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With brake retainers set, the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad's Train 215, the daily westbound out of Antonito, drifts down the 4% grade just west of Cumbres Pass, approaching Coxo Crossing at Mile Post 332.75. With all of the heavy lifting done, the locomotive is set in what's known as a "drifting throttle", releasing just enough steam to keep the cylinders cooled and lubricated, but not enough to make any significant power. The crew focuses on maintaining a constant speed with periodic brake applications. During the hour-long, 2,000 vertical foot descent to Chama, NM, it is not unusual to see the safeties pop periodically as the engine is not using the steam it is making. The crews have also been known to execute firebox blow-downs to clear sediment build-up from the boiler's mud-ring. From a passenger's perspective, my most vivid memories of these descents can be summed up in two words: "brake dust." There is a lot of it!
Knight and retainer by an Unknown artist/ craftsperson/ maker, dated to the1480s-1490s, Augsburg, Bavaria (in the South Australian Art Gallery).
I need to add some details but can't find my notes right now. I'll be back...
Later: Found my notes! These figures are paint and gesso on wood; and they were purchased by the Morgan Thomas Bequest Fund in 1950. An excellent investment!
[Unk_Knight+retainer_1480s-90s Augsburg_SAAG_IMG_3209]
Even in cold weather, sunshine tends to bring out critters. After a strong cold front, the winds calmed down & the sun came out. That's when I found this snail on my retainer wall.
Asian Tramp Snail (Bradybaena similaris)
My photos can also be found at kapturedbykala.com
Lily's Cutest Retainer has to go quite the distance sometimes for her job, but at least she likes her boss enough to tolerate it. Plus she actually gets gear which is helpful. lol.
We gained elevation for this shot across the field as we approached LaVeta on County Road 430. On both days that we photographed this train it stopped here, backed up about a train length, stopped for a minute or two, and then proceeded forward at its usual 10 mph pace. We suspect it had something to do with releasing the brakes or retainers. Any railroaders out there have an explanation?
Cavendish Mews is a smart set of flats in Mayfair where flapper and modern woman, the Honourable Lettice Chetwynd has set up home after coming of age and gaining her allowance. To supplement her already generous allowance, and to break away from dependence upon her family, Lettice has established herself as a society interior designer, so her flat is decorated with a mixture of elegant antique Georgian pieces and modern Art Deco furnishings, using it as a showroom for what she can offer to her well heeled clients.
Today however we are at Glynes, the grand Georgian family seat of the Chetwynds in Wiltshire, and the home of Lettice’s parents, the presiding Viscount and Countess of Wrexham and the heir, their eldest son Leslie and his wife Arabella. Lettice is visiting her family home for Christmas. She motored down to Wiltshire with her old childhood chum, Gerald, also a member of the aristocracy who has tried to gain some independence from his family by designing gowns from a shop in Grosvenor Street. His family, the Brutons, are neighbours to the Cheywynds with their properties sharing boundaries. That is how Gerald and Lettice came to be such good friends. However, whilst both families are landed gentry with lineage going back centuries, unlike Lettice’s family, Gerald’s live in a much smaller baronial manor house and are in much more straitened circumstances.
It is Christmas Day 1922, and we find ourselves in the very grand and elegant drawing room of Glynes with its gilt Louis and Palladian style furnishings where the Viscount is indulging in his favourite activity as lord of the manor on Christmas Day, handing out the gifts that have been stacked beneath the splendidly decked out Christmas tree to his family. At his feet, Lettice’s elder sister Lalage’s (known to everyone in the family by the diminutive Lally) children Harrold and Annabelle, squeal with delight as noisily, beautiful wrapping and carefully tied fat satin bows are torn asunder hurriedly to reveal wonderful toys. Lady Sadie sits in her usual armchair next to the fire, dressed splendidly in a pastel coloured crêpe de chine day gown with ropes of pearls about her neck and cascading down her front, not unlike Queen Mary, sipping champagne from a fine crystal flute, enjoying playing hostess to her family. Charles, Lally’s husband sits in a matching armchair diagonally across from Sadie, watching his children with delight as they open their presents, nursing a brandy in his right hand. Lettice’s eldest brother Leslie is snuggled up with his new wife Arabella on one of the two facing Louis Quinze sofas, whilst Lettice and Lally sit on the sofa opposite them, closest to the Christmas tree. The Viscount’s younger bohemian artist sister, Eglantine (known lovingly by Lettice and her siblings as Aunt Egg), always a restless spirit, wanders the room, smoking her favourite Black Russian cigarettes through a holder, never quite settling as she thinks her own thoughts whilst also engaging sporadically with her family when it suits her. None of the family’s faithful retainers are present, as the tradition is that servants are given Christmas Day off after breakfast until the late afternoon, when they return and prepare to serve the family’s Christmas dinner in the Glynes dining room.
“Ho! Ho! Ho!” booms the Viscount jovially as he withdraws a long parcel wrapped in holly patterned paper tied up with a gold ribbon. “What have we here?” He shakes it slightly, making the contents rattle metallically. He squints as he reads the tag attached to the bow. “A present for Master Harrold from Auntie Tice!” He smiles magnanimously at his grandson and rubs his hair lovingly as he hands the parcel over to Harrold.
“Ripping!” cries Harrold as he opens Lettice’s gift and finds two beautifully painted jousting lead knights on horseback. “Thanks ever so, Aunt Tice!”
“You’re welcome, darling!” Lettice says from the gilded sofa next to the Christmas tree, accepting the big hug and kiss he bestows on her, carefully holding her glass of champagne aloft.
“Careful Harrold dear!” Lally chides her son softly as sitting beside her sister, she indicates to Lettice’s glass. “Auntie Tice doesn’t want her champagne to go all over Grandmamma’s sofa.”
“No indeed, she does not!” quips Lady Sadie crisply, champagne flute poised to her lips.
“Oh don’t be crabby Sadie,” scolds the Viscount with a crumpled brow as he settles back into the high backed gilded salon chair embroidered in petit point tapestry by his mother. “It’s Christmas!”
“Christmas or not Cosmo, my father gave us this set as part of my dowery.” Sadie retorts, sipping the champagne in a superior fashion in her glass.
“And don’t we all know it!” Cosmo rolls his eyes as he replies.
“I didn’t Pappa,” Lettice admits. “Until last Christmas, when we were decorating the tree in here and Lally told me so. And now I know why you like the Christmas tree in here to be decorated to match the furnishings.”
“Oh you girls! What nonsense!” Lady Sadie scoffs, but the awkward way she goes noticeably silent and turns to gaze into the roaring fire in the white marble fireplace tells everyone present that that that is the exact reason why she has the tree dressed in gold and cream every year.
“Here, hold this.” Lettice hands her glass to her sister before proceeding to envelop her eight year old nephew. “You’re welcome darling boy! Merry Christmas!”
“Merry Christmas!” he replies joyfully. “How did you know that I wanted some knights, Auntie Tice?” Harrold asks, his voice full of enthusiasm as Lettice releases him and he sinks back down to the floor where he sets the jousting knights up.
“Oh, I keep an ear out.” she replies knowingly, giving him a mockingly serious look that makes him laugh.
“You can’t say anything around your Aunt Tice without her paying attention to it.” laughs Lally as she hands Lettice back her champagne flute. “She’s always been the most observant of us, hasn’t she Leslie?”
“Always.” Leslie agrees with a smile.
Turning to her sister Lally adds, making her own adroit observation, “Harrold’s getting a very nice collection of lead soldiers and the like between gifts from you, Pappa and Father Christmas.” She looks with an indulgent smile at the other cavalry lead soldiers her son has been given as he sets them up amongst the detritus of discarded brightly coloured paper and ribbons.
“Ho! Ho! Ho!” booms the Viscount with gusto as he delves beneath the branches of the tree. “Who’s next then?”
“It was good of Pappa to put up a Christmas tree in the entrance hall for Harrold and Belle this year.” Lally remarks to Lettice as she smiles watching her father fossick through the beautifully wrapped gifts.
“Well, he could hardly refuse, could he?” Lettice replies. “With you joining the chorus from the children after we let it slip last Christmas.” She giggles as she puts her glass to her lips. “I don’t think Pappa could stand the din.”
“When the carol singers came up from the village last night and Pappa invited them in for brandy and to warm themselves by the fire in the entrance hall and enjoy the big Christmas tree all covered in tinsel, baubles and lighted candles, it was just like the Christmases before the war.”
“Yes, it was rather.”
“Oh! This is for Belle from Auntie Tice!” the Viscount announces.
“For me, Pappa?” Arabella pipes up, popping her head up queryingly from her husband’s shoulder where she has been contentedly snuggled next to him.
“No, not you, Bella,” Leslie says with an indulgent smile and a calming pat to her hands, encouraging her to lower her head back to where her had been snuggling lovingly against it. “Belle.” He nods in the general direction of his niece.
“No! It’s me, Auntie Bella!” exclaims Annabelle, spinning around excitedly in her pretty pale yellow Jean Lanvin* lace trimmed frock. “It’s for me! For me!”
“It really is too awful of you, Leslie, marrying a girl with a name so similar to Annabelle.” laughs Lally good heartedly.
“Oh, sorry Lally darling. I’ll pick a more appropriately named wife next time.” Leslie replies, the apology rewarded with a kittenish slap to his forearm from his giggling new wife who accuses him playfully of wanting a second wife when they have been married barely a month.
“They do look happy.” Lally remarks to Lettice as she leans in conspiratorially towards her. “I’m glad that Leslie finally decided to marry Bella.”
“Yes, as Gerald said at the wedding,” Lettice replies looking over at her brother and his new bride so deeply in love on the sofa opposite. “They are both country folk. She loves riding and is interested in, and I quote, ‘animal husbandry and all that awfully dirty estate business’.”
A peal of laughter erupts from Lally’s lips. “Oh Gerald does have a way with words. Is he up at the Hall?”
“Yes, with his parents and Roland.”
“Oh, that will be a rather dour Christmas I suspect. That wastrel Roland is almost as bad as Lionel.”
“And thank god Lionel isn’t here for Christmas, in spite of Aunt Egg’s protestations.” Lettice observes quietly. She looks to her beloved aunt drifting distractedly about the room, leaving a trail of cigarette smoke curlicues in her wake, her aqua satin gown cascading round her elegantly as she moves.
“And he didn’t create any more potential scandal whilst he was here, mercifully.” adds Lally, taking a gulp of champagne from her glass at the mere thought of their horrible sibling, detested by the whole family except for Aunt Egg.
“At least Leslie and Bella’s wedding seems to have taken the pressure off me, for the time being at least.” Lettice whispers quietly to Lally. “With so much attention on the wedding, Mater has hardly had time to focus on little old me.”
“Oh poor you!” mocks Lally sarcastically, her eyes glittering with mirth. “How are things going with the dashing young Selwyn?”
“Oh, you know,” Lettice answers, shrugging her shoulders. “Fits and starts.”
“You know,” Lally says kindly. “If the love isn’t there, you shouldn’t try and force it, no matter what Mamma says or wants. I’ve given her several grandchildren, and no doubt Leslie and Bella will add to the brood in no short amount of time.”
“Oh it isn’t that.” Lettice assures her sister. “Selwyn and I are very fond of one another.”
“There peals the chime of an unfinished thought.” Lally remarks knowledgably.
“A teddy!” squeals Anabelle shrilly in sheer delight, breaking the conversation between the two Chetwynd sisters.
Tearing aside the shiny gold paper the Harrod’s toy department Christmas wrappers had so carefully stuck around the soft caramel coloured bear, Arabella pulls out the large, floppy limbed toy and holds him up, scrutinising his smiling embroidered face and shiny amber glass eyes, before enveloping him in the embrace of her chubby arms and planting loving kisses on his cheeks and stitched mouth.
“Oh! What a grand choice, darling!” Lally approves. “You will be the favourite with both my angels today.”
“Oh what a lovely gift, Lettice,” Charles remarks from his armchair where he cradles a glass of port. Looking at his daughter cuddling the stuffed bear almost as big as herself he says, “What do you say to Auntie Tice?”
“Thank you Auntie Tice!” Annabelle says.
“You’re welcome darling! Merry Christmas!”
“I‘m sure Auntie Tice deserves a cuddle for such a splendid gift, Belle.” her mother adds.
“A perfect choice. I don’t know how you do it.” Charles remarks as Lettice is enveloped by her niece who gives her a big hug.
“It helps when you live around the corner from Harrods, Charles darling.” Lally remarks, looking to her husband. “Then you don’t have to rely on the Army and Navy Stores** catalogue.”
“My mother did perfectly well for Christmases for us out of the Army and Navy Stores catalogue when we lived in India!” Charles defends his choice of present sourcing.
“But we don’t live in India,” Lally laughs. “We live in Buckinghamshire, which is far more civilised, and within reach of London by rail. And anyway, nothing the children actually wanted was in that wretched old fashioned catalogue.” Turning back to her sister she continues. “And I’m very grateful for all your help, Tice, organising my requests for Christmas gifts for the children.”
“It’s my pleasure.”
“Ho! Ho! Ho!” says the Viscount. “Who’s next?” He delves into the slowly diminishing pile of gifts beneath the tree. “Oh! It’s for Grandmamma from Grandpappa!” he says jovially as he passes over a small square gift wrapped in red paper tied with an ornate cascade of white ribbons to his wife.
“Oh Cosmo!” Lady Sadie gasps, her face flushing with embarrassment at suddenly being the centre of attention as she gratefully accepts his gift from his extended hand.
“Merry Christmas my dear.” the Viscount replies kindly, giving her a discreet wink, which causes her to blush even more.
“Oh Cosmo! It’s beautiful!” Lady Sadie gasps as she removes an eye catching diamond spray brooch from a blue velvet lined box within the wrapping.
“Oh Mamma!” Lally exclaims admiringly.
“Oh, put it on Mamma!” Lettice adds enthusiastically.
“I… I don’t think I can. My hands are shaking too much.” her mother replies. “I’ll be all thumbs.”
“You put it on her then, Tice,” Lally prods her sister. “You’re always better at sort of thing than me. You have the right eye for how things look.”
Lettice gets up and crosses the thick old floral carpet, dropping to her knees before her mother, the russet coloured silk georgette of her day gown pooling about her. She takes the expensive bauble from her mother’s trembling hand and looks closely at it. Sparkling diamonds in platinum settings wink and glint in the drawing room chandelier’s light. She notices that the design is of pretty asters with elegant stems and leaves shaped in gold. “What a treasure Mamma!”
“Oh Cosmo!” Lady Sadie puts her fingers to her trembling lips as tears of delight create a sheen across her eyes.
“You never cease to be full of surprises, Pappa.” Lettice remarks as she unhooks the c-clasp on the back of the brooch and considers the floral pattern of her mother’s frock.
“So that’s why you had to go up to London that day last month.” Leslie remarks. “You old devil! Banking matters my foot! More like Asprey’s*** I’d say! What cheek! Leaving me to fend for myself, whilst you run off and get something for your lady love!”
“And you did admirably in my absence, my boy.” the Viscount replies proudly. “You’ll be taking over the estate sooner rather than later, and then you’ll need to always have your wits about you.”
“There!” Lettice says with a satisfied sigh, sitting back and admiring the sparking jewelled brooch now affixed safely to her mother’s left bosom. “Go and look in the mirror, Mamma!”
“Should I?” Lady Sadie gathers up her skirts after receiving an encouraging nod from her daughter, and with the soft rustle of silk she glides across the room full of joy and delight where she admires her new piece of jewellery in one of the gilt framed Palladian style pier mirrors on the wall.
“Come on Pappa,” Lally commands. “There are still plenty of gifts beneath the tree. Hopefully,” She looks to her husband. “There might even be one for me by the time you’re through.”
Charles merely smiles enigmatically in reply, but says nothing.
“Oh!” the Viscount announces grandly. “This is for Lettice,” He pauses for effect. “From me!” He chuckles and hands the large square parcel wrapped in pretty holly sprig patterned paper topped with an ornate red satin bow to his youngest child.
Lettice hands her champagne flute to her sister again. “Thanks awfully Pappa.” she replies, her voice thick with emotion as she accepts the gift from her father.
“Merry Christmas darling girl.”
She places it on her lap and runs her hands reverently around the parcel’s edges and momentarily toys with the bow.
“Well don’t just look at it, Lettice,” Charles cajoles from his chair. “Open it up!”
“That’s not Tice’s way.” his wife replies. “Not only is she the most observant of us all, she is also the one who perhaps appreciates her gifts the most.”
“We’d have torn all our presents free of their paper long before Tice had even opened half of hers.” Leslie adds.
“Rip it open! Rip it open!” squeals Annabelle excitedly, jumping up and down with exuberance.
“Belle!” Lally gasps. “Don’t scream and jump up and down like that. It’s most unladylike!” She shakes her head admonishingly. “Grandmamma will think we live in a zoo with you behaving like a screaming monkey.” She quickly adds before her mother can quip about the fact that she does think that or something else disparaging, “This is Auntie Tice’s gift. She can open it how she sees fit.” She eyes her young daughter. “I know you’re anxious to open your next gift, but you must be patient.”
“What do you think it is, Auntie Tice?” Harrold asks, peering with mild interest at the gift in her lap as he sits at her feet.
“Well,” Lettice lifts the present and inspects it closely as she turns it over in her hands. “It’s very heavy, so it must be that crystal chandelier that I want for my drawing room in London.” She gives her nephew a conspiratorial smile and screws up her nose in amusement as he chuckles at her absurd guess.
“A chandelier!” giggles Annabelle as childish peals of laughter burst forth from her upturned mouth. “It can’t be Auntie Tice! It’s too small.”
Lettice considers the parcel again. Looking directly at her niece, she replies, “You’re absolutely right, Annabelle darling! Of course, it’s far too small to be a chandelier. How clever you are. Silly Auntie Tice!”
Annabelle smiles proudly at her aunt’s admission that she is right, raising a finger coyly to her mouth.
“Oh, just open it, Tice!” Lally finally gasps in amused and intrigued exasperation. “Or I’ll do it for you. Don’t be a frightful tease, darling!”
Carefully removing the red satin bow, she runs her fingers under the lip of expertly wrapped paper, severing the tape with her well manicured nail like a letter opener. With a rustling sigh, the paper falls away, revealing a beautiful lapis lazuli blue leather book, decorated with ornate gilded tooling.
“Oh Pappa!” she gasps, taking the book out of its bed of paper, which Lally quickly whisks off Lettice’s lap and onto the floor where it joins the other tattered remnants of Christmas wrapping. “How lovely. Egyptomania…” she reads musingly as she run her hands over the title picked out in a striking red, made even more so by the deep blue and rich golds of the binding surrounding it. “Is this from Mahew’s****?”
“Where else my girl?” the Viscount settles back in his seat comfortably, a satisfied look on his face. “See Leslie. It wasn’t just a visit to Asprey’s I took in whilst I was up in London.”
“Which also explains why you didn’t visit me whilst you were there, Pappa.” Lettice realises.
Pointing at the book, the Viscount continues, “I remember your Great Grandfather Chetwynd talking about the Egyptomania***** that gripped the world after that Frenchman first deciphered hieroglyphs using the Rosetta stone. The illustrations in that book will put you in good stead for the next wave of Egyptomania coming. Everyone is going to want an Egyptian style drawing room.”
“Do you really think this renewed interest in Egyptian style will carry on past Christmas, Pappa?” Lally asks. “It’s just a passing phase, surely.”
“There hasn’t been a discovery like the boy king’s tomb****** in living memory, Lally. This ‘phase’, as you put it, will be a mania that will last. A symbol of the 1920s. You mark my words.” He taps his nose knowingly.
“That’s so thoughtful of you, Cosmo.” Eglantine says standing behind Sadie’s chair, taking a long drag on the Sobranie Black Russian******* through her amber and gold cigarette holder. Blowing out a plume of acrid, yet at the same time exotic, blue smoke, she adds. “A book like that will help Lettice keep ahead of the fashionable trends in design.”
“Don’t encourage her, Eglantine!” hisses Lady Sadie, flapping her hands as much in an effort to silence her bohemian sister-in-law as to drive away the cloying cigarette smoke enveloping her. “You’re as bad as Cosmo!” She shoots an accusing look over her shoulder at her husband, but he is too absorbed watching his youngest daughter’s rapturous enjoyment of his gift to notice her annoyance. “All this interior design nonsense.”
“Why shouldn’t I, Sadie?” Eglantine replies, folding her arms defiantly across the metallic thread embroidery of the bodice of her elegant reformist Paul Poiret******** gown. Staring the seated matron down with a steely and haughty look, she adds, ‘Someone must support the talent of your daughter, since you are obviously too blinkered to nurture it. Cosmo and I can champion her cause since you refuse to.” She smiles over to her older brother in his seat, still looking at his daughter. Turning her gaze to her niece she adds, “She is my favourite nice, after all.”
“I’m sure you say that about all our female cousins, Aunt Egg.” Lally laughs.
“And I keep telling you and your sister that you are all my favourites, Lally. However,” She lifts the long opera length strand of creamy white pearls between the fingers of her elegant left hand and toys with them thoughtfully. “You will never know until after I’m gone.” She laughs raspily. “For then the truth will be exposed through the disbursement of my jewels. To my favourite, or favourites, go the spoils!”
Lost in the beautifully engraved and hand coloured illustrations from the old Victorian volume, Lettice allows the conversation to wash over her, unaware that it centres around her.
“I wouldn’t wonder that Lettice is your favourite, since you are both such awful teases!” Lally laughs good naturedly. “Here Tice. Take your glass back darling. Pappa has more presents to dispense.”
“Before I do,” the Viscount clears his throat as he stands and starts walking across to the gilded table in the centre of the carpet upon which stand two bottles of champagne in wine coolers. “I should like to make a toast.”
He takes up the open bottle of champagne and proceeds to top up all the adults’ glasses, except for Charles who continues to nurse his brandy.
“What is your toast, Pappa?” asks Leslie as he and Arabella join the others in standing.
“To a very merry Christmas, one and all!” he replies, raising his glass.
“Merry Christmas!” everyone else replies enthusiastically, charging their glasses.
*Jeanne Lanvin (1867 – 1946) was a French haute couture fashion designer. She founded the Lanvin fashion house and the beauty and perfume company Lanvin Parfums. She became an apprentice milliner at Madame Félix in Paris at the age of 16 and trained with Suzanne Talbot and Caroline Montagne Roux before becoming a milliner on the rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré in 1889. In 1909, Jeanne joined the Syndicat de la Couture, which marked her formal status as a couturière. The clothing she made for her daughter began to attract the attention of a number of wealthy people who requested copies for their own children. Soon, Jeanne was making dresses for their mothers, and some of the most famous names in Europe were included in the clientele of her new boutique on the rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré. By 1922 when this story is set, she had just opened her first shop devoted to home décor, menswear, furs and lingerie. Her gowns were always very feminine and romantic.
**Army and Navy Stores was a department store group in the United Kingdom, which originated as a co-operative society for military officers and their families during the nineteenth century. The society became a limited liability company in the 1930s and purchased a number of independent department stores during the 1950s and 1960s. In 1973 the Army and Navy Stores group was acquired by House of Fraser. In 2005 the remaining Army & Navy stores (the flagship store located on Victoria Street in London and stores in Camberley, and Chichester) were refurbished and re-branded under the House of Fraser nameplate. House of Fraser itself was acquired by Icelandic investment company, Baugur Group, in late 2006, and then by Sports Direct on the 10 August 2018.
***Founded in 1781 as a silk printing business by William Asprey, Asprey soon became a luxury emporium. In 1847 the business moved to their present premises at 167 Bond Street, where they advertised 'articles of exclusive design and high quality, whether for personal adornment or personal accompaniment and to endow with richness and beauty the table and homes of people of refinement and discernment’. In 1862 Asprey received a Royal Warrant from Queen Victoria. They received a second Royal Warrant from the Future Edward VII in 1889. Asprey has a tradition of producing jewellery inspired by the blooms found in English gardens and Woodland Flora. Over the decades jewelled interpretations of flowers have evolved to include Daisy, Woodland and sunflower collections. They have their own special cut of diamond and produce leather goods, silver and gold pieces, trophies and leatherbound books, both old and new. They also produce accessories for playing polo. In 1997, Asprey produced the Heart of the Ocean necklace worn in the motion picture blockbuster, ‘Titanic’
****A. H. Mayhew was once one of many bookshops located in London’s Charring Cross Road, an area still famous today for its bookshops, perhaps most famously written about by American authoress Helene Hanff who wrote ’84, Charing Cross Road’, which later became a play and then a 1987 film starring Anne Bancroft and Anthony Hopkins. Number 56. Charing Cross Road was the home of Mayhew’s second-hand and rare bookshop. Closed after the war, their premises is now the home of Any Amount of Books bookshop.
*****Egyptomania refers to a period of renewed interest in the culture of ancient Egypt sparked by Napoleon's Egyptian Campaign in the 19th century. Napoleon was accompanied by many scientists and scholars during this Campaign, which led to a large interest after the documentation of ancient monuments in Egypt. The ancient remains had never been so thoroughly documented before and so the interest in ancient Egypt increased significantly. Jean-François Champollion deciphered the ancient hieroglyphs in 1822 by using the Rosetta Stone that was recovered by French troops in 1799 which began the study of scientific Egyptology.
******On the 4th of November 1922, English archaeologist Howard Carter and his men discovered the entrance to the boy king, Pharaoh Tutankhamun's tomb in the Valley of the Kings, sparking a worldwide interest in all things Egyptian. The craze he started became known as Tutmania, and it inspired everything from the architecture of public building and private houses alike to interior design and fashion. Famously at the time, socialite Dolores Denis Denison applied one of the earliest examples of getting the media of the day to pay attention to her because of her dress by arriving at the prestigious private view of the King Tut Exhibition in London, dressed as an Egyptian mummy complete in a golden sarcophagus and had to be carried inside by her driver and a hired man. Although it started before the discovery of the tomb, the Art Deco movement was greatly influenced by Egyptian style. Many of the iconic decorative symbols we associate with the movement today came about because of Howard Carter’s discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb in the Valley of the Kings.
*******The Balkan Sobranie tobacco business was established in London in 1879 by Albert Weinberg (born in Romania in 1849), whose naturalisation papers dated 1886 confirm his nationality and show that he had emigrated to England in the 1870s at a time when hand-made cigarettes in the eastern European and Russian tradition were becoming fashionable in Europe. Sobranie is one of the oldest cigarette brands in the world. Throughout its existence, Sobranie was marketed as the definition of luxury in the tobacco industry, being adopted as the official provider of many European royal houses and elites around the world including the Imperial Court of Russia and the royal courts of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Spain, Romania, and Greece. Premium brands include the multi-coloured Sobranie Cocktail and the black and gold Sobranie Black Russian.
********Paul Poiret was a French fashion designer and a master couturier during the first two decades of the Twentieth century. He was the founder of his namesake haute couture house. In 1911, he introduced "Parfums de Rosine," named after his daughter, becoming the first French couturier to launch a signature fragrance. Poiret's designs were groundbreaking and reformist for the time, and were sought after by fashionable avant garde women of society. He was the first designer to introduce trousers for women, producing harem pants in 1910. However, he was also responsible for the ‘hobble skirt’ which restricted women’s movements to a mere hobble (as the name suggests) by restricting movement of the ankles with the use of an exceedingly narrow hem. Despite his incredible vision, Poiret did not see the change of fashion that came after the Great War, being on the brink of bankruptcy by 1919 thanks to simple sleek designs of new Couturiers like Coco Chanel which he refused to adopt. In 1922, he was invited to New York to design costumes and dresses for Broadway stars, yet he hated America and returned to Paris within the year. In 1929, his fashion house was closed, its leftover stock sold by the kilogram as rags.
This fun Christmas tableau full of festive presents and wrapping may not appear to be all you think it is as first, for it is made up of pieces out of my miniatures collection.
Fun things to look for in this tableau include:
The Chetwynd Christmas tree, beautifully decorated with garlands, tinsel, bows and golden baubles is a 1:12 artisan piece. It was hand made by husband and wife artistic team Margie and Mike Balough who own Serendipity Miniatures in Newcomerstown, Ohio. Margie and Mike Balough also made all the beautifully wrapped Christmas gifts gathered around its base.
The beautiful teddy bear with his sweet, if slightly melancholic, face, the box of lead soldiers and knights jousting all come from Kathleen Knight’s Doll House Shop in the United Kingdom. The lead cavalry and knights have been painstakingly painted by hand with incredible detail and attention paid to their livery.
The discarded blue and gold Christmas wrapping on the carpet of the drawing room are in reality foil wrappers from miniature Haigh’s Chocolate Easter Eggs.
The gilt salon chair is made by the high-end miniature furniture maker, Bespaq, but what is particularly special about it is that it has been covered in antique Austrian floral micro petite point by V.H. Miniatures in the United Kingdom, which makes this a one-of-a-kind piece. The artisan who made this says that as one of her hobbies, she enjoys visiting old National Trust Houses in the hope of getting some inspiration to help her create new and exciting miniatures. She saw some beautiful petit point chairs a few years ago in one of the big houses in Derbyshire and then found exquisitely detailed petit point that was fine enough for 1:12 scale projects.
The three piece Louis XV suite of settee and two armchairs was made by the high-end miniature furniture maker, JBM.
The Persian rug on the floor has been woven by Pike, Pike and Company in the United Kingdom.
Sir Houston and his retainers were assigned to a lookout tower that was adjacent to the Black Falcon's territory. If Sir Houston and his men had kept a better watch, they would have seen the Black Falcon army in time to burn the bridge and send word of the impending attack.
For the MocAthalon, in the Houston We Have A Problem category. (Don't worry I posted it before the deadline.) :-)
For FGR's I Love Geeks and Picture Yourself in Bed
The jacket is a bit tight after twenty years...If only I still had my retainer.
Wolseley Six Eighty
Everything you want to know:
www.680mo.org.uk/scripts/cars.php?parent=Wolseley&ban...
Note: This might be later than 1948, because the first cars did not have chrome headlight retainer rings.
This photo was published in the Southern Midlands News, September 2016.
A gentle reminder about copyright and intellectual property-
Ⓒ Cassidy Photography (All images in this Flickr portfolio)
Old retainer 86614 hauls the 08.19 Crewe Basford Hall - Garston (4F45) Freightliner service through Acton Bridge on 25th July 2014.
Not exactly subtle but ......
This is a very rare PFM Crown model in HO scale. This represents one of only twenty five models made in the first run (1958). Made under the United Models name plate, the premier Japanese maker, Toby Models, made these semi-hand made models to extreme precision and high quality. For it's time, this was one of the top of the line models. Stamped #10 on the left side of the rear frame rail, this model has many features that the subsequent runs did not have (or, where in various stages of these features). Highly detailed cab interior for one. Other details which point to the run year is the hand built train control box mounted on the boiler, the absence of window sashes (all of the following runs had window sashes), a single generator (although two later runs had a single generator, this combination of details gives it away as the 1958 model.
Scale: HO
Category: Steam
Subcategory:
Road: Chicago, Burlington & Quincy (CB&Q)
Whyte: 4-8-4
Description: O-5 NORTHERN
Importer: Pacific Fast Mail (PFM)
Catalog: CROWN
MANUFACTURE
Builder: Toby
Year(s): 1958
Qty Made: 25
NOTES: UNPAINTED - SERIAL # ON LEFT REAR OF FRAME - GREEN BOX - NO WINDOW SASHES IN CAB - SINGLE GENERATOR - BUILT-UP ATC BOX ON TOP OF BOILER - UNITED PLATE ON RETAINER PLATE
Built in 1420, the Grade I listed Erpingham Gate is one of two great gates into the cathedral close on the town side.
One of the most powerful men in late 14th and early 15th England, Thomas Erpingham was a household retainer in the service of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, and helped re-establish order in Norfolk following the upheavals of the 1381 Peasant's Revolt. He fought for Richard II against the Scots, and for Gaunt in Castile and Leon. He then aligned himself with Gaunt's son, Henry Bolingbroke, and followed Bolingbroke abroad when Richard II exiled him.
In 1399 Bolingbroke returned, to make an ultimately successful bid for the throne. Erpingham not only fought with his lord, he commanded an ambush that seized Richard, and had the honour of guarding the deposed king in the Tower of London. When Bolingbroke took the throne as Henry IV, Erpingham became his chamberlain, and gained lands in Norfolk and Suffolk, as well as becoming constable of Dover Castle and Warden of the Cinque Ports. He used his position at court to promote the interests of Norwich, prompting Henry to award a royal charter to the city in 1404. When Henry died, his son dismissed most of his father's counsellors, but he not only kept Erpingham, he named him his royal steward.
However, it is not as Henry V's steward that Erpingham is remembered, but as the commander of Henry's archers at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. It was Erpingham who gave the order to his archers to fire at the pivotal moment, and fire they did, overwhelming a vastly superior force of French mounted soldiers. His role was remembered, even eulogised, by Shakepeare, who called him a 'good old knight' in his play Henry V.
High-line transfer with RFA Retainer (A329). Retainer was launched on Jan 19th 1950 as a liner and then later sold for use as an RFA. De-commissioned April 1978 and Scrapped in Spain 1979
1st of May and time to photograph this 300 year old Beech tree It has finally turned green after a very cold spring.
I've always been fond of this retaining wall (and the terraced layers) at the edge of Omaha's Elmwood Park.
After the siege and capture of Ilan castle, the men under the command of prince William Edwaedson and Cassandra Edwaedsdottir had set up camp around the stronghold to await the arrival of reinforcements from the three kingdoms of the northern alliance.
“Uuurgh!” Roger moaned. Ranger-captain Martin Godwinson looked up from his book “Anything wrong?” the gnome stood up from his bedroll inside their tent. “Nothing, It’s just, I’m bored alright. We’ve been stuck here for almost a week already. Hell, I almost wish we were raiding supply lines again.” “You could have gone with Thirn.” Martin suggested. Roger gave him a sarcastic glare. “Really, me, a three-foot-tall gnome in a drinking competition with dwarfs? I’m flattered about your faith in me mate, but I wouldn’t last a single goddamn minute.” Martin sipped from his yet hot tea “Alright, I can see your point there.” “And I somewhat doubt that Celdric would be overly enjoyed if I busted in during one of his romantic trips with Elana.” He smiled. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy for the bloke that he found someone.” He scratched his short beard. “Never thought the elf would be the first of us though.”
“Ahum, sir?” They both turned their heads to see the helmeted head of one of Williams huscarls poking through the tent flaps “Aye?” “Captain, the prince has asked for your presence.” Martin rose from his stool “Well, Roger, you wanted something to do.” He winked “you can act as my retainer” “Sure, captain.” He gestured towards the woman “Lead the way.” She saluted and guided them towards the makeshift command post in the middle of the camp. On the way she gave them a few curious glances. Eventually she opened her mouth to ask a question. “Er, Mr…?” “Fellstorm, Magus Roger Fellstorm” “Magus Fellstorm.” She said “If you don’t mind, would like to ask you something.” “Err, sure love, go for it.” “Well, you are clearly a wizard.” The gnome nodded “Yet you serve with the rangers, most wizards tend to stay somewhat at the back.” “Well, the first reason is that I’m a good friend of the captain right here and that he asked me very nicely to join his party of merry men. This seemed like a good idea to me as I was somewhat broke at the time. Also, Martin and friends are a bit shit and would surely die somewhere in the middle of nowhere without yours truly.” But the mage wasn’t done yet “Furthermore, I’m not one of those casters who just locks himself up in tower all day to study, I like the world way too much for that. You might know that not all wizards use the same set of spells, most of us specialise in one or more of the lore’s of magic. These are basically collections of spells that follow the same style. You have the lore of light, the lore of earth, the lore of nature, (which is basically the same thing as druid’s use, except that it isn’t while it kind of is) just to name a few. Pretty much every wizard will learn a few spells from every lore, next to the universal lore. This is a set of basic spells that every wizard should know. Although I have a suspicion that those who classified the spells just couldn’t be bothered to classify them. Some prefer to just lean spells from all lore sans become a jack off all trades, but most will find a particular set of spells that interests them. One of mine is he lore of shadows, a set off spells that specialise in stealth and being all sneaky like. Stuff that is quite useful for the rangers.” Then Martin tipped him on the shoulder “Roger mate, she asked for a short explanation, not for a treatise on magic.” The magus gave a somewhat awkward smile “Sorry Miss, got a bit carried away, I’m afraid.”
At this point in time, the three arrived at the command post in the centre of the camp, surrounded by several guards, many of whom Martin recognised as royal huscarls, arguably the finest fighters in the realm, further there was, of course, his friend prince William Edwaedson, the eldest son of jarl Fiona Boldwinsdottir, Bohort Richardson and an unknown person. He had the ears of an elf, yet lacking the refined features of one. Martin therefore concluded he must be a half-elf. Closer inspection also revealed a small silver badge on his chest, bearing the crown of Bregonas. He walked up to his friend “Goodday William, how are things?” to say that this rather simple greeting shook the half-elf is like saying that trolls aren’t very clever: a slight understatement at the best of times. He knew the northerners weren’t massive fans of formality, but this? William noticed this (not that that was particularly difficult.) “Calm down, lord Serelan, Ranger-captain Martin here is one of my oldest friends, he has earned that right.” He turned again to the ranger “Good to see you to mate.” He gestured towards the Bregonian “By the way, meet lord Serelan Sunflare, an observer from the kingdom of Bregonas, here to, well, observery things. Now, you might be curious why I asked you here.” “You wanted someone who didn’t call you ‘your grace’ or ‘my lord’ all the bloody time and who will punch you in the face when you get too drunk?” Martin suggested. William smiled, while the observer became bleaker by the minute. “No mate, I’ve already got Bohort and my sister for that.” Bohort grinned. “You’re perfectly welcome to drink with us in a moment.” “Perhaps later. Something tells me that I have to drag a wasted dwarf back to his tent in a moment.” Bohort first looked like he wanted to make a comment on this, then just murmured a simple “I don’t want to know.” “See you in the evening then. Now, let’s get serious for a moment.” He pointed towards one of the maps on the table before them. “Lately, we are having some issues with our supply lines. Some of them that go through this area, just, disappear, annihilated by raiders.” Martin frowned “But those caravans are usually fairly well guarded.” Bohort nodded “You are right there, but these ain’t your ordinary ruffians anymore. They are led by someone who they refer to as the ‘bandit king’. He has gathered dozens of men under his banner, some even say that some orc and goblin raiders have joined his merry bunch. Long story short, enough men to ambush a few non-suspecting guards.” Martin rubbed his chin. “Grave news indeed, but can’t this be handled by local forces?” “Aye, we tried, but small forces were simply overrun and if we presented them with a superior force, they would simply melt into the forest, leaving nothing in their tracks but cold campfires by the time our forces arrived.” William explained. “In other words, you need the rangers.” “exactly.” “Well, I’m flattered for your faith in me, but gathering from your words we are facing at least a hundred men, probably more, while I have something like thirty-odd men and I have more rangers than anybody here.” “Don’t worry, we’ve thought of that.” The prince picked up a scroll from the table and handed it over to the ranger-captain “A letter off attorney, signed by yours truly. It will allow you to pick up some regular soldiers from around here, furthermore, it will also ensure the cooperation of local lords and ladies or their representatives. The first part though is more of a request and a sign of my permission than a direct order. So if I were you, I’d mainly ask friendly lords or other people who still owe you one. Besides you don’t even have to take them out immediately, as long as keep them busy.” After this, the three chatted onwards for a while, before Martin returned to Roger, who had been waiting at a respectful distance, chatting away with a minotaur. The ranger explained their new task to the gnome, who thought about it for a while “You know, I think I know some fellas who’d wile to tag along. The first candidate besides the others of the company is going to be fairly obvious, isn’t it? Unless you Celdric to be pissed for the entire bloody way.” Martin nodded and noted the name ‘Elana Goodwind on the parchment. “Alright then, anyone else?” “Sure, just follow me.” He said as he guided him through the camp “the next candidate is one of my best and oldest friends besides you lot, remember Sarah Brightspark?” “the engineer?” “Aye, that one.” Roger said as the arrived by a tent with a make-shift workbench in front of it. Next to it, sat a female gnome, bent over some project. She had put her long, red hair in a ponytail, with a pair of welding goggles pulled over, acting as a hairband, further, she wore an orange jacket, with brown trousers, held up by a large tool belt. “Oi, Sarah!” Roger yelled. “Oh hi Roger.” She said “How you doing?” “Fine, thank you very much. Say, how would you like to get out of this rather boring place.” The wizard say a slight sparkle appear in hear eyes. “Go on then.” “how would you like to go with us on a personal mission of the prince?” “Sounds interesting” she said “I had to resolve to reassembling my guns again to keep me busy. I’ll get packing. I assume you will resolve this with master engineer Copperclip?” “Wonderful, knew I could count on you, I’ll fill you in on the details later.” “sure, see you later.”
“Any more suggestions?” Martin asked “a few yes. I’ll go to the later. You?” “I think I’m going to see jarl James Williamson, he owes me one, so let’s see if we can relieve him of some of his gallowglasses.” Roger laughed “lead the way mate.”
木遣りとはしご乗り
The history behind Hikeshi is dated as far back as the Edo Tokugawa Shogunate era. In 1650, the Japanese government appointed two Direct Retainer of the Shogun as the first "Hikeshis", they are the founders of "Jyobikeshi" Association.
Furthermore, in 1717 the rein of Shogun Yoshimune, there were two new associations formed. Eleven hereditary feudal lords were appointed the task of organizing the "Daimyobikeshi (Hikeshi for the castles)" and the other one which had a slower start was called "Machibikeshi (Hikeshi for the town)." Till then, the "Jyobikeshi" and "Daimyobikeshi" were responsible for the Edo Castle and Old Samurai residences. The daily fire needs were accommodated by the ordinary construction workers turned Hikeshis, this was supported by the local residents' association. (HP of Japan Hikeshi Preserving Foundation)
Katsukawa Shunsho 1726-1793
Ichikawa Masugoro as Kempei (left) in act V of a Treasury of Loyal Retainers, about 1780
I guess all babies need naps & it was hot. It was funny to see this baby suddenly sit down and wiggle, wiggle, wiggle until it had made a little hollow nest for itself in the cool loose dirt and bird feeder debris. It would close one eye at a time, resting and cooling off, while keeping watch with the other eye. Good survival skills.
Juvenile American Robin (Turdus migratorius)
My photos can also be found at kapturedbykala.com
The train stopped here, I assume, to set the brake retainers for the grade down to the Wabash river, just ahead. Off to the left is Purdue's Zucrow Laboratory where I did my graduate engineering research way back when,
Canadian Pacific's train 281, muscles out of Reeseville after checking their train for a set retainer just east of town.
Church of St Bartholomew, Crewkerne Somerset built of dressed limestone and golden-coloured Ham Hill stone
The present church dates mainly to 15c - early 16c, rebuilt in Perpendicular Gothic style with the riches of the local wool and textile industry , but whose origins date back earlier.
The architect was William Smyth, master of Wells Cathedral from 1475 until his death in 1490 who at least was responsible for the west front & south porch , (He also worked at Sherborne Abbey as well as at St. John's, Glastonbury & while he was at Wells was given the freedom of the city, receiving a retainer of £1.6s.8d yearly and a house rent free, in addition to his fees) . He was responsible for some important fan vaults at a time when the construction of these still lay in the future.
It is believed to stand on the site of a church mentioned in the 1086 Domesday Survey dedicated to St. Stephen. All trace of this Saxon church has gone, but masonry from the previous 13c Norman church remains in some of the walls.
The large square font with 6 incised arches on each face, is probably Norman , possibly now standing on a more modern base www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/314Hcj
The cruciform building was raised on the late 12c / early 13c Norman foundations of an earlier church, for which the only surviving evidence above ground today is some of the lower stonework of the central tower, including a single blocked Early English window, visible internally to the north.
It consists of a chancel, clerestoried nave of 4 bays, aisles, transepts, south porch and embattled central tower with angle turrets. It seats 800 .
No major structural alterations have taken place since the Reformation in the 16c but there have been many changes to the furnishings and fittings to suit the various phases of protestant worship that followed.
The church was restored, with the exception of the chancel, in 1887-9, at a cost of £3,3157, ( Major Sparks, of Crewkerne, contributing £700): in 1893, two readers' stalls and 24 bench ends, all of carved oak, were erected:
The whole chancel was restored and decorated in 1899 by the Hussey family who are remembered in the east window.:
The central section of the west gallery was removed in the late 19c to reveal the great west window. The organ there was relocated to the south transept.
in 1904 the carved oak fan vaulting in the tower lantern www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/f4gmCE was presented by an anonymous donor, and in 1906 a new organ costing £2,000 was given by Miss Sparks:
The tower has a chiming clock of 1902 costing £250, and 8 bells, recast and rehung, with 2 new ones added in 1894, at a cost of £600, of which amount C. W. Haslock and Messrs. W. Sparks and G. Joliff contributed £400:
The main altar was moved under the tower crossing in the 1960’s and a new altar table, made in burred oak by local craftsmen, was provided in 2003.
Narrow and low compared with the nave, the chancel reflects the form of the earlier church. www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/f44MLB Behind the high altar there is a carved stone reredos of 1903 given by Miss Hussey depicting the Last Supper. On either side are 15c doorways, now blocked, which led to a former vestry. One door is carved with pigs, the other with angels, signifying which to choose for "clean" Christian living. www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/JA5spv
The oldest memorial in the church, on the south wall, is a brass effigy of Thomas Golde who died in 1525. www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/5sFo37
Corbels once supported a rood screen at the entrance to the chancel, one of these features a “green man”. www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/5ax1a6
The north transept completed c 1530 , with its group of Tudor-style chapels, is architecturally the richest part of the interior and the last part to be completed. The Woolminstone Chapel is flooded with light from the broad flat-arched windows. The tiny former Children’s Chapel contains an imposing 17c memorial to the Merefield family. www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/fN61Hr
A room above the stone fan-vaulted ceiling www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/25q12u in the south porch can be reached by a door high up on the wall of the nave. Outside there is a niche with a statue of St Bartholomew above the door and there are many gargoyles and other grotesque carvings decorating the parapet around the building, www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/98x5jP
The west front is considered to be the finest in Somerset after Wells Cathedral. It is suggested that the design with its seven-light window flanked by octagonal stair turrets, was influenced by St George’s Windsor and King’s College Chapel due to royal chaplains present among the rectors at that time. The moulded doorway with adjoining niches, sculpted figures and tracery, although decayed, is of exceptional quality. www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/iJ85ku
Picture with thanks - copyright Mike Searle CCL www.geograph.org.uk/photo/868366
This is a very rare PFM Crown model in HO scale. This represents one of only twenty five models made in the first run (1958). Made under the United Models name plate, the premier Japanese maker, Toby Models, made these semi-hand made models to extreme precision and high quality. For it's time, this was one of the top of the line models. Stamped #10 on the left side of the rear frame rail, this model has many features that the subsequent runs did not have (or, where in various stages of these features). Highly detailed cab interior for one. Other details which point to the run year is the hand built train control box mounted on the boiler, the absence of window sashes (all of the following runs had window sashes), a single generator (although two later runs had a single generator, this combination of details gives it away as the 1958 model.
Scale: HO
Category: Steam
Subcategory:
Road: Chicago, Burlington & Quincy (CB&Q)
Whyte: 4-8-4
Description: O-5 NORTHERN
Importer: Pacific Fast Mail (PFM)
Catalog: CROWN
MANUFACTURE
Builder: Toby
Year(s): 1958
Qty Made: 25
NOTES: UNPAINTED - SERIAL # ON LEFT REAR OF FRAME - GREEN BOX - NO WINDOW SASHES IN CAB - SINGLE GENERATOR - BUILT-UP ATC BOX ON TOP OF BOILER - UNITED PLATE ON RETAINER PLATE
This masterpiece of Gothic architecture is one of the finest in England – it’s certainly my favourite of those that I’ve visited. Construction began in 1175 on the site of an earlier cathedral and an even earlier church dating from 705AD. The main part of the cathedral was finished in 1306 although additions continued until the 15th century. In the 14th century, the central pillars were found to be sinking under the weight of the main tower which had been damaged by an earthquake in the previous century. Scissor arches were inserted to brace and stabilise these pillars supporting the tower. These elegant arches form a very unusual, but very beautiful, centre to the cathedral.
Might delete later...
I have to go to bed now. I'm exhausted and tired of seeing men in too-tight outfits flaunting their armpit hair (haha olympics).
Ummm I'm going to Lillie's to stay for a few days and then going camping depending on the condition of Wendy's ankle (just found out it's been broken since our beach trip...OUCH poor Wendy), but I'll be back for postivers sometime next week and Lillie and I will have shoots if we go camping at TIMOTHY LAKE. Whoop whoop! So bye bye until soon, loves.
I HATE CLEAR RETAINERS.
Explored #217.
"Your everlasting summer you can see it fading fast
So you grab a piece of something that you think is gonna last"
By Steely Dan, (from 1972),
The glass retainer/fastener at bottom right of the image, is largely responsible for this image, i thought it resembled a Fishing reel, and that set a thought chain in motion. ;-))
The walls were made of bamboo and mud, so the rooves and straw on the sides are needed to protect them from the elements. One disadvantage of the watering system on the streets to melt the snow: you have to shovel heavy slush instead of light snow.
Some places encourage quiet contemplation. The people in this photo scarcely moved during the six second exposure.
There are plans afoot to demolish this and replace it all with an exclusive five star hi-rise hotel. There are rumours afoot some on the Town Council are being paid a retainer by a rival seaside town to the east.
It was in the Pavilion shown here that Archie Christie first proposed to the young Agatha Miller. Two years later he was a Royal Flying Corps pilot home on a short leave and they married on Christmas eve 1914. Archie returned to France on Boxing Day.
The naval vessels HMS ARK ROYAL , RFA RETAINER and HMS SALISBURY in company in the Far East, in the Singapore region in August 1963.
HMS ARK ROYAL had arrived at Singapore on the 11 July 1963 in preparation for the FOTEX 63 (Flag Officers Tactical Exercise) exercise. She left Singapore for the exercise on 25 July, returning on the 6 August. She also conducted further exercises off Singapore in August.( Information from www.axfordsabode.org.uk/pdf-docs/arkroy17.pdf)
HMS ARK ROYAL was on her Forth Commission (1962-64) and one note worthy item was that in January 1963 she conducted the first landing on of the Hawker P1127 (Sea Harrier trial aircraft) on her flight deck. This occurred in the Lyme Bay area while Ark Royal was working up prior to her trip to the Far East.
The samurai houses had walls between them made of adobe and bamboo, so a roof let them last longer in a rainy climate. In Kanazawa, the snow is cleared from the streets by pouring water on the snow. A constant flow keeps it from freezing. The adobe also has bamboo mats on the sidewalls protecting them from ice forming and breaking it apart.
House Stonmer is one of the younger houses of Roawia.
The Lords of Stonmer moved their estate from Loreos to Lenfald only a few generations ago. While their loyalty to Lenfald is not in question, they still keep with the traditions of their former home province: their house colours are read and gold their emblem is the Loreesi gilded falcon.
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This build is an entry for the Mini Global Challenge III "Noble Houses of Roawia" for the Lands of Roawia Lego RPG at the merlins-beard.com forum.
Bludd is a hitman and bounty hunter that Cobra Commander had on retainer to solve problems he couldn't solve on his own.
Number 7 for 115 Pictures in 2015 : The Number Seven
Most of these newish huts at Alum Chine don't have a view of the beach.
They have what estate agents describe as 'sea glimpses'.
My beachhut has a view of the sea much impaired this season by the placing of two industrial bin retainers right opposite.
The council moved the bins but the metal remains,
I don't really want to sit there any more, so I shall remind the powers that be that they promised to remove it !