump( I believe his horny thoughts had made him feel a wee bit guilty).

“Hello Heyden, luv. Remember me?”

 

He slyly turned and I pulled him into a very feeling, very enveloping hug. Employing my womanly attributes to the fullest.

 

When I let him go I saw a dazed mixture of perplexity and a slight sense of male arousal.

 

Perfect

 

He nodded and politely said, with a bit of a sneer.

“Sorry mum, I don’t remember where I know you from.

 

Mum!… I can’t be more than 12 years older than you, Mr cocky. I thought sardonically but bit my tongue and answered with a sweet smile.

 

“I guess we really have not officially met. But I heard a lot about you when you were in school. My friend Mrs. O spoke highly of you.”

 

He happily cut in,

“Mrs. O’Rielly. She taught my form last year.”

 

I nodded

“That’d be her. She told me about that marvelous trick you played.”

 

He smiled deviously. As did I, realized I had read his character right spot on.

“Yes miss, that was my idea planting the shrew in the girl's loo.”

 

I commended him while at the same time congratulating myself also as I placed a caressing hand along his chest.

“Brilliantly played out “

 

We then went on with small talk as I quickly began working him into my plan.

 

I had a lot of practice charming men( and women) into allowing me to get close enough to lure them off so I could make a lift. This really was no different. And it was buying me time to locate Cadey and see if she was poised enough to be vulnerable to the trap I was planning.

 

As we chatted I learned the two girls Heyden was with were his cousin and her friend. And he told me proudly of some of the tricks he had played on his cousin, as well as other tricks he and his mates had played, mostly on classmate females.

 

This was getting better and better I thought, and then I spied Cadey standing alone by the women’s service loo entrance, watching the dancers.

 

Was that a yearning look in her eyes, like the yearning I felt over that expensively takable necklace she was busily fingering? It was still just calling out to be taken from the unwary young girl.

 

I also spotted a rental Bobbie wanna-be standing nearby, looking the other way at a couple bickering.

 

So I still could not dare approach her myself and enjoy firsthand the opportunistic fun of parting Cade from that dangling necklace she so alluringly was wearing.

 

But then, that was not my current plan.

 

I place a hand on Heyden’s shoulder...

“Speaking of pranks laddie boy, I had in mind a trick to play on my niece Cadey tonight. But I couldn’t come up with a way to make it work out on my own.”

 

He had been looking around, bored, but I now had his full attention back.

“A trick mum? like what?”

 

I then explained that I lent my niece Cadey my own emeralds to wear tonight. and I earlier had thought that it would be brilliant if I could get my necklace away from her without her realizing it, then wear it and see the delicious response once she realized It was lost, and now I had it.

 

I looked at Heyden doubtfully…

“Or is that just a daft idea to try as a prank?”

 

He grinned...

No mum, sounds a lark to try pulling it off, if you could now. “

 

I looked him in the eyes, and as I looked surprised he agreed with me.

“Do you really think so? I did think it would be delicious if I could just somehow pull it off? But how?

 

I jumped with an excited squeal.

Oh look, there is my sweetheart now…”

 

I had him at the word prank, all the rest was icing as he gave me a broad smile while he turned his head to see whom I was pointing out.

 

I saw Hayden freeze with lustful eyes as he saw the enchantingly dressed pretty Cadey.

 

And I’ll admit the way Cadey looked under those lights would have melted the most indifferent of hearts. Mine included as I again salivated over her elegant, slinky-shiny mint green gown outlining tightly along her pretty figure, made even more desirable with the dazzling jewels she was wearing.

 

And Heyden was anything but indifferent to well-dressed ladies and girls...

 

And judging by the wicked little smile and horny-eyed gaze as he looked my “niece” over, I was spot on, tell no lie.

 

I now had a key, I just needed to turn it in the lock to open my door to riches.

 

He whispered out of the side of his mouth while taking inventory of pretty Cadey…

“One would have to not let her know it’s been taken, of course.”

 

I rubbed his shoulder from behind, pressing against him, as we both eyed susceptible Cadey….

“Totally correct, and it would be sweet if I had some help with taking it. So she wouldn’t suspect I’m up to something. It will make her surprise when finding her necklace had vanished all the more remarkable….”

 

He nodded thoughtfully.

“Your niece probably wouldn’t suspect a thing, would she know, If I was the one who took it. I could do it while holding onto her. I mean, like in a hug. Bet I could get it from her that way. Then you can play your trick.”

 

Aside from the mum bit, his words were music to my ears and I hugged him warmly, leaving nothing out as I whispered into his ear...

“Better yet, do it while dancing with her. Sort of like a prolonged hug. Gives you more time to carry it out? And I could slip you a fiver as you hand me the necklace, for your help of course….”

 

He broke away and gave me the most amazing gleaming look of agreement.

“I could do just that. It should be easy to hook it off her then!”

 

I added...

“Just look at the way it is hanging loosely around her throat. It would be child’s play for you I bet.”

 

Seeing that I now had him hot over the idea, I quickly coached him, fanning the coals before the desire burned out.

 

I described how he should start out not close, but apart, dance one full round with her, then invite her for a second dance. At that point draw her in closer. Then, perhaps, lift your knee up ever so slightly between her legs and see if she responds.

 

“Then if all signs show she is engaged and enjoying being with you, undo her necklace and slip it over her shoulder and into your pocket. And Bobs your Uncle, you’ll have played her in a trick of your own.”

 

With a nod and a wink, my brassy young male hugger-mugger was off.

 

The lad was a natural.

 

Instead of rushing his victim, he circled and approached Cadey unseen from the flank, his eyes never leaving her pretty figure.

 

He introduced himself and she readily agreed to a dance. They took to the floor, Heyden cuddling Cadie up in his arms.

 

I sweated the first dance, hoping Sean and Gary would not come back yet. Though I had contingencies ready if they did. Also, there were worries that young Heyden might become so enamored during the first dance he would forgo his mission.

 

But my money was placed on Heyden not losing focus. Right now he would indeed be planning, as he danced with Cadey. Deciding on how to best distract the sensuously attired, horny young darling enough to lift off the necklace she was so elegantly allowed to be trusted wearing out this glamorous evening.

 

I’ll admit to feeling jealous of Heyden as I watched his hands holding onto that luscious minty satiny green gown worn over the tantalizing figure that was Cadey. It was giving me proper chills just watching.

 

At the same time, I was also ready to flee down a nearby exit if needed.

 

But the first dance ended with nothing out of the ordinary.

 

The second dance came and my “protege” was perfect. The girl was swooning and leaning up against him as he clutched her tightly by her slippery waist as they moved to the slow rhythm of the music. I saw him look around and he moved his nimble hands up her sleek backside.

 

I saw him slightly raise his knee, and Cadey responded by rubbing it against her privates She smiled up at him, then closed her eyes and laid her head on his shoulders, her long red hair covering her face. I could almost hear her purring as Heyden’s knee was rubbing against her previously self-stimulated sweet spots.

 

As she placed her head on his shoulders he held her extra tight. It must have been electric for the young lady, as her raised nipples were brought rubbed between the luscious material of her gown and his muscular chest.

 

It was then that his fingers left her sleek back, deftly gliding up her silky smooth back, and then, ever so gently, lifted her necklace clasp away from the oblivious darling’s high-gowned neck.

 

He studied it, turning it, then with quick fingers, had it open and was pulling its glittering length up and whisked over her sleekly attired shoulder.

 

My guess was he had had practice helping his cousin with her own pricey necklace. So this was simply reversing that process.

 

I watched as the necklace fell behind her, sparkling momentary against the minty green satin backdrop of her gown.

That quickly he has it in his fist and pocketed it.

 

In the dim lighting, no one but me saw Heyden carry out his end of the “trick”.

 

Not even the rental cop whose eyes were gazing over the dancers focused on the buffet line on the opposite side, was aware of a young lady being robbed right under his puggish nose.

 

Then Heyden pressed Cadey in tighter, squeezing her into him as his now empty fingers started caressing her backside, while he rubbed up against her bosom frontside. I could imagine just how much Cadey’s breasts were being aroused since mine were doing the same just by watching.

 

I thought:

“That’s the lad, keep her distracted enough not to realize she has had her bloody jewels nicked.”

 

The music ended and as the others left he held onto her and the pair stayed locked in their embrace.

 

They only broke it off when they realized they were alone on the floor. With guests doing the “ooohs and awes” over them, Heyden led her off and she kissed him on the cheek thanking him. Her neckline delightfully bare now that the breathtaking necklace she had been wearing all that evening, had been slyly taken off from her.

 

I mean really? In my mind how could someone allow a lass that young to be dressed up so noticeably elegant that it attracts everyone’s attention, then on top of that allow her to be wearing such an expensive piece of jewelry, and not realize that it would make her a proper thief’s target?

 

Unless of course that “someone “ believed thieves only are found in dark back London alleyways and never would ply their nefariousness at upscale weddings. So of course it’s perfectly safe to allow a young lady to wear one’s good jewellery here, without worries of being robbed. I’ll be the first to drink to that belief.

 

The thought also popped into my head that Cadey was now warmly thanking the very thief who had, with a sexy surreptitiousness, been busy reliving her wriggling figure of the valuable jewels she had been so seductively, so vulnerably, allowed to be wearing, as he was dancing with her.

 

Cade swished happily off one way, while Heyden(and her necklace) moved off in the opposite.

 

Heyden circled around, eventually coming back to me, his smile was a devil's own. He reached into his pocket and handed me the necklace.

 

“Should I help you on with it mum?”

 

“No,” I said taking it from him,

“I’ll do it in the loo.”

 

I handed him the fiver, and with a wink, as he nodded, touching his nose, he turned and was off.

 

And so was I.

 

For I had outdid my welcome by lying to Heyden about who Cadey was.

 

Seeing that Cadey would probably sooner than later discover the loss of her necklace, she may very well seek him out again and ask questions that would create a situation impossible for me to wriggle from.

 

I skirted around the long bar area to a side hallway which had the closest exit.

 

On my way out I spy Heyden’s wealthy cousin and her pretty, equally wealthy, friend both now pissed out of their pretty heads on liquor. Both their expensive necklaces were glittering up a tantalizing storm as they giggled at each other.

 

I paused.

 

I dare not risk the time to do any more lifting.

 

Besides, there was yet another rental Bobbie leaning up against the bar with a smirk as he unabashedly was eyeballing the same two ladies ….

 

So I reluctantly passed them both up, left via the back exit, and made my successful escape from the premises.

 

^^^^^^^^

 

It was a very satisfactory two-hour drive back to the hotel that I was been currently using as my base.

 

And I was feeling anything but regret at that point.

 

^^^^^

 

It was not until I was back at the flat, while I stood naked in front of the full-length bathroom mirror, fingering and admiring the emerald/diamond necklace stolen from the youthfully innocent young lass, that I started to feel that twinge of creeping regret that I mention at the beginning.

 

As my mind went over the evening's antics, I reminisced how adorably Cade had been wearing this simply too-valuable necklace set with emeralds and diamonds that I simply had to have. knowing full well how easy it had been to talk master Heyden in tricking it from the child.

 

Not to mention how I had to end my evening early and miss out on partying further with Sean and Gary.

 

Regret had indeed seeped in as I held up the sparking necklace to the lights.

 

For,n reminiscing over the night's antics, I remembered that Heyden had said that he liked to play tricks with his cousin. A cousin flaunting a £75,000 diamond necklace that she also had been allowed to keep wearing.

 

But I had been so focused on using him to get this mesmerizing £10,000 necklace, I had given no thought to convincing Heyden in acquiring his cousin’s necklace instead, using the same plot.

 

And let Cadey keep wearing this one.

 

I’m other words, without thinking things through, and being hasty I lost a potential £65,000 in profit.

 

Meaning I could have instead talked him into playing the same trick on his giddy, trashed cousin as I had him do on Cadey.

 

I could see it clearly now, in hindsight.

 

Using a similarly tantalizing outline, I would have talked him into dancing close with his highly drunk cousin.

 

Coaching him into lifting and pocketing her necklace to later pull it from his pocket and ask if this was hers?

 

Then as the shock wore off, convinced Heyden she would probably give him a hug and kiss as a reward. Probably from her friend also. Then he could use their exuberance to convince both of the pretty ladies to a close dance as a reward!

 

I was now sure he would have gone in for it, judging how easily I had sweet-talked him into doing the same on gullible Cadey.

 

After watching him play it out on his cousin, I would have lured him back to me to be congratulated and dangled a fiver to seal the deal.

 

In my mind's eye, I saw me hugging Heyden, then I would easily pick his pocket clean in the process.

 

Then as Hayden turned to hastily go back to his cousin to play out his trick. I would have taken off with his cousin’s more valuable diamonds, instead of Cadey’s lesser.

 

Yes, I did so now regret not thinking it through entirely.

 

I took off the necklace and threw it inside my leather satchel. Promising myself that I would try not to make a similar mistake down the road.

 

I then went to bed, tossing and turning as I regretfully pondered over what may have been.

 

Fini

 

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My nephew Marian (4) has a problem. The beer cap is too tough for him. You can guess from his expression how hard is he pushing to open the bottle of Budweiser. But since he is rather stubborn he finally made it. Yes, "if you want you can". Taken with Zuiko OM 50/1,8, aperture either 1,8 or 2, ambient light, cropped in photoshop.

Traditionally, Oneiromancy refers to divination – seeing the unseen in the past, present, or future – through the use of dreams. Here I will refer to a whole system of Magic which includes dream recall, dream interpretation, lucid dreaming, protection spells for the dreamer, and spell work through dreams. Why Dreams? Dreams are our primary connection with the unconscious mind. They occur along the boarder between conscious mental activity and the unconscious, and a good deal of mixing occurs between these two levels of consciousness in dreams. Because of this, dreams may reflect a number of different things, and may be interpreted at different levels. 1) Dreams can be genuine spiritual experiences containing messages from the gods, deceased loved ones, or personal guardian or familiar spirits. 2) Dreams may be messages from deeper aspects of ourselves warning us of problems, or giving us insight into our fears, insecurities, and desires. 3) Dreams can sometimes be just silly play, containing nonsense imagery and conscious ego fantasies, with little or no deeper meaning. Or, a single dream may incorporate all three levels in one twisted surrealist serving. Deeper awareness of our dreams can effect us at different levels as well – it gives us deeper knowledge and understanding of ourselves, a stronger connection to the spiritual, and a healthy outlet for fantasies and creative inspiration. It therefore benefits one to become more aware of the dream experience. Remembering Your Dreams The first step toward any type of dream work is to remember more dreams and to keep a record of them. The dream journal is a record of dream experiences over a period of time. It is a tool not only for recording specific dreams in detail, but also for documenting recurring themes and patterns that can be observed by comparing several different dreams over the course of a few weeks or months. The dream journal can be any blank book or notebook used specifically for the purpose of recording your dreams. Keep this beside your bed with a pen, and as soon as you awaken from a dream, write it down in as much detail as possible. You may find, that as you are writing, previously unremembered details and images will emerge. Jotting down a few notes before writing out the whole dream will help you to remember more. Begin with the end of the dream, the first detail you will remember, and work backwards. Then go back and describe the entire dream in as much detail as you can. An easier way to record dreams is to use a digital voice recorder, and dictate the dream upon waking. This method is especially useful for recording dreams in the middle of the night quickly and returning to sleep. You may forget that you even woke and recorded a dream. Listen to the recordings once a week and record the dreams in a dream journal. Even if you don’t remember your dreams at first, get yourself in the habit of writing something in your dream journal every morning, even if it is “I don’t remember any dreams.” Consistent use of the dream journal will help you to remember more dreams. Dream Interpretation There are many books on dream interpretation in both the psychology section and New Age section of every major bookstore. A few of them contain helpful guidelines. Most of them are crap. Avoid “dream dictionaries,” books that contain alphabetized listings of “common” dream symbols and a dictionary definition of what they mean. Dream symbols and their meanings are never precise, always changing, and are different from person to person and culture to culture. Take as an example, the snake. In the Hebrew Bible, the serpent is the tempter of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and is seen as a symbol of evil. A person in such a culture who dreams of a snake would interpret it as a very grave omen. However, because the snake sheds its skin, it was a symbol for healing, regeneration, and growth in certain Greek mystery cults. This is the origin of the Caduceus, the winged wand entwined by two snakes which was carried by Hermes – and is now the universal symbol of the medical profession. The same symbol may mean different things to different people, or may mean something different to the same person at different stages of life. It is necessary, therefore, to interpret your own dreams, because only you can interpret them with the greatest accuracy. Try to record an entire week of dreams, then go back and read over that week’s dreams, looking for recurring themes and patterns. Think carefully about the details of each dream – how did you feel during the dream? What were your emotional reactions to strange events in the dream? How would you respond to those events in waking life? What does this dream mean to you? Does it offer any insight to problems and concerns you are having now? Does the dream seem to touch something deeper? Also, pay attention to recurring places and events. Are there particular memories, people, or places from your past that keep coming up? Take note of these, and think about why they keep coming up. Over the course of a few months, watch your dreams and the circumstances of your waking life carefully. Do you notice any interesting sychronicities between the dreams and your waking life? Did the ream seem to foretell, or foreshadow something that eventually happened? Or, do particular dreams seem to coincide with particular events? For example, you dream about finding the milk carton empty, and a week later your wife gets her period. If this happens a few months in a row, then you can conclude that a dream of an empty milk carton is an accurate prediction of the arrival of Aunt Flo. Then, if you dream of a full carton of milk, this may be a positive omen that your family is about to get bigger. No single book can teach you how to use your dreams as oracles better than your own experience, and there is no better oracle than your own dreams. Lucid Dreaming A Lucid Dream is a dream in which the dreamer knows that they are dreaming, and can control their own actions, and to some extent with practice, the events, content, and duration of the dream. The first step in Lucid Dreaming is to train yourself to know the difference between dreaming and waking reality while you are dreaming! After working with the dream journal consistently for a few weeks or a month, look back through it and read each dream. As you read over each dream, make a list of little details that don’t seem to posses much meaning, but that are consistent with many of your other dreams, yet divergent with reality. These are dream signs; little clues in the dreams that, once recognized, will alert the dreamer that they are dreaming. Common dream signs are; “No one seems to notice that I’m bare-ass naked in the middle of this Christian bookstore,” or “In real life, cats don’t talk, and they are even less likely to turn into hot Goth chicks.” A dream sign can be something subtle, like the text of the newspaper printed upside down, or in strange characters, or interspersed with the word “fnord.” Or it could be something stranger and more obvious that you’ll kick yourself for not noticing when you wake up. Like seeing Gene Simmons sitting on a toilet at the bus stop with a purple tiger on a leash eating a dead platypus (Gene, not the tiger). In waking life, get yourself into the habit of questioning your state of consciousness several times during the day. Ask yourself the question, “am I dreaming?” and look for dream signs How can you prove to yourself that you are awake, or are not? How is this state of consciousness like or unlike a dream? How is it like or unlike waking? Do this often enough and eventually one of two things will happen; 1) you will have a cataclysmic existential crisis and wind up in a rubber room eating pre-cut meat with a plastic fork, or 2) you will ask yourself if you are dreaming, while you are dreaming! Once you know you are dreaming, anything can happen. You can meet, talk to, have sex with, famous or historical persons that are either dead or otherwise inaccessible. You can bid farewell to dead loved ones or pets. You can travel the worlds, meet Gods, tame mythical beasts, rescue yummy maidens from being maidens, or anything else you can imagine. You can do things that would otherwise be unsafe, foolish, or impossible in waking life. Lucid dreaming can be used as an exploration of fantasy and play, as and exploration of self and inner healing, or magically to bring results into the waking world. In dreams, you can act out that which you want to happen in waking life, to bring that goal closer to manifestation. For example, you want a new job. Dream about the interview. How will you dress? How will you be received? What questions will be asked? Practicing potentially stressful trials, such as job interviews and first dates, in dreams can help to alleviate the stress of the event, and give you greater confidence because you’ve done it once before. Also, if you practice daily rituals or meditations, try doing them in your dreams. It is also exciting to think that two people can have the same dream. Two experienced lucid dreamers can experiment with having the same dream, and communicating in dreams. Protection for the Sleeper People once believed that nightmares were caused by evil spirits, or black Magic Because of this belief, a number of spells and protective amulets were devised to protect the sleeper from the negative influence of bad dreams. Modern psychology now tells us that bad dreams are manifestations of anxieties and fears that plague us at the edge of consciousness, and that we may or may not be consciously aware of. Therefore, bad dreams are often more productive than good ones because they force the dreamer to be aware of problems that may hinder their growth. Whatever the cause, however, nightmares can be extremely unpleasant and frightening, and magical protection is an effective way to prevent nightmares. The simplest way is to cast a circle around the bed before going to sleep. The ancient Egyptians practiced a version of this by drawing a circle in the dirt floor around the bed with a ritual dagger. Stand on or in front of your bed. (You can face East if you want. You don’t have to, if it’s not important to you. Some people like to, though, for some reason.) Visualize a ball of white light at you center, in the region around your heart. See this ball of light glowing brighter with each breath. Take a few deep breaths to concentrate your personal energy at your center. Point toward the air in front of you with your index finger, wand, or athame (magic knife), and feel your whole arm tingle as the energy moves from your center and flows through your fingertips. Walk clockwise around the bed, or pivot where you stand, and as you do imagine that your finger is drawing a circle of light in the air around your bed. This circle becomes a sphere, a protective globe of energy surrounding you and protecting you from negative influences and bad dreams. State in a firm and certain voice that this circle of light will keep out all harmful energies and entities, and allow only positive energies and entities to enter, and that it will hold strong all night and vanish like mist with the coming sun. One common form of nightmare is called “the Old Hag” or “the Witch riding your back,” also known as “night terrors,” or “incubus attacks.” This type of dream occurs during the in-between state as the sleeper is just waking up. The sleeper thinks they are awake, but are unable to move and may feel as though they are under attack by an unseen entity. It was once a common belief that these dreams were caused by evil spirits or malevolent witches. Several protective measures against suck attacks are found in European and American folklore traditions. One was to make sure the toes of your shoes were pointing away from the bed before going to sleep. Another was to sleep with either the Bible or a knife under the pillow (if you decide to do the latter, I suggest using the witches’ athame, and place it between the pillow and the pillowcase so that it doesn’t slip out from under the pillow and cause traumatic injuries while you sleep). Sleeping on your side is another way to avoid this type of nightmare, since it seems to only occur when you are sleeping on your back. The cause of this type of dream is unknown, but I believe it has something to do with the neurotransmitter your brain secretes when you sleep to paralyze the body and prevent you from acting out your dreams. Sometimes this paralysis lingers for a few seconds after the sleeper has awaken. Although the physical body is paralyzed, the astral body is not. Personal experience has told me that this state of consciousness can be ideal for astral projection(or inducing lucid dreams), and can be induced by falling asleep on your back (if you’re married, or have a frequent bedroom companion, I do not recommend this, as it also causes snoring. Unless you use a CPAP mask. If so, then go with your bad self, and sleep on your back!) Dream Pillows A dream pillow is a small pouch or pillow placed on or under the pillow to bring pleasant dreams, and keep bad dreams away. It can be made out of any old cloth, or cloth pouch, of any color that represents dreams to the sleeper. The dream pouch is stuffed with sweet-smelling herbs and should be blessed by the deities of your choice (I chose Morpheus and Aradia). In my dream pouch, I used hops, jasmine flowers, lavender, mugwort, Valerian, and chamomile. Sweetgrass, star anise, marigold, or skullcap can also be used, or a few of these herbs in different combinations. Also, different books on herbalism and witchcraft will have different recipes. As long as it smells good and dreamy to you. Dream Tea Some of the above listed herbs, such as sweetgrass, marigold, and star anise, were chosen because of their pleasant smell, and symbolic or magical associations. The others were chosen because they have a sedative effect when taken in tea. Here is a brief description of these sedative herbs. Chamomile and jasmine are sweet smelling flowers, that make an equally sweet tea. Chamomile can be steeped in hot water by itself, or with a little jasmine, and a little honey for a light, relaxing evening tea to curl up with a book with. Valerian root contains a naturally occurring oil which is very similar to Valium. It has a rich, earthy taste and smell, which some people find unpleasant. Adding a little peppermint, chamomile, or both to the tea helps to improve the taste. Valerian and skullcap are great sedatives, and can be used alone or together for a restful night’s sleep. Mugwort is an herb associated with the moon, and has been used in teas for prophetic dreams, and for feminine moon-related discomfort. It is also an oneirogen, an herb that can induce dreams, or create a dream-like state of consciousness. Mugwort grows along the side of the road with goldenrod and ragweed, and should be avoided if you suffer from hay fever (late summer/early autumn allergies). Hops is used in brewing beer. While it is useful for getting a good night’s sleep, it is a depressant, and should be avoided by individuals who are taking anti-depressants. Any good book on herbalism will go into more detail on the uses and effects of these herbs. Here is a simple recipe for a tea to induce restful sleep and pleasant dreams; 1 tbs. Valerian root 1 tbs. Skullcap 1 tsp. Jasmine blossoms 1 tsp. chamomile (add a pinch of mugwort for prophetic dreams) steep in 1 cup of hot water, covered for 20 minutes. An even simpler recipe is to mix 1 tbs. Valerian root with 1 tsp. Mugwort. Drink 20 minutes before bedtime. Relax and let the tea take effect. For further reading;Cunningham, Scott, Sacred Sleep; Dreams & the Divine, The Crossing Press, Freedom, CA, 1992 LaBerge, Stephen, Ph. D, Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming, Ballentine Books, New York, 1990 Miller, Richard Alan, The Magical and Ritual use of Herbs, Destiny Books, Rochester, Vermont, 1993; the Oneiromancy texte by Fred

 

This must perfectly express the sentiments of anyone working in anything remotely like customer service. I found this sign and hung it in the office of my workplace, but first I photographed it to share with anyone who might like it as much as I do.

I just deleted this album then re-loaded it to un tag a dealer i have problems with and to blow off steam about his companies' problem. it won't take the wind out of my sales for the love of life on the road. I just spent the last two hours deleting tags to dealers I’ve made large purchases from. The next step is to take their name off of my Truck and Fifth Wheel! That will teach them! I’ve even deleted two entire albums of photos with tags leading friends to the dealerships. My small protest but to have to spend more money in civil court. There should be a court for dealing with consumer products after large purchases and problems exist. Who can afford to do that and or spend the time teaching the bad dealer a lesson! It’s hard when you live on fantasy island and want to believe there are people out there that are true pros and true craftsmen. I know there are a few people out there because I met them and refused to do business with other dealers because I met them too. I’ve seen a guy weld a Holiday Rambler that broke in half over night at the frame and get me back on the road. There is even an RV dealer five minutes from my house that did such a poor job on a 30 foot trailer I want to restore that they lost a ten-grand restoration job! I went elsewhere for a purchase. Where is Brett Michaels when you need him! Now to find the proper venues to vent. Do you think the dealer’s sites post bad reviews? I’m the perfect sucker for a Salesman that cares nothing but for the commission or if they aren’t paid on commission for the BS they lay on you to kill time to eventually close the sale. I shopped for years at many different places within the State and even some Florida dealers for the right RV for me. I have twenty years’ road experience with travel trailers in and out of campgrounds and dealers. The hard part is when you find a good mechanic you are often down the road on the next adventure. The dealer can’t take away my enthusiasm for the joy of my new trailer. They are so useful when built properly and so versatile for travel or events or full time Road Warriors! Who wouldn’t be frustrated when there are 18 jobs that need attention! I was told by the salesman I’d get a good education from top to bottom and the demo guy was going to send me out of the dealership with the fifth wheel receiver or jaws ungreased with no Teflon pad for the fifth wheel! I really needed a fifth wheel hooking and unhooking lesson along with good Hydraulic jack lesson. I was good for most other things except how the solar panel works. But they try hard to push you off on the useless manuals or Destruction books because they are over worked and under staffed in the service area. I get that. Except learning the hard way almost cost me my hand with a bed and the fifth wheel. Luckily I’m quick. Sometimes I don’t know if I should have been a great mechanic a teacher or a great lawyer. I walked HIM through greasing the B&W hitch and greasing the receiver and made him put the Teflon pad he was going to make me leave without that I bought two years ago in anticipation of having a fifth wheel from Mark (the good guy) at the RV show in Greensboro. No kidding, I put a lot of thought into this. Needless to say, he has mechanical skills beyond my capability and they used the excuse it was market time or the RV show to be short with me. Now that I have tested things on the trailer before a trip and found at least 18 jobs that need to be done after waiting for a call for parts that had already been delivered and a call never received then accused of not paying for screens that didn’t fit and that a $125.00 per hour fee was going to be charged, who wouldn’t be upset? Did I mention this? It will always be something! They can just put the nail in the coffin for the common belief that it is over after the Sale is done. Getting passed off from one department to the other is unforgiveable! The excuse is familiar. I just do Sales; you have to talk to Service. Service says we just do Service, you have to go to parts. Even with lifetime warranty printed and tagged all over the trailer with a promise to teach you about how everything works I’ve found out the hard way from a popular dealer in Rural Hall, NC that it is not the case! It’s too bad I didn’t buy my Truck or RV and drive all the way to Atlanta to deal with @Scott Trail or find a similar friend that would make sure everything is right. Dream on Consumer! So, if any name bashing starts remember we always have one friend in the car, RV, insurance or Sales business. When we overall call all Salesman assholes or all insurance companies thieves or all dealings with service mechanics complete disasters we have to remember we have people on our friend’s lists that have those jobs. You know what, right now after a huge purchase and being shuffled it’s amazing I can work up any mercy for any of them. I’ve tried to be a Salesman. Service over profit was my downfall. I’ve tried to be a Customer Service Rep. It was difficult talking to people that needed parts after a large purchase when you just learned there aren’t any parts! We are all selling something whether we know it or not. If you aren’t taking pride in your job to be the best you can be and just killing time you are a part of this problem! Not everyone has a dream job. But it is just my turn to take a punch, but I’m swinging back! It is just unfortunate for them I know a little about RVs. I must have too high a standard to believe that there are really people that give a damn about products or follow through after the sale. I hate that we just don’t care attitude that leaves you searching for a better place. I had a place in Mooresville that I will find again for service. Hopefully the same family runs the place. It is near the Lake in Terrell. I need to return to and find another mobile mechanic once that moved on to a dealer in the mountains and I can’t dig his name up. There are good people out there. They are so hard to find. Maybe it is just me. I expect too much after laying down a hard-earned wage or a life savings for a house, new car, recreation vehicle or piece of equipment that is supposed to work. When I get a new toy, I want to take a photo of every nut bolt and screw on it, one because I am proud, the other reason is for future reference when things fall apart. Buyer’s remorse sucks even if you know the term all too well, Buyer Beware! I saw one guy at the current dealership I am dealing with now running, literally running to get from customer to customer after my purchase. In between him and the good mechanics are problems! The good guy’s name is Mark. He is extremely smart and knows RV’s and fifth wheels up and down. He was literally running with a ladder and carrying three heavy hitches with him to try to wait on at least two customers at the same time. I’m always leaving a window or looking for the good and hoping I’m not back on fantasy island. There were excellent qualified educated trailer technicians in the service in a good building with the right tools to build trailers from scratch, including paint. Getting to them is a full-time job on the customer’s end. They even had parts delivered that they owed me on what they call a we owe and hadn’t bothered to call in a three-week period. They wanted to double charge for some bug screens around 50 bucks until I produced a paid receipt. Even after the Salesmen told (I know his name) the parts manager he personally sat with the mechanic for a half hour trying patiently to put on the wrong screen. Even with lifetime warranty written all over my trailer they wanted to charge me for service $125.00 per hour for labor. That must be some sort of trick. For $125.00 an hour most any parts should be free! I waited three hours even with a scheduled appointment to even get told they were ready to take her in. Two days later I had to force the call to get an eta on when she would be ready. Imagine if I were a full timer living full time in my RV or still doing three shows a day in three different cities a day. Fortunately, I am gifted with a little time. The service manager mentioned to do the 18 jobs I needed to be done he still had to order parts. Imagine I was sold a unit that I (The Customer) found at least 18 things to do after leaving the lot and running the unit. So, I am going to rescue my unit tomorrow and hope what they did fix after two days waiting can get me through my first trip until parts come for the rest of the job. Do you think I am a fool to take it back? It is a hard call! I’ll know tomorrow if I receive a bill or the trailer is in good shape. The tough part is, after you have been tough with service now your unit is at their mercy. I was told by a good agent I don’t take any crap from anyone. But sometimes it costs me. But those of you that are passive and just let them walk all over you take a bigger beating. With full time jobs or people that depend on their unit as a full-time vehicle you can imagine the pressure to change up vacation times or deal with time off from your job to take care of problems.

digital composition

Explore Feb 14.10. #287. Thanks, Brenda.

Happy St Valentine's Day.

 

Due to long term health problems I am not taking on any more contacts. Please see my profile for more details.

I am very grateful for single invites but really don't want multiple ones. PLEASE no personal graphics, spinning or flashing comments. They stress my eyes.

    

 

If you are in bed, make an appointment for the hospital burns unit to see you soon.

It might be a tradition - but it is not a good one.

1951

On Saturday the L train was suspended for a bit because of a rail problem north of Bedford avenue. Subway issues can bring "The City That Never Sleeps" to a screeching halt.

  

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Urbex Benelux -

 

Before you start work on any kind of repair you should always try to find and treat the cause of the problem, not just the symptoms.

 

Weather and its effects are the fundamental cause of decay, leading to problems such as damp, mould, woodworm and fungi. Wood, brick and stone are the three most common building materials, and each of these reacts differently to the effects of weathering.

  

Friend Zone Problems #Friend, #Zone, #Problems, #Raydiaz, #Adinkolansky, #Iamstevenspence, #AmandaCerny #Contfeed

 

Check out here >> cofd.co/weu7r

I'm not sure if anyone else has had this problem, but I can't for the life of me remove the hair product from MM Jade and Cloe. It won't come out no matter what I do. The strange thing is I'm usually able to get Bratz hair silky smooth pretty easily. A portion of their hair is just clumped together and the texture is almost glue-like. Maybe I'm just being picky but it's bothering me :/ if anyone has any ideas on how to remove it I'd be so grateful 💕

The TLR becomes a problem when you've got something in the extreme foreground -- I'm talking inches from the camera. If I wanted it to, the Mamiya could focus on something within 9 inches or so; the bellows are handy for that as long as you compensate a little bit on exposure. But, when it's something that close, it's tough to tell where it'll actually show up in the purview of the lower lens. It's probably a rare case where this is ever an issue, but in this case I was trying to get some branches in the blurred out FG and Claire in the BG while still fully showing her face. The C330 top lens finder looked fine, but the bottom didn't work out quite as well. She's not even in sharp focus here, so I'm not too worried about it -- it's all an experiment anyways.

 

Mamiya C330 w/ Mamiya Sekor 80mm f/2.8, Velvia 100F (Expired 01/2004), processing and scan by NCPS, cropped at original aspect ratio.

Chegou ontem (25/06/09), estava tão feliz que não ia conseguir dormir se não as tirasse da caixa, mas logo que fui soltar os arames, vi algo estranho na perna da Rida... estava solta?!!! O.o

Depois não consegui dormir de tristeza... olha só qtos defeitos em uma Pullip só!!! +___+

 

1 - Cabelo duro, ruim, mal costurado e pra cima!!! Parece o Nino do Castelo Ra-Tim-Bum! XD

Não sei como vejo fotos dela com cabelo stock e até dá pra fotografar... a minha veio inaceitável. Só fotografei pq a Sabrina pediu pra mandar pra eles reclamando... =(

 

2 - Perna quebrada!!!!! A perna veio toda soltinha, presa só pela cinta liga... Quebrada no encaixe da perna com a virília... u.u

 

3- Eu sou zicada com manchas brilhantes no rosto. Devo ter jogado pedra na cruz mesmo... Mais uma com um risco brilhante na bochecha... Fico tão encomodada com riscos no rosto que me dá até agonia!!! >.<

 

4- Um buraco perto do busco... parece que enfiaram a ponta de algum metal quente e afundou... Nunca vi isso na minha vida!!! +___+

 

Agora acho que acabou... não tirei a roupa toda da doll pra descobrir se tem mais algum problema... =P

 

Foi isso... só postei pq fiquei revoltada com a Jun Planning por isso... u.u

 

Bjinhus e obrigada pelo apoio nesse momento difícil meninas!!! =***

Taken during a photowalk thru St. Johns are in Portland.

 

This was the first photoshoot that my son attended with me. Spent 4 hours walking up and down hills in 90 degree weather.

 

He was a trooper and took a few good shots himself with his camera.

 

After the photoshoot, he took a minute to relax and I took this shot.

La salvación de Dios | Sin la salvación de Dios, yo no estaría aquí hoy

Soy una hermana anciana con las piernas dañadas. Incluso cuando el clima es bueno, tengo algunos problemas al andar, pero cuando las aguas estuvieron a punto de tragarme, Dios permitió que escapara milagrosamente del peligro.

 

Fue el 21 de julio de 2012. Ese día cayó una lluvia torrencial, y resulta que yo estaba fuera desempeñando mi deber. Después de las 4 de la tarde, la lluvia no había parado aún. Cuando terminó nuestra reunión, desafié a la lluvia y tomé un autobús a casa. Durante el trayecto, llovía con más y más fuerza, y cuando el autobús llegó a la parada anterior a la mía, el conductor nos dijo a todos los pasajeros: “Este autobús no puede llegar más lejos; la carretera se ha colapsado más adelante”. No se podía hacer nada, así que no tuve otra elección que bajarme del autobús e ir a pie el resto del camino. No me atrevía a dejar a Dios y oraba continuamente en mi corazón. A causa de la fuerza del diluvio, el agua se había tragado completamente la carretera. Traté de seguir agarrándome a las columnas de cemento que bordeaban la carretera, y fui avanzando paso a paso. Justo entonces, oí a alguien gritar detrás de mí: “¡No siga avanzando! ¡Rápido; gírese y vuelva! No puede pasar; esa agua es profunda y la corriente demasiado rápida. ¡Si la arrastra, no podré salvarla!”. En ese momento, sin embargo, yo no podía avanzar ni retroceder porque el agua ya me llegaba al pecho. No me atrevía a seguir avanzando, así que todo lo que podía hacer era orar a Dios e implorarle que me abriera una salida: “¡Dios! Tú has permitido que este entorno me sobrevenga, y si vivo o muero está en Tus manos ahora. Si el nivel del agua bajara sólo 15 centímetros, yo podría seguir caminando. Dios, haz Tu voluntad; ¡yo estoy dispuesta a confiarte mi vida!”. Después de esta oración, me sentí muy tranquila y serena. Recordé una de las declaraciones de Dios: “Los cielos y la tierra y todas las cosas son establecidos y hechos completos por las palabras de Mi boca y conmigo todo puede lograrse” (“Declaraciones y testimonios de Cristo en el principio”). Las palabras de Dios me dieron fe y valentía. Como los cielos y la tierra y todas las cosas están en las manos de Dios, yo sabía que por muy implacable que fuera ese diluvio, no podía escapar de la orquestación de Dios. Nadie podía apoyarse más en nadie; mi hijo, mi hija… nadie podía cuidar del otro. Yo creía que mientras confiara en Dios, no existía dificultad que no pudiera superar. Justo en ese momento, se produjo un milagro. La corriente fue yendo cada vez más lenta hasta que dejó de ser tan violenta como lo había sido poco antes, y las columnas de cemento que bordeaban la carretera aparecieron gradualmente. En efecto, el nivel del agua descendió 15 centímetros del nivel de mi pecho. Y justo así, salí de allí, paso a paso, bajo la dirección de Dios. De no haber sido por Su benevolencia y protección, no sé dónde me habría llevado la inundación. Desde lo profundo de mi corazón, expresé mi gratitud y alabanza, y di gracias a Dios Todopoderoso por haberme dado una segunda oportunidad en la vida.

 

Más tarde, oí la descripción de las lluvias por parte de mi hijo: Ese día, después de llegar a casa tras cumplir con su deber, fue primero al baño.

...

Fuente: es.easternlightning.org/testimonies/without-God-s-salvati...

 

Recomendación: Palabras de Dios

© Angela M. Lobefaro

All Rights Reserved

RIPRODUZIONE RISERVATA

 

A very nice photowalk with friends near Vercelli

 

Thansk to: Dennis, Irene, Chiara, Giulia

 

Dona 2 euro con un SMS solidale al numero 45509 -dal 27 novembre al 19 dicembre- | Progetto CESVI "Fermiamo l'AIDS sul Nascere"

 

Credits:

 

www.poisongirlssl.com/2013/05/problem-girl.html

jerusalem, Old City

 

August 2013

Squaring the circle was a problem that greatly exercised medieval minds. It is a symbol of the opus alchymicum, since it breaks down the original chaotic unity into the four elements and then combines them again in a higher unity. Unity is represented by a circle and the four elements by a square. The production of one from four is the result of a process of distillation and sublimation which takes the so-called “circular” form: the distillate is subjected to sundry distillations so that the “soul” or “spirit” shall be extracted in its purest state. The product is generally called the “quintessence,” though this is by no means the only name for the ever-hoped-for and never-to-be-discovered “One.” It has, as the alchemists say, a “thousand names,” like the prima materia.

( Carl Jung )

The intent behind alchemy and the alchemical work is personal individuation, which is wholeness. In order to attain wholeness, it is said, one must square the circle. This is a tricky business. To square the circle is to become the four directions- up, down, in, and out; or, spirit, body, soul, and ‘other’. Like the carbon atom- the chemical substratum and symbolic vibration of our essence- we have four places from which to build a molecule. How we use these four quarters begets the molecule we live within- and the entire existence that we are. We grow like crystals from an invisible seed, and express our true nature out into what we conventionally call the external. We are our world.

To truly be whole we must serve the four primary constituents of our wholeness: inner, outer, above, and below. If we serve only the inner we cut ourselves off from life, and we become lonely, loveless hermits; if we serve only the outer we become bitter, soulless phantoms; if we serve only the below- the flesh and the earth- we become moribund matter; and if we serve only the above- the spirit and God-consciousness- we become disembodied spirits, adrift in an unreal world.

To get too focused in one direction is to end up walking in circles, instead of being a circle.

To square the circle is to be the circle of self, detached and yet intimate with the square world. To square the circle is to complete your specified perfection for this life. This means you are free.

To square the circle is to see equally in the four directions, and so to be whole, a sphere- a circled square.

Every part of the quaternity has equal representation. All aspects are included at every moment, for inner, outer, spirit, and flesh are one.

To find a new equilibrium where inner, outer, above, and below are balanced and in harmony, is to be One. To be the empty center of this one is to be all.

To be all is to be a devil of oneness which has come to destroy the parts; oneness is destructive to the parts- to all that differentiates itself from the whole, unless that ‘differentness’ arises as a devotional expression of the unified glory. For all that does not acknowledge, bless, or support this fusion into oneness must either be assimilated or trimmed off and melted away. That is the apocalypse of oneness.

The viscous flame of oneness comes burning away all division of spirit and flesh, and the diamond body becomes the eternal fuel of this emancipative, destructive union.

To look upward, outward, inward, and down, is to take up the cross of life; this is to look towards heaven, towards others, into yourself, and down into the body, and so to become the ever-crucified Christ which pulls all separate realms into one. To avoid any one of these is to become out of balance, to totter, and to fall.

When you merge male and female, a whole new pattern is created. When you merge good and evil, there is neither good nor evil, but instead a kaleidoscopic, checkered wholeness. Merge all four and you get an indestructible, eternal, royal sphere.

Nothing is excluded but all is transformed in this convergence within; it is this nuclear fusion of opposites which creates the new radiance within. The spirit becomes substantial- it becomes substance, and is now a radiant inner crystal, a glowing ball of inclusive continuity. This is the diamond body.

This diamond body is stillness. Stillness is a detached, unshakeable inner peace which cannot be moved by the tremors of the external. This stillness is an inner peace which radiates the same peace outward, becoming an apocalyptic stillness that unites the external and internal in the very same substratum of the oceanic depths of Self, now contiguous with the thrashing waves of manifestation, and yet different also. This is to find yourself in a different room in the exact same house. A big, stone, unexpected, glorious room. The inner sanctum. Stillness.

To be in your inner sanctum is to feel and behave as you would if alone, though while amongst others; to be that immoveable, that untroubled, that unflappably detached stillness; a living, thriving, eternal, indifferent stillness.

Nothing will bring you this inner peace, but this inner peace will bring you everything. This inner peace is the ocean beyond the river of life. To become that peace is to leap over the river. On the other side of the chaotic show is the laughing director. Cross over.

To cross over, there can be nothing left but God. There can be no you, no me, no things, no thoughts, nothing, for all must be God. One.

When you enter into God within, everything becomes God. All of it. Inside and out. One. God.

Now Shiva and Shakti, Christ and Mary, Male and Female, Space and Form, good and evil, without and within, subtle and gross, all dualities are one Self, which is God.

Beyond judgment, beyond choice, beyond duality, beyond limitation, beyond form, beyond idea, beyond dogma, beyond separation, beyond relation, beyond reaction, beyond all that was, is, or will be, lies the great ocean of undifferentiated consciousness. When that nothingness spills out into somethingness- when the impersonal overtakes the personal, when nobodiness erases somebodiness- it is then that the discarnate emerges out of the incarnate, and the eternal self lives through the ephemeral form.

It is only when all opposites unite that this emptiness can occur unbroken- when self is both male and female, good and bad, inside and out; when love and rage, passion and dispassion, attachment and detachment coexist dynamically within the empty, living vessel.

To receive the King’s crown is to have the Father’s consciousness descend upon the Mother’s subtle body through you.

To cross over means to die from separation altogether, to know, to be, and to see God in and as and of everything. One. Everything that is and is not, everything visible and invisible- all of it is one, and it is God. And if you place yourself outside of this One, this Godness, you will not cross over, because to cross over is to dissolve into the one God that is everything. To cross over is to evaporate into God, to etherealize your entire being into the vibration of eternity, to go down into and take upon yourself the whole world without going mad from sorrow or fear, and so to become it all, and so to transform it all. Amen.

 

www.iconoclastpress.com/bookOMAlchemyindividuationsquarin...

I've seen a few monarchs, about one per day, maybe, migrating through here with problems that happened during or right after their time in their chrysalis. For this one, the problem is easy to see at the top of it's right fore wing.

 

I watched this one:

www.flickr.com/photos/95092956@N00/21015073520/in/album-7...

emerge from the chrysalis last year and be unable to fully inflate its left wing.

The case of the flip flop freedom break. He could not get that one to stay on for love nor money.

Relationship Problems

The relations of everyone are different. But sometimes we face such similar issues. Whatever or however you are going in any relation but you are with this comfort that you are not alone.

Lack of communication:

If your issue is like you and your partner and don’t talk any m...

 

www.lovefailurequotes.com/articles/relationship-problems/

Downtown drug problems

Dallas, Texas

Problems

A common problem for students studying health and social care related subjects in HE is that they can access the web on any number of devices which do not necessarily have automatic syncing of bookmarked web pages enabled. There is also a related problem of sharing, as well as discovering relevant online resources. A potential solution to these problems is a social bookmarking application such as Yahoo!'s “delicious”. Results from previous studies using this service suggest that social bookmarking shares similar features to more traditional indexing systems but also contains extra dimensions such as tags related to time. We present the initial results from a study into social bookmarking that has encouraged three groups, containing over thirty health and social care students, to utilise delicious in their everyday practice and to create a tagged repository of resources that are relevant to their courses. We will discuss the preparation of introductory materials as well as specific problems faced by health and social care students in using Web 2.0 applications. We will also present the results of analyses into the patterns of tagging and bookmarking activity that have emerged in addition to the types of tags that are being used.

wearing the new `Midland' red that MRN introduced in 1992-4 is Leyland National 702 TOF702S which is seen leaving the new bus station in Ravens Meadows Shrewsbury in October 95, 702 had been delivered new to Wellington depot

© Copyright 2016, Christine Regusa

HellCat Photo, All Rights Reserved

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The hype is that the iPhone 4 is 'unusable' because of it's supposed antenna problem.

 

Hogwash.

 

This is the best smartphone in the world. And now, the safest buy. 100% refund guarantee, AND a free case!

 

People wouldn't be so worked up over it if this was a Windows phone, or pshh, even an Android.

 

One of my friends has a Droid Phone that doesn't work without a small piece of tissue in between the battery pack and case. A Windows Mobile Phone carrying friend has to hold down the volume up button on his phone throughout the entire call or it keeps turning itself down.

 

That new Droid X has the most formidable looking specs of any phone on the market, but is hampered by it's operating system and apparently some screen flickering issues.

 

You don't hear anyone screaming 'UNUSABLE!' - That's just how other phones are expected, and accepted to work. Have a problem? Rig it to work, or live with it.

 

Apple prides itself on releasing products that are designed beautifully and function near-perfectly. So they set themselves up for intense scrutiny and over-magnified flaws on every product.

 

No-one's perfect, sure, but this phone is still amazing, and anyone that actually owns one knows the supposed antenna problems mean next to nothing in REAL use.

 

The iPhone 4 may be unusable for left-handed, tight gripped people that like to make calls right after a sweaty workout - that also don't care enough about their beautiful phone to buy any sort of case. And that only rely on direct phone communication, rather than all the modes of communication the iPhone was meant for: Like... the INTERNET.

 

Even so, I haven't dropped any calls on my iPhone 4, with or without my case.

 

Granted, I live in a good signal area with little congestion, and am right handed, have a case, and am not stupid.

 

If and when they have an iPhone 5 on Verizon... Apple will rule the smartphone world.

 

Hey, that HTC EVO 4G ain't so bad either though. Bravo, Sprint!

 

License For Use?

 

Connect: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Wedding Photography

 

___

12x6 baseplates is just too big a footprint. We'll have to go with an 8x6 footprint.

It's now become part of our travelling calendar - we go on a city break for Jayne’s birthday in January - no presents for birthday's and Christmas, we travel instead. This year it was Seville. We had to drive 180 miles south to Stansted to fly there though, Friday afternoon on the A1, such fun... It was a really good drive down in actual fact, the best day for months, glorious blue sky and a fantastic sunset- and I was in a car. We got stung for tea and drinks in the Radison Blu but we were overnighting and leaving the car so we didn't have much choice. Ryanair aagh! Again no choice. To be fair to the abrasive Irish man O Leary things are better than they used to be and it was an acceptable flight.

 

We were hoping for better weather than we got- don't you always? It was. cold, windy and after some initial beautiful sun on our first afternoon, it was mostly grey. The wind died but so did the sun. The other little problem was that it was my turn for the awful cold that Jayne had been trying to get over. I was under the weather in more ways than one all week, it was only a cold but it was the worst I've had for ages and it didn't help my mood, particularly when the sun was absent. We had a few hours of really nice light here and there and I made the most of it - I think!

 

Seville has miles and miles of narrow cobbled streets, they seem to go on for ever. They are almost random in layout and it is extremely difficult to find your way around, it's easier to just keep walking and see what you find. So we did! The architecture is stunning and the history is fascinating. Aside from the ancient history the two events that seem to have had a massive recent influence are the Expo's of 1929 and 1992. The incredible buildings or 'Pavilions' that were built for a one off event are now part of the reason that people visit the city. The 1929 pavilions are fantastic, each one is a story in itself and a destination in its own right but there are a lot of them in Parque Maria Luisa. Plaza Espana, built by the hosts of course, is the biggest and I would imagine that you could make a project out of photographing the individual ceramic tile displays around it on their own. These incredible buildings really need the light to be right to get images that people want to see, flat bright light from bright grey skies is good for certain things but dramatic architecture deserves better - or maybe I'm looking for the easy way option. The other discovery that we made, we found just down the road from the hotel, about an hour into the trip – The Metropol Parasol. A giant lattice work parasol, apparently called ‘The Mushrooms’ locally and apparently the world’s largest wooden structure. You have to look twice, having discovered that it is wood. Only later did we discover that we could get to the top and there is an extensive walkway around the top of it. It is built on top of ancient ruins, ( still intact and viewable) a food market and bars etc. and has a plaza around it and on it, that is buzzing on weekend evenings. Walking around the top, the first people up it one day and being back to watch the sunset later was one of the highlights of the trip for me.

 

The 1992 Expo also covered a massive area but left behind lots of modern - and some very strange - buildings and arenas. Some are of a temporary nature and get dismantled others find a new use. The land used was on an island between two branches of the River Guadalquivir – Isla de la Cartuja. The branch that goes through the city is now a canal, blocked at its northern end by a barrier with a motorway on it, and is used extensively for water sports, mainly rowing. Many of the buildings are now used by private companies as headquarters , others have a very derelict look. The whole area- even though it is home to the theme park- which was shut for the winter, has a neglected air about it. There are weeds growing everywhere but fountains are switched on, which seemed odd. Unlike the city a short distance away, there are no cafes or bars or other people around for that matter, just us meandering through. The car park that was created for the event is massive, it stretches for miles, and I really mean miles. Totally derelict, just the odd person or dog walker around. There is even a railway line terminating here, in the middle of nowhere a modern and apparently unmanned station, like a ghost station. At this point, across the river proper is open countryside, much flatter than I expected and very easy for local walkers and cyclists to get to - also very calm and quiet, a place to linger and enjoy the peace.

 

As usual I researched and discovered as we walked, we averaged around 13 miles a day and tried to get off the beaten track. We were out around 8.15, before sunrise, and had orange juice, coffee and Tostada with the locals for breakfast. The trouble is that there are many miles of walking in a relatively small area, some streets are only a few feet wide so there are a lot of them to explore. Incredible ancient churches and squares are around every corner- it's a very religious place - Catholicism rules in Spain. Unfortunately many are only a few feet away from the building next to it and it is difficult to get a decent shot of them. Seville is also famous, historically, as a producer of ceramic tiles. A building isn’t complete without a tile display of some sort and it would be very easy to make a project out of tiles alone. It may be a little boring for any companions though!

 

We walked the length of the embankment a couple of times, it has graffiti from end to end, several miles of massive concrete walls covered in everything imaginable, from marker pen scribbling to works of art. It was suggested to me that allowing people to paint here might prevent them from daubing property and monuments in the city- it hasn't! Most alleyways and shutters have been attacked to a greater or lesser degree. Spain has very high youth unemployment and maybe this plays a role. To be truthful though we haven't seen a city that's free of graffiti. The other problem is dogs- or what they produce, it's everywhere, absolutely everywhere, in a week we saw only one person remove his dogs mess. Fortunately the city streets are cleaned exceptionally well, some of the cleanest we have come across, men (and a lot of women) and machines are washing and sweeping endlessly.

 

Having had the wettest winter on record at home - almost three months of rain - we didn't want more rain but we got it. The upside was the water and the reflections that it created made photography on the cobbled streets more interesting, particularly at night. I usually find that it takes me a while to get into the groove on a trip and this one was no different, I didn't start shooting with total disregard - street shots- for a couple of days. Whilst the locals wore quilted jackets and scarves we got down to tee shirts at times, the warmer afternoons would be welcome in summer, never mind January, in Huddersfield. I envied the cyclists, being able to train in temperatures like this in winter - I wish! You need a lot less willpower to get out there and train hard in pleasant weather.

 

From a photography point of view I had a frustrating time, I never felt to get to grips with the place- other than on the streets at night. Writing this on my phone on the flight home, I haven't a clue what I've got to work with when I get back. I usually edit first and write later. Generally I have a first look, I'm disillusioned, I then revisit and see things differently- thankfully! Architectural shots with a grey sky could be destined for the monochrome treatment, we'll soon see. I'm still editing stuff from our London trip before Christmas, it's getting decent views in black and white and I quite enjoy looking at them myself.

We visited most of the notable tourist destinations, and went up anything that we could. Seville doesn't have a high point-it's flat! Nothing really stands head and shoulders above the city. The Cathedral tower is over 300 feet but the Cathedral itself fills a lot of the view on some aspects. Being square and having to look through bars in recesses you don't really get a completely open aspect. A new 600 foot tower is close to being finished, it's an office block and I couldn't find any mention of it being a viewing point in the future.

 

Oranges were the last thing on my mind when I suggested going to Seville. There are 25000 orange trees in Seville and now is the time that they are laden with big-and sour- Seville oranges, they are everywhere, apparently they are the property of the city authorities and will be harvested and sent to the UK to be made in to marmalade at some point in the near future. These trees will soon be covered in fragrant blossom, the city will smell beautiful for a couple of months. Studying the surrounding area it would be good to tour in March or April I would think, the scents, longer days and better weather would make for a fantastic trip. One for the future. The sunrise on our final morning was the best of the week, this was what we had looked forward to, we had to leave for the airport at 9.00...... Needless to say it was raining hard as we drove the last twenty miles home. Nothing new there then.

 

As usual I have aimed to present a pretty extensive collection of photographs of our chosen destination, some, at first glance will be pretty mundane shots of everyday life on the streets, often though, close inspection will reveal something humorous, something that needs a bit of thought. Others are definitely just people going about their holiday or work. Travelling with someone else it wouldn’t be fair to spend an inordinate amount of time trying to nail the perfect long exposure or HDR image of a cathedral or similar in perfect light – the one stunning shot to add to the portfolio- it’s not really my thing, I go for an overview of the place in the time available. Looking at the postcards locally it becomes obvious that stunning shots of some of these buildings are hard to come by. Heavily corrected converging verticals were quite obvious – and most likely will be in my own shots. As the owner of tilt and shift lenses I never travel with one – ever! My knees are already creaking from the weight of the bag.

 

He just is.

Shot of a little girl looking unhappy as her parents argue in the background

Luego del anuncio de PoisonGirl aka www.flickr.com/photos/rowan__ashlar/19673266728/ me he puesto a revisar a mis MIO.

 

A ambos los he sellado con MSC matt (la misma lata), pero Kairn es hasta ahora el único que muesta grietas (siendo el más nuevo). Cuando lo hice era verano. Se pueden ver claramente gracias a mi Reflex y una posición adecuada a la luz.

 

Mr. Hobby sabrá de mi...

 

Revisen sus custom hechos con MSC

 

Reclamos aka www.gsi.co.jp/contact/mr-hobby/en/

---

After the announcement made by PoisonGirl aka www.flickr.com/photos/rowan__ashlar/19673266728/ I started to check my MIO.

 

I sealed both with MSC matt (same can), but Kairn is the only one showing signs of cracks (he's the newest). When I painted him was summer time here. You can see them very clearly thanks to my Reflex and light position.

 

Mr. Hobby will read me...

 

Check your custom sealed with MSC!

 

Contact here www.gsi.co.jp/contact/mr-hobby/en/

in Copenhagen

‘Cause there's no salvation for a bad girl

We’re rock bottom

But there ain’t no stopping

‘Cause they don’t know nothing about love

We’re hell raising

And we don’t need saving

‘Cause there's no salvation for a bad boy

We’re rock bottom

But there ain’t no stopping

‘Cause its you and me against the world

 

I’m your dream girl

This is real love

But you know what they say about me…

That girl is a problem

Girl is a problem

Girl is a problem, problem

Oh Baby

You so bad boy

Drive me mad boy

But you don’t care when they say about me…

That girl is a problem

Girl is a problem

Girl is a problem, problem