because it's raining today and the movie's so good.

www.benjaminbrueckner.com

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Because CDKEY prices are changing every day! Please ask me the specific price!

because the buckeye flowers look kind of like fireworks in the sky

Because of recent news relating to the development [re-development] of Cherrywood in the South of County Dublin I decided to see if I had any relevant photograph but the earliest usable photographs were taken in July 2013. I do know that I did photograph the area in 2010 and possibly in 2009 but I cannot locate the original photographs.

This photograph was taken in 2013 but nothing really changed between 2010 and 2013,

Back in 2010 I made the following comment online:

“The New Luas Extension Has Been Criticised By Commuters Who Cannot Park.”

“When it comes to transport in Dublin there have been two success stories in recent years. The DublinBike scheme is one and the other is the Luas tram system. Last Monday was a beautiful sunny day and after photographing the Dublin Marathon I decided that it would be a good idea to get the Luas to Cherrywood to see if I could take a few photographs. It was explained to me, by a gentleman that I met on the tram, that the land is now tied up in NAMA and as a result it cannot be developed as a park and ride facility. Commuters were turned away from the new Cherrywood terminus on opening day as there were no parking facilities available.”

“Cherrywood is one of Dublin's newest suburbs and as can be seen from my photographs it is partly developed and there are some very large empty spaces and believe it or not there is a shortage of parking spaces. Some time ago a decision was made to extend the Sandyford (Green) Luas line to Cherrywood and construction started in February 2007 and the line became operational this month (October 2010) There are now two Luas stops in Cherrywood: Cherrywood and the terminus, Brides Glen.”

I would suggest that the tram stop at Laughanstown could be described as being in the area.

FRIDAY 10 FEB 2016:

Hines Ireland has officially started work on the first key phase of construction at Cherrywood in South County Dublin. If all goes well up to 30,000 people will live at Cherrywood by early in the next decade meaning that it will be as large as Bray and even larger than a town such as Athlone.

Brian Moran said, “The upfront delivery of the roads, cycle and pedestrian network and three wonderful parks is a pivotal moment for the Cherrywood project. These will be the green lungs for this modern new town and this not only strikes the right environmental note for Cherrywood to come but it also underpins our commitment to expedite the delivery of the 4,000 modern new homes within the Hines land holding."

"We are acutely aware of the enormous public demand for new housing stock and the submission of planning for the new €875 million Cherrywood Town Centre in the coming months will include 1300 new smart design apartments as part of this highly ambitious plan.”

In 2014, Hines acquired Cherrywood in South Dublin. The two components of this investment include an existing 52,000-square-meter office park and a 390-acre master-planned development site. The Cherrywood site has been acquired with approval for the construction of a new, retail-led mixed-use town center; up to 3,800 apartments and houses; and zoning capacity to expand the second largest office park in Dublin to three times its current size.

Mr. Moran is the Senior Managing Director responsible for developing Hines’ Ireland projects. He established the Hines platform in Ireland which currently has more than €1.2 billion of retail, office and residential assets under management, in addition to a major development pipeline which includes an additional €500 million of retail development and over 4,000 residential units. He rejoined the firm in 2011 having previously worked with Hines in Russia in the 1990's.

Because of the great fire wall of Chinese policy, it's so hard to cross the limit to visit flickr, so I could not reply my dear friends, I'm so sorry about that and please forgive me,thank you so much and hope my friends can still hit on me！由于中国网络原因，访问flickr很困难，速度很慢，所有暂时没有办法一一回应各位好友，请朋友们见谅！还请各位好友继续关注我！

My pro account is out of time，thank you my friends here for supporting me what a long time！！May I have a pleasure to receive a pro gift from you？我的pro账号到期了，感谢朋友们长期以来的热心支持！！有好心人能赞助一个pro账号给我吗，在此先表感谢！！

If you want to use or buy this image，please contact me. 版权所有，转载请联系本人。

Because size matters.

I have never been the big smoothie fan - only because it's another one of those things people become obsessed with. They start replacing meals with them and it's all smoothie this, and smoothie that. Well, now I might be a scaled down version of one of those people (grin). First, don't do smoothies instead of good meals! However, I have found them to be quite useful now that I am mega-dosing some vitamins and nutrients. Vitamin C for example; you can't take 8000 mg of C a day by pill. You need to use the powder and you sure don't want to drink that in water!

The vitamin C powder isn't terrible tasting but it is really tart and bitter. So, a tasty and healthy cover up does the trick. Here is the one I made this morning:

I find I need a liquid of some kind. You want a smoothie thick but not impossibly thick and why just dilute it with water? So, my answer--antioxidant power! I take about 4 oz of fresh steeped green tea and spoon in my vitamin c powder - let that dissolve.

In my super smoothie maker goes:

3 strawberries

1 med pear

1 small apple

3 oz greek yogurt

the green tea with vitamin c

a couple of ice cubes

Voilà! My Green Tea - Vit C Smoothie

You get your great morning fruit,

You get 7 g of protein in the yogurt

You get a mega dose of Vitamin C

You get the many powers of green tea

Because sometimes you just want a slice of some good, old-fashioned, pepperoni pizza. Yum! :P

This vehicle, an old Dodge truck, is decaying. Very evidently. Because of what you see on it, this decay has ben going on for years, maybe decades. If you return to it in say 100 years, you will find a very evident and much increased level of decay. Such is the way of all things on earth, man,material, mammal,etc. The process is destroying the truck, slowly but most certainly. Everything about the truck is being attacked by this inevitable process. No one in their right mind would say that as a result of this process one day many eons from now, if you you were to return to the truck, you would find a revised, reinvigorated, and vastly improved and superior truck before you. Evolution though, says this very thing. In spite of a very evident process which breaks down and destroys things. This kind of thinking says that somehow this destructive process is actually, in the end, a creative process. That in breaking down it is but a preparation for phase two, creation or re-creation.. Not only so, but that what drives this process is not anyone or anything that can be defined or explained. Rather, it is simply a wonderful mystery. If I say I believe in a God, which I do,a creator of all things including man, by some who believe in the other point of view, I invite the accusation that I have lost control of my reasoning, amongst other things.

But the nature of spiritual blindness is to not only become blinded in one's spirit, the unseen part that is different from the mind and it's ability to process...but in the ability to reason. Because when you can have an evident process of decay in front of you and all around you everywhere, never creating but always destroying, and yet call that same process the great birthing and creative process behind the existence of man and the whole universe...you have a deep blindness that has penetrated the reasoning ability. Where the obvious is misconstrued and reinterpreted, frankly into nonsense. A person should reason, by all means. But we should also always make sure reality lines up with our reasoning and vice versa. We can be wrong, about many things. And as we get older, if we humble ourselves to admit it, we see how often we have been wrong about so very many things in life.

39 years ago, nearing 40 soon, I had an experience which changed my life. I was not a believer in God at the time, nor did I come from a religious background in my family while growing up.I was actually stoned at the time, a part of the story I used to leave out because I believed it would cause people to discredit my story about what happened to me. Then I realized a number of years ago that it was important to tell it as it happened rather than leave out a fact, whatever anyone would think. I was a pot smoker over the course of fourteen years. Sometimes I smoked pot daily for a length of time, sometimes it was periodic and not daily. Suffice to say I was a seasoned and experienced pot smoker. I know well where pot took me in the experience of smoking it. Sometimes it could be a powerful mystical experience, so it seemed when you are high....other times not so much. Like anything, you get used to it. Getting used to it, well like anything, it erodes the original thrill of the experience. You get stoned, sure, but its not brand new anymore. I found that the 'best' high was always in the morning, after that, it was all downhill the rest of the day. wouldn't use that word to describe pot anymore, not just because of a faith in a God, but because my experience with it eventually led to seeing a dark side to it. I used to love pot, the smell of it, smoking it, the experience it took you into. It amazes me today that I now see a true darkness to it, something I no longer want any part of. Anyone who wants to praise pot to me, to argue for it's 'harmlessness'....now....I say they are either naïve, they don't really know what they're talking about. Or they are not being honest. Whatever pot 'gives' you, in the experience, it takes more from you. Simply put, it is destructive to your heart and mind. I know that from experience.

All that being said, smoking a joint or two back in the day with a couple of other people never put me out of my mind, out of control, or in some delusional state. As some who know next to nothing nothing about it might assert or think. Sure, you would be 'stoned'. Just like some folks might be a little drunk from three or four beer. But in neither condition do most people lose their grip on reality. I certainly didn't back then.

One day in the latter part of February in 1981, I got stoned with two other people behind the student residence building at the University of Victoria campus in Victoria, B.C. In Canada for those who wonder. We smoked two joints, No big deal. Was I stoned? Yes. Was I incapable of forming thoughts therefore, conversing,etc? Absolutely not.

Now I didn't feel good about this particular getting high once we were finished and I began to walk the short walk back home where I as a college student was renting a room in a basement along with three other university students. Why? Well, about six moths earlier I had genuinely prayed to to God, alone by myself, asking Jesus Christ to come into my heart. Someone I worked with that previous summer was a Christian, and not afraid to talk about God, Jesus, or the bible. I remember his name, it was, for me at least, an unusual name: Maylan Antrum. Maylan was a serious but straight forward guy. We were car pooling. One day 5 or 6 of us were returning home. Maylan began to ask a couple of of guys what they thought of the bible,then he asked me. I answered that it was a good history book. That was a dishonest answer, I knew nothing about the bible. His reply I remember: Oh, it's much more than that. After listening to the continuing conversation in this vein, I then asked a genuine question:how do you become a Christian? I knew zero about the bible, about God, I had no real clue what a Christian was, how one became one.

To this question he replied explaining, that God created everything, that sin was in all people, that Jesus died on his cross for all sin, that he also rose from the dead, and that to become a Christian I must receive Christ's forgiveness thru hius death for me, as well as Christ himself as not only saviour but Lord. I didn't really understand what accepting Jesus as Lord meant except on a very basic level of what word 'Lord' meant to me...but I did think it a bit strange to make someone who died, and I guess in my mind,still dead, my 'Lord'. I was okay with everything else, but though he told me Jesus rose from the dead, it was like I really didn't get the implication of that, as monstrously large as it was. It's important to know that though I came from no religious background, no religious upbringing, I had still developed some thoughts and feelings about reality and existence from an early age, and one of the things I concluded by age 16 or 17 was that you don't live life, come to it's end, and then cease to be. It would be just as accurate to say, after me thinking about it consciously and clearly, that I refused to accept that that was how things worked. I 'felt' that was not and could not be true. my feeling was based on this thought: if that's how life ends, what is the point? I certainly couldn't see one if it simply ends permanently and completely. Some of the same people, not all, who believe the process of decay and disorder brought about the whole physical universe, might think someone like me is a bit loose in the head for not accepting the finality of death. I have already explained why I think these people are not in a position to make such a claim. So I had had thoughts, feelings, experiences, even formed some conclusions about life and reality long before I ran into someone like Maylan Antrum. When I came across him, and some other folks that summer of 1980, for the first time, I actually paid attention to Christians and what they had to say. Prior to that I neither cared nor knew anything them, the bible, God, and Jesus.

After thinking about what he said, I decided I wanted to become a Christian. Something about it felt right, and true, to me in my heart. One day, not long after that conversation in the car, I prayed a prayer to God while alone in my parent's home where I lived downstairs that summer. I admitted or confessed that yes, I was a sinner and had sin in me, and I asked God to forgive me and asked Jesus to be my saviour and Lord. It would be an understatement to say that inside I was really hoping, not necessarily expecting, some sort of cataclysmic experience to occur as a result of my prayer to God.It would also be an understatement to say I was disappointed, to say the least, when I felt nothing happen during or after my prayer. Though somewhat disappointed, this did not diminish my belief that this stuff about God and Jesus and his death on a cross, even his rising from the dead, was true. I now believed I was a Christian, and I began shortly thereafter to read the bible, starting the new testament.

The summer ended, and not by original plan, I ended up in Victoria that fall at a local college. Many things occurred over the next almost 6 moths. One of them was the urge to occasionally smoke some pot, have a few drinks, and enjoy my youth with other people of my age. I never felt good about this when it occurred, as it occasionally did over the next six moths. I felt guilt in my conscience, believing it wasn't right in God's eyes. Fast forward to

Polaroid OneStep 600 Express

Because that's what ducks do!

i haven't been taking many pictures lately. i haven't been inspired and i'm feeling a bit low. i decided to do this type of photo simply because of the title, it's true. i've kind of based it on post secret, i might do more in this style. like a whole post-it note set.

i took this at 1:30am, i was led in bed feeling sorry for myself, thinking what could i do to make myself feel a bit better. and then i saw my camera on my chest of drawers. i started to think of picture ideas and this one came to mind. i was going to wait until morning to take it but i couldn't sleep.

i feel better now :)

Because CDKEY prices are changing every day! Please ask me the specific price!

Hii ^___^

Uff, I'm feeling so bad ._____.

Because I don't have much time for flickr in moment and that makes me kinda sad really!!!

It's so hard without you, your photos and your dolls.. aaaah I miss you soo damn much. Please believe me!!

And I miss taking pictures of my dolls too..

I'm busy because of school stuff. We write/ wrote some works and I had/ have to learn a lot for them.. school is awful and especially stressful!!!

I think I have more time starting wednesday, I hope so!!!

I also hope you can understand me and please, don't get mad with me, I'd like to have more time :(((

Wish you all the best and a wonderful sunday anyway!!!!

*hugs*

This photo was taking by me, I love horses ♥ :D

And I hope you can understand me, as you know my english isn't so good xDD

uiiii ,____,

I have no other outlet for this essay, so if you're just here to see the photograph, then that's just dandy, but if you have the time to read my essay, any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Because We Can

There are few genuine human rights - rights which we should fight for, die for if necessary. These include the right to life and political participation, right to subsistence and rights to peace and clean environment. 1 There are rights which we can expect, which our local government has provided us. Then there are the “rights” Which many of us expect because society implies that that they are essential, often incorrectly, sometimes illegally and almost always inappropriately.

We live in a state of entitlement at the moment. I suspect this is something which may apply generally to the world, especially the western “civilised” world but, as it is the place I know best, I know it applies to England. There is a new motto on the lips of almost everybody in this fair country - “because we can”. People no longer choose to think about the moral, ethical or financial factors involved in their decisions. If I want to do something, I feel entitled to it, and therefore I will do it.

This attitude, this state of entitlement, has become particularly obvious in the last few days - the cry of “because we can” has been heard over the airwaves, seen on screen, written in text, tweeted, facebooked, and I’m sure, even google plussed, not just by the easily targetable social groups that some areas of the media and society have chosen to blame. Now we have entered the post-event analysis of causes, the common theme is commentators using the riots as evidence of their own specific issues; “the riots are clear confirmation of my long-held view that {insert pre-existing world view here}” 2 This is endemic in our country, and is ruining the nation and the state that we live in.

The much maligned annual educational statistics offer a prime example. “It is estimated that at least 1 in 4 of our economically active adults is functionally innumerate ... 22% of 16–19-year-olds are functionally innumerate” 3 "After 11 years of formal education, employers say they get kids coming to them who can't read, who can't write, who can't communicate, and don't have that work ethic."4 Is it the fault of the educators? Is it even the fault of the government? Or is this entitlement state also to blame? How many teachers out there have had students demanding that “they get them an A*”, as if the responsibility is that of the educator, not the educated? Work hard, and life will be your reward. If I had any belief that extending maths teaching from 5 to 16 to 5 to 18 would improve the aforementioned statistics, I would support this idea, but I know that just extending the course will do precisely nothing to extend the education. These children are being educated - there is no question that the education is there and is being provided. But if I teach the concept of differential equations to students who have spent their educated lives opting out with low attendance, submitting no homework, poor behaviour in class, they will not learn - they resist the teaching available. By the time they are 16, they would have had numerous maths teachers with many styles so no one teacher can be blamed. They will be just as unable to solve these equations as the child who has spent 2 terms learning how a compass point can be used to make patterns in a pencil tin lid. There is a huge portion of society out there that believes that leaving school before one has achieved any qualifications is justifiable, because the state will look after them - the benefits system will provide. Why shouldn’t we avoid all education? Because we can. Because it’s not my responsibility, and it’s my right to.

The situation is the same with smoking. Smoking is a legal right. Smoking is permissible in public in almost all countries. There are certain rules and regulations that have been introduced by various societies to try to curb the socially negative aspects of smoking, and taxes rise and rise on cigarettes to try to curb the purchase. Yet this is a habit which has not been suggested to have a link to various disease, but proven beyond almost all margins of statistical doubt to have both clinically and statistically significant links to disease, not even recently, but for over 60 years 5,6. It would be virtually impossible not to have been “educated” on the dangers of smoking, but it is easy to ignore this education, because we can. I condemn smoking, just as I am condemn the concept of “I smoke because I can, but I’m also going to demand free treatment because I can”. This tends to both follow and precede the need for lengthy, expensive and potentially preventable treatment for disease.

The same can also be said for alcohol. There are increasing numbers of the very young suffering illnesses related to long term alcohol abuse. They drank because they could. Because they did not understand that just because you can go out and get smashed and drink until you pass out, it doesn’t mean you should. Alcohol misuse appears to be the cause in around half of all violent crimes (1.2 million per annum) 7 There is a genuine issue with the state of entitlement when being allowed to drink means Friday night isn’t fun without a visit to A&E, or causing one. A recent study showed that 35% of the admissions to hospital (excluding long term care and pregnancy (although I suspect there is a significant proportion of them too)) is related to alcohol. This increases to 70% of admissions to A&E between the hours of midnight and 5am 8. The same report estimates the cost of alcohol to the NHS at £1.6 billion, although more recent estimates have been as high as £2.7 billion per annum.

I am a dentist when I am not writing and, while I shall not stand and bang my own drum too long, I see too many patients who believe that the upkeep of their teeth is my responsibility. The twice yearly (if they’re well behaved) cleaning of their teeth in my chair is the only time they are cleaned. Yet when it is suggested that their own participation in their own hygiene would improve matters they become indignant. Because they can.

There are socio-economic links here as well, primarily around the politics of cuts, welfare and benefits. While I have a basic knowledge of the issues surrounding who is claiming benefits, who can be and who shouldn’t be, I feel that I would expose myself potentially by expressing too strong a view on these issues. Suffice to say, the cry of “because we can” rings on the lips of many who perhaps are not using the system quite as it was intended.

In the news over the last few days, it may have been noticed that amid the turbulent markets, the surprise news that Apple is now the most valuable company in the world, starvation and famine in Somalia, that the National bank of Greece was the best performing bank and continuing uprising for democracy in Syria, there was a small incident of civil unrest in England. As I write this there are estimates of tens of millions pounds of damage, 5 dead, countless injured, some severely, more than 1000 people arrested 9. There was an initial peaceful protest over human and civil rights relating to a shooting. This quickly led to mass unrest, arson, looting and thuggery. The images that have been seen repeatedly are vile, disgusting and show some of the worst in human nature. An explicit discussion of the incident is not necessary here - there are hundreds of better sources for that information than me. What links in with this is the general attitude of the thugs, the criminals, the arsonists, the looters; why act the way you have? Because we can.

There are recordings of 14 year olds claiming that they were “retaking their taxes”, 18 year olds saying that if you can, why wouldn’t you steal hundreds of pounds worth of electronics and fashion goods. Be aware, these are not essential supplies that are being looted - this is luxury goods, which people feel entitled to, because they are available. If one can simply smash a window and grab one, why pay? If one can beat a 68 year old man to the brink of death, why not? Run 3 young boys over, killing them? Why not? Shall we burn down a 150 year old family business? Of course! And why? Because we can. These are not people with a message, a cause, moral reasoning for what they are doing. That much was obvious when they attacked the media. If you look at almost every past disturbance with a real cause behind it, the rioters, rebels, insurgents, call them what you will, will protect the media, because they know that is the best way of getting their message spread. When you attack the messenger, you clearly have no message.

So who should be responsible for curbing these behaviours? Who should back up the rights with responsibilities? Who should teach society (and it’s not just the young) that there are repercussions to every action? Parents need to teach their children that poor, antisocial behaviour is not tolerated? If your child comes home with a new 50” HDTV, they should be punished, not cherished for providing your house with another distraction from the poor behaviour. But there’s the rub. What if the parents do not know? What if they joined their children in looting and violence? If they have never learnt to control their children? If their parents, or their parents before them failed to impart these life lessons? We may be onto our nth generation of ASBO parents - their ignorance is not a whole excuse, but they cannot expect to teach something that they do not know themselves.

As a society we need to do something about this, not leave it solely to the parents. Teachers can help, but only with the respect and trust of both the students and the parents. If a child is punished for something at school, be it late or poor attendance, or physical and verbal abuse of both students and staff, shockingly becoming more prevalent, then the punishment needs to be supported, if not backed up at school. Too many parents, instead of supporting these issues, challenge and appeal against any and all forms of punishment, citing that “little timmy wouldn’t possibly sexually harass their teacher, it’s just not in his nature”. Except that it is, and he does it, because he can, because he will get away with it. Teachers are not blameless either - many incidents go totally unreported, simply because it’s easier not to bother with the hassle that will come from it. This then spreads up the line. The same can be said for extracurricular law makers - police will tolerate surprising levels of antisocial behaviour, because it is easier to ignore it - an arrest means paperwork, time off the street, lower police presence, and more antisocial behaviour. It is simply an excuse. I do not have the answers. I wish I did, but as a society we can work together to solve this.

So why should we try to resolve these issues? Why should we try to curb antisocial behaviour, binge drinking, rioting? Why should we stop people harming our communities and people within our community? Why should we care? Because we can.

Ben Matthews.

1. United Nations, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/

2. T. Harford, @timHarford twitter feed, 10 August 2011

3. C. Vorderman (Chair) “A world-class mathematics education for all our young people” August 2011

4. David Frost, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, speaking on the BBC, July 2011

5. Doll, R. and A.B. Hill, Smoking and carcinoma of the lung. Preliminary report.British Medical Journal, 1950: p. ii:739-48

6. Wynder EL, G.E.A., Tobacco smoking as a possible etiologic factor in bronchogenic carcinoma. JAMA, 1950. 143: p. 329-36

7. Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy for England, March 2004

8. Strategy Unit Alcohol Harm Reduction Project – Interim Analytical Report – September 2003

9. BBC news website, 11 August 2011.

I know...this is utterly ridiculous. But you see they wanted to enter this contest thing about brides with swords. Who knew....so we shot last night after a very very long day of Burning Man preparations and resurrecting other people's dead projects...

Anyways....this is Susan (aka Punkabella) and that is her sword that her new husband had custom made for their wedding.

I like swords.

Because of the great fire wall of Chinese policy, it's so hard to cross the limit to visit flickr, so I could not reply my dear friends, I'm so sorry about that and please forgive me,thank you so much and hope my friends can still hit on me！由于中国网络原因，访问flickr很困难，速度很慢，所有暂时没有办法一一回应各位好友，请朋友们见谅！还请各位好友继续关注我！

My pro account is out of time，thank you my friends here for supporting me what a long time！！May I have a pleasure to receive a pro gift from you？我的pro账号到期了，感谢朋友们长期以来的热心支持！！有好心人能赞助一个pro账号给我吗，在此先表感谢！！

If you want to use or buy this image，please contact me. 版权所有，转载请联系本人。

Created by Melbourne stained glass manufacturer Ferguson and Urie in 1880 for the opening of the former Saint George's Presbyterian Church, this non-figurative stained glass window features design elements typical of their work. It features a latticed "diaper" pattern containing stylised floral designs in yellow. It has a border of coloured squares dispersed with stylised flowers, also a common element of Ferguson and Urie's windows. Each lancet window features two diamond shaped panes, one at the top and one at the bottom of the window, and a central round pane of brightly coloured glass, once again featuring a stylised floral image set into an eight pointed star. A round vent at the top features a Tudor Rose sitting in the middle of an eight pointed star of green and golden yellow.

The former Saint George's Presbyterian Church, which stands on busy Chapel Street in St Kilda East, is a well known and loved local landmark, not least of all because of its strikingly tall (33.5 metre or 110 foot) banded bell tower which can be spotted from far away. In the Nineteenth Century when it was built, it would have been even more striking for its great height and domineering presence. Designed by architect Albert Purchas, the former Saint George's Presbyterian Church is often referred to as his ecclesiastical tour-de-force, and it is most certainly one of his most dramatic and memorable churches.

The former Saint George's Presbyterian Church was constructed on a plot of land reserved in Chapel Street for the Presbyterian Church of Victoria in 1866. Initially services were held in a small hall whilst fundraising efforts advanced the erection of a church. The architect Albert Purchas was commissioned to design the church and the foundation stone for the western portion of the nave was finally laid in April 1877 by Sir James McCulloch. The first service was held in the church on the 1st of October 1877. The first clergyman of the former Saint George's Presbyterian Church was the Reverend John Laurence Rentoul (father to world renown and much loved Australian children's book illustrator Ida Rentoul Outhwaite). However, the swelling Presbyterian congregation of St Kilda and its surrounding districts quickly outgrew the initial Saint George's Presbyterian Church building, so Albert Purchas was obliged to re-design and enlarge the church to allow a doubling in capacity. Robert S. Ekins was the contractor and his tender was £3000.00. It is this imposing church building, reopened in 1880, that we see today. The "Australasian Sketcher with Pen and Pencil" noted that the total length of the building was 118 feet and 6 inches (36 metres), by 40 foot (12 metres) wide and that the striking octagonal tower to the north-west was 110ft 6 in high. It perhaps reflected better the wealth and aspirations of the congregation.

The former Saint George's Presbyterian Church is constructed on bluestone foundations and is built in an ornate polychromatic Gothic Revival style in the tradition of English designers like William Butterfield and John L. Pearson. Built of red brick building, it is decorated in contrasting cream bricks and Waurn Ponds freestone dressings. It features a slate roof with prominent roof vents, iron ridge cresting and fleche at the intersection of the nave and transepts. The front facade of the church is dominated by the slender, banded octagonal tower topped by a narrow spire. The entrance features a double arched portal portico. The facade also features a dominant triangular epitrochoidal (curved triangular form) rose window. The church, like its bluestone neighbour All Saints Church of England, is built to a T-shaped plan, with an aisleless nave, broad transepts and internal walls of cream brick, relieved with coloured brickwork. The former Saint George's Presbyterian Church was one of the first major church design in Melbourne in which polychrome brickwork was lavishly employed both externally and internally.

The inside of the former Saint George's Presbyterian Church is equally as grand as the exterior, with ornamental Gothic Revival polychromatic brickwork, a lofty vaulted ceiling, deal and kauri pine joinery and pulpit and reredos of Keene's cement. The building originally contained a complete set of Victorian stained glass windows by well known and successful Melbourne manufacturers Ferguson and Urie, all of which remain intact today except for one of the non-figurative windows which was replaced by a memorial window to Samuel Lyons McKenzie, the congregation’s beloved minister, who served from 1930 to 1948, in 1949. The earliest of the Ferguson and Urie windows are non-figurative windows which feature the distinctive diaper pattern and floral motifs of Fergus and Urie's work, and are often argued to be amongst the finest of their non-figurative designs. The large triple window in the chancel was presented by Lady McCulloch in memory of the ‘loved and dead’. Another, in memory of John Kane Smyth, the Vice-Consul for the United States of America in Melbourne, has the American Stars and Stripes on the top ventilator above it. An organ by Thomas C. Lewis of London, one of the leading 19th century English organ builders, was installed in the south transept in 1882. It was designed to blend with its architectural setting, with pipework styled to avoid the obstruction of windows. The action of this organ was altered in 1935, but the pipework, and the original sound, have been retained.

Over the years many spiritual and social activities were instituted at Saint George’s, Presbyterian Church some of short duration such as the Ladies’ Reading Club which operated between 1888 and 1893. There were segregated Bible classes for young men and women, the Presbyterian Women’s Missionary Union, formed in 1892, a cricket club and a floral guild. Guilds teaching physical culture for girls, boys and young men began in 1904. They were entirely financed by John Maclellan and the idea extended to other denominations throughout Victoria. John Maclellan died in 1936 and the guilds ceased at Saint George’s Presbyterian church through lack of funds although in 1977 the members of the girls’ guild were still holding bi-annual reunions and raising money for charity. Sadly, the Presbyterian congregations may have been large in the Nineteenth Century, but by St George's Presbyterian Church's 110th centenary, its doors had already closed during the week due to dwindling numbers and an ageing congregation as a result of the general decline in church attendances after the Second World War exacerbated by the changing nature of St Kilda and the decrease in numbers of residents living in the vicinity of the church. So it stood, forlorn and empty and seemingly nothing more than a relic of a glorious but bygone religious past. However in 1990, Saint Michael's Grammar School across the road leased the Victorian Heritage listed building during weekdays, and it was eventually sold to them in 2015. It now forms part of the school's performing-arts complex, and it has a wonderful new lease of life.

St George's Presbyterian Church is sometimes hired out for performances, and I had the pleasure of receiving an invitation to hear Handel's Messiah performed there in 2009. The ecclesiastical acoustics made the performance all the more magnificent. I remember as I sat on one of the original (hard) kauri pine pews, I looked around me and admired the stained glass and ornamental brickwork. I tried without success over several subsequent years to gain access to the church's interior, settling for photographs of the exterior instead, but it wasn't until 2018 that I was fortunate enough to gain entry to photograph the church's interior. The former St George's Presbyterian Church was opened up to the public for one Sunday morning only as part of Open House Melbourne in July 2018. It was a fantastic morning, and I am very grateful to the staff who manned the church for the day and watched bemused as I photographed the stained glass extensively and in such detail.

Albert Purchas, born in 1825 in Chepstow, Monmouthshire, Wales, was a prominent Nineteenth Century architect who achieved great success for himself in Melbourne. Born to parents Robert Whittlesey Purchas and Marianne Guyon, he migrated to Australia in 1851 to establish himself in the then quickly expanding city of Melbourne, where he set up a small architect's firm in Little Collins Street. He also offered surveying services. His first major building was constructing the mansion "Berkeley Hall" in St Kilda on Princes Street in 1854. The house still exists today. Two years after migrating, Albert designed the layout of the Melbourne General Cemetery in Carlton. It was the first "garden cemetery" in Victoria, and his curvilinear design is still in existence, unaltered, today. In 1854, Albert married Eliza Anne Sawyer (1825 - 1869) in St Kilda. The couple had ten children over their marriage, including a son, Robert, who followed in his father's footsteps as an architect. Albert's brother-in-law, Charles Sawyer joined him in the partnership of Purchas and Sawyer, which existed from 1856 until 1862 in Queens Street. The firm produced more than 140 houses, churches, offices and cemetery buildings including: the nave and transepts of Christ Church St Kilda between 1854 and 1857, "Glenara Homestead"in Bulla in 1857, the Melbourne Savings Bank on the corner of Flinders Lane and Market Street (now demolished) between 1857 and 1858, the Geelong branch of the Bank of Australasia in Malop Street between 1859 and 1860, and Beck's Imperial Hotel in Castlemaine in 1861. When the firm broke up, Albert returned to Little Collins Street, and the best known building he designed during this period was Saint. George's Presbyterian Church in St Kilda East between 1877 and 1880. The church's tall polychomatic brick bell tower is still a local landmark, even in the times of high rise architecture and development, and Saint, George's itself is said to be one of his most striking church designs. Socially, Albert was vice president of the Royal Victorian Institute of Architects for many years, before becoming president in 1887. He was also an inventor and philanthropist. Albert died in 1909 at his home in Kew, a wealthy widower and much loved father.

The stained glass firm of Ferguson and Urie was established by Scots James Ferguson (1818 – 1894), James Urie (1828 – 1890) and John Lamb Lyon (1836 – 1916). They were the first known makers of stained glass in Australia. Until the early 1860s, window glass in Melbourne had been clear or plain coloured, and nearly all was imported, but new churches and elaborate buildings created a demand for pictorial windows. The three Scotsmen set up Ferguson and Urie in 1862 and the business thrived until 1899, when it ceased operation, with only John Lamb Lyon left alive. Ferguson and Urie was the most successful Nineteenth Century Australian stained glass window making company. Among their earliest works were a Shakespeare window for the Haymarket Theatre in Bourke Street, a memorial window to Prince Albert in Holy Trinity, Kew, and a set of Apostles for the West Melbourne Presbyterian Church. Their palatial Gothic Revival office building stood at 283 Collins Street from 1875. Ironically, their last major commission, a window depicting “labour”, was installed in the old Melbourne Stock Exchange in Collins Street in 1893 on the eve of the bank crash. Their windows can be found throughout the older suburbs of Melbourne and across provincial Victoria.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!

Some background:

Following World War II the Allies dissolved the Wehrmacht with all its branches on 20 August 1946. However, already one year after the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany in May 1949 and because of its increasing links with the West, the Consultative Assembly of Europe began to consider the formation of a European Defence Community with German participation on 11 August 1950.

Only a small number (40 plus two prototypes) of Spähpanzer Puma (Neu) were eventually converted or re-build from spares, but they became in 1957 the launch equipment of the Bundeswehr’s armored reconnaissance brigades, together with M8 Greyhound scout cars donated by the USA, even though the latter were soon complemented and replaced by tracked vehicles, based on the Schützenpanzer Kurz. However, due to their high road speed and excellent range, the Puma (Neu) scout cars were popular and remained in service until the late Seventies, when a new generation of 8x8 reconnaissance vehicles in the form of the amphibious Spähpanzer Luchs was introduced and replaced all 1st generation Bundeswehr vehicles.

Specifications:

Crew: Four (commander, gunner, driver, radio operator/2nd driver)

Weight: 10.500 kg (23,148 lbs)

Length: 6.02 m (19 ft 9 in)

Width: 2.36 m (7 ft 9 in)

Height: 2.84 metres (9 ft 4 in)

Suspension: Independent on each wheel, with leaf springs

Track width: 1.95 m (6 ft 4 1/2 in)

Wading depth: 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in)

Trench crossing capability: 2m (6 ft 6 1/2 in)

Ground clearance: 350 mm (13 3/4 in)

Climbing capability: 30°

Fuel capacity: 240 l

Armor:

9-30 mm (.35-1.18 in) steel armor

Performance:

Maximum road speed: 80 km/h (49 mph)

Operational range: 800 km (500 mi)

Fuel consumption: 30 l/100 km on roads, 45 l/100 km off-road

Power/weight: 17 PS/t

Engine:

Air-cooled, supercharged 10,622 cc (648³ in) Magirus-Deutz F8L 614K V8 diesel engine,

with 132 kW (180 hp) output at 2.500 RPM

Transmission:

Büssing-NAG "GS" with 6 forward and reverse gears, eight-wheel drive

Armament:

1× 20 mm (0.79 in) Rheinmetall (Hispano-Suiza) MK 20 Rh202 autocannon with 750 rounds

1× co-axial 7.62 mm MG42/57 light machine gun 2.000 rounds

The kit and its assembly:

This German 8x8 vehicle is a contribution to the “Back into service” Group Build at whatifmodelers.com in late 2019. Beyond aircraft I also thought about (armored) vehicles that could fit into this theme, and the SdKfz. 234/2 “Puma” (even though this popular name was never official!) came to my mind, because it was a very effective vehicle with many modern features for its time. So, what could a modernized Puma for the young Bundeswehr look like…?

The starting point became the very nice Hasegawa SdKfz. 234/2 kit, which did not – except for some PSR between the hull halves – pose any complications. I did not want to change too much for the Bundeswehr update, but new/wider wheels and a new, more modern turret with a light post-war weapon appeared sensible.

The wheels come from a ModelTrans aftermarket resin set for the LAV-25 – they are quite modern, but they do not look out of place. Their different, more solid style as well as the slightly bigger diameter and the wider tires change the Puma’s look considerably. In order to mount them, I modified the suspension and cut away the former attachment point on the four axles, replacing them with thin, die-punched styrene discs. This reduced the track width far enough so that the new, wider wheels would fit under the original mudguards. It’s a tight arrangement, but does not look implausible. The spare wheel, normally mounted to the vehicle’s rear, was omitted.

The turret was taken from a Revell “Luchs” Spähpanzer kit, but simplified so that it would have a more vintage look. For instance, the machine gun ring mount above the commander’s hatch was omitted, as well as the rotating warning light and the modern smoke grenade dischargers. The latter were replaced by the WWII triple dischargers from the Hasegawa kit, for a more vintage look.

To my astonishment, the Luchs turret was easy to mate with the Puma chassis: its attachment ring diameter was almost identical! The new part could be attached almost without a problem or modification. I just added some reinforcements to the hull’s flanks, since the Luchs turret is slightly wider than the SdKfz. 234/2’s horseshoe-shaped turret. Beyond that, only small, cosmetic things were added, like mirror fairings for both drivers above their workstations, license plates at the front and the rear and antennae.

Painting and markings:

Creating an early Bundeswehr vehicle is a simple task, because there is only one potential color option until the Eighties: a uniform livery in Gelboliv (RAL 6014). Due to the livery’s simplicity, I used a rattle can to paint hull, turret and wheels separately.

After some detail painting, a very dark brown wash with acrylic paint and some post shading with Revell 42 (also Gelboliv, but a rather greenish and bright interpretation of the tone) as well as dry-brushing with Revell 46 and 45 along the many edges were used to weather the model and emphasize details. After decals had been applied (mostly from a Peddinghaus sheet for early Bundeswehr vehicles, plus some tactical markings from the Revell Luchs), the kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish.

Once dry and completed, some artist pigments were added around the wheels and lower hull in order to simulate dust and dirt. On the lower chassis, some pigments were also "cluttered" onto small patches of the acrylic varnish, so that the stuff soaks it up, builds volume and becomes solid - the perfect simulation of dry mud crusts. I found the uniform livery to look quite dull, so I added some branches (real moss, spray-painted with dark green acrylic paint from a rattle can) to the hull – a frequent field practice.

This was a very quick project – in fact, the model was completed in the course of just one evening, and painting it was a quick affair, too, lasting only another day. However, I like the result. The SdKfz. 234/2 already had a quite modern look in its original guise, but the new wheels and the Luchs turret change its look considerably, it really has an even more modern feel that fits well into the early Bundeswehr era.

... home is where the heart is.

attributed to Pliny the Elder

Pauli lives in a compartment in my photo backpack, where she meets old friends and makes new ones. She's been all over Germany and France, visited Belgium, Switzerland and the UK and regularly accompanies me to my nightshifts at work. She even lived with me at a dorm while I was doing an advanced job training.

Toy Sunday April 15 - April 21 theme: Home sweet Home

Rare because not only is it a second generation Legend, (which are thin on the ground anyway) it's a right hand drive Acura. I know, I get some really odd imports in my area!

As most people are aware, Acura is Honda's luxury brand, popular in North America and Canada. In '91, Acura was introduced in Hong Kong, where they drive RHD cars, so it has to have come from there as the brand was never introduced in Japan, or any other RHD nation.

The vehicle details for M411 YUD are:

Date of Liability 01 03 2014

Date of First Registration 14 03 2003

Year of Manufacture 1994

Cylinder Capacity (cc) 3206cc

CO₂ Emissions Not Available

Fuel Type PETROL

Export Marker N

Vehicle Status Licence Not Due

Vehicle Colour RED

by apis.donau ift.tt/1O4D6Bz

Because someone asked.

1. California (no surprise...)

2. New York (no surprise...)

3. Texas (no surprise...)

4. Washington

It's not because three contributors live here in WA -- admins (Josh and I) are filtered out, and our one other local contributor would still be a drop in a 133,000-visit bucket (#8 worldwide, if WA were a country).

because the dark-side is meant to be cute!!

please check this brand, it's just so disturbingly cute!

Hangry & Angry

Made with Simon Says Stamp Leafy Frames (colored with Prismacolor pencils), Sizzix banner die and Spellbinders embossing folder

1930s.

via Dribbble / Popular ift.tt/1Qh4YnJ

Fall into you

Is all I seem to do

When I hit the bottle

Cause I'm afraid to be alone

Tear us in two

Is all it seems to do

(c) Placebo: Because I Want You

Probably, because she is the most patient model in Rosenheim :-)))

I was trying out my new Sigma 50mm/1.4 DG Art lens today. I am not really satisfied. It doesn't focus accurately. When I focused the eye, the eyebrow was sharp... it is a known thang and they say, it is reauired to finetune the lens with a USB-dock and a computer software. Well for an 800+€ lens, I would expect it to be accurate out of the box without spending time and money to calibrate it.

Because of the great fire wall of Chinese policy, it's so hard to cross the limit to visit flickr, so I could not reply my dear friends, I'm so sorry about that and please forgive me,thank you so much and hope my friends can still hit on me！由于中国网络原因，访问flickr很困难，速度很慢，所有暂时没有办法一一回应各位好友，请朋友们见谅！还请各位好友继续关注我！

My pro account is out of time，thank you my friends here for supporting me what a long time！！May I have a pleasure to receive a pro gift from you？我的pro账号到期了，感谢朋友们长期以来的热心支持！！有好心人能赞助一个pro账号给我吗，在此先表感谢！！

If you want to use or buy this image，please contact me. 版权所有，转载请联系本人。

Because Look how Creepy his little Dummy is, and Geesh he's a Ginger. I had to do it I really had to, can't you see why?

Because You Loved Me

For all those times you stood by me

For all the truth that you made me see

For all the joy you brought to my life

For all the wrong that you made right

For every dream you made come true

For all the love I found in you

I'll be forever thankful, baby

You're the one who held me up

Never let me fall

You're the one who saw me through

Through it all

You were my strength when I was weak

You were my voice when I couldn't speak

You were my eyes when I couldn't see

You saw the best there was in me

Lifted me up when I couldn't reach

You gave me faith 'cause you believed

I'm everything I am

Because you loved me, ooh, baby

You gave me wings and made me fly

You touched my hand I could touch the sky

I lost my faith, you gave it back to me

You said no star was out of reach

You stood by me and I stood tall

I had your love, I had it all

I'm grateful for each day you gave me

Maybe, I don't know that much

But I know this much is true

I was blessed because

I was loved by you

You were always there for me, the tender wind that carried me

The light in the dark shining your love into my life

You've been my inspiration through the lies you were the truth

My world is a better place because of you

I'm everything I am

Because you loved me

Thank u my darling husband... for five wonderful years full of love, and happiness... :)

British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. D 238. Photo: Metro Goldwyn Mayer. Pubicity still for Because You're Mine (Alexander Hall, 1952).

Mario Lanza (1921–1959) was an American tenor, actor and Hollywood film star of the late 1940s and the 1950s. His masterpiece was The Great Caruso (Richard Thorpe, 1951), the top-grossing film in the world in 1951. Lanza's voice was so dazzling that an awestruck Arturo Toscanini called it the "voice of the century".

See for more vintage postcards of Hollywood stars our sets Vintage B&W Hollywood and Hollywood Colour Postcards.

Because we've lived apart for so long, we were able to spend time with my step son and his family this weekend. I made this for him and it looked great in the black frame. He was very touched and didn't know I had been drawing. Giving is awesome!

because "Mars" is a beautiful snake. He's an albino Malaysian blood python (Python curtus brongersmai). Photo by Frank. .

Baek Soonie being patient (with hopeful eyes) as she waits for my brother Dennis to prepare her food. <3

Another note... I've noticed that she always sits in these weird contorted positions. I guess she's comfy.

It is a long, long time ago that we were last here. I did manage to take about a dozen shots that day.

You'll be glad to know I took more this time.

Sheppy is other-worldly. It is an island, but now there are two bridges onto it, the last being a dual carriageway, getting you to the delights of Sheerness and Queensborough doubly quickly.

Away from the western end, the island barely rises above the waters of the Thames and Swale that surround it, except at one place; Minster, where a monastery was built to look down on the fenland all around.

As we were nearby in Iwade, it was a ten minute drive to get to Minster, find our way up the hill and a vacant parking space. The museum in the gatehouse was open, but we pass by that to the church and mister beyond, with its wide and squat tower rising from the graveyard.

I pushed the door of the church, and it swung open, revealing a huge space; once two churches, but now full of details worthy of investigating.

------------------------------------------

The large, almost square, medieval gatehouse to the west of the church tells the visitor that here is no ordinary parish church. For nearly a thousand years this was both Minster Abbey and Minster parish church. Today it is one building, but formerly the present south aisle formed the parish church, whilst the north aisle belonged to the nuns and was part of the monastic enclosure. The parish church side has a distinct nineteenth-century feel to it, the result of a much-needed restoration of 1879 by Ewan Christian to which Queen Victoria contributed. It contains some notable old monuments; especially interesting is that to Sir Robert de Shurland (d. 1310) which is an effigy of a knight under a wall recess. Between the nuns' aisle and the parish church is the Cheyne tomb, commemorating Sir Thomas Cheyne (d. 1559). This imposing marble and alabaster table tomb shows him wearing his Order of the Garter. The north aisle - or nuns' church - has altogether more atmosphere with substantial remains of the original church built by St Sexburga, widow of King Erconbert of Kent in AD 670. The arched heads of two Saxon windows survive in the southern wall, and the 'chancel' of the nuns' church has had its plaster removed to show the early rubble construction. It is separated from the rest of the church by a fine oak screen of about 1400. The whole church has a well-cared-for atmosphere and should be near the top of all visitors' lists.

www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Minster+in+Sheppey

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Minster Abbey or, to give it its full title, The Abbey Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Sexburgha, occupies the highest hilltop position on the otherwise flat Isle of Sheppey in Kent and has been a place of worship for over 1,400 years.

Founded as a nunnery by the widowed Queen Sexburgha in 664AD it was endowed with land given by her son Ercombert, King of Kent. With no stone on the island the building material was hewn at Boughton Monchelsea and brought down the River Medway and the Swale. Examples of early Saxon stone and Roman tiles, (from an earlier Roman outpost of the garrison at Reculver which earlier occupied this hilltop,) can also be found in the walls of the St Sexburgha chapel. Three still functioning wells from the priory are located by the Gatehouse, under a shop in Minster High Street and in the garden of a house in the adjacent Falcon Gardens.

The priory was badly damaged, but not destroyed, by Danish Vikings in the ninth century and was further damaged in the 11th century.

Following the Norman invasion of 1066, King William the Conqueror partly rebuilt the church and priory and allowed nuns from Newington to take up residence. It remained impoverished, though, until Archbishop de Corbeuil rebuilt it between 1123 and 1139. He is credited with the unusual arrangement of two adjacent 'churches' with the northern church for the nuns and the southern for the parishioners. It is thought curtains were originally hung to cover the arches which separate the two churches. The stone for the Norman part of the church was imported from Caen from the same quarry that provided the stone for Canterbury Cathedral

During the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII the two adjacent churches led directly to the saving of the Abbey church. Because the two churches shared a common wall and were linked by arches in the wall, the Abbey church was spared the destruction wrought on the rest of the Abbey

Following the Dissolution, the abbey came into the ownership of Sir Thomas Cheyne (or Cheney) and he was first buried in the now lost chapel of Saint Katherine on this site in 1559. Most of the Abbey was eventually demolished except for the church and the adjacent Abbey Gatehouse. The gatehouse survived because it was used as a private residence and now contains an interesting local history museum.

Repairs to the church were neglected in the mid 19th century, but Rev William Bramston restored the church in 1881 and the Abbey is now a Grade 1 listed building which provides protection but also limits the modernisation work which can be done (e.g. the installation of a disabled toilet)

Internally there is no chancel arch in the southern aisle while the northern aisle retains both chancel arch and a carved timber screen. At the eastern end of the southern aisle there is a niche which has traces of a medieval wall painting of St. Nicholas.

The north-east Sexburgha chapel (also known as the Nuns' chapel) is separated from North aisle by a 12th century oak screen

The church has an interesting array of monuments displaying English armour from the 14th to the 16th centuries. The earliest is Baron Robert de Shurland [died 1327] who reclines on an altar tomb on the southside. At his feet is the head of his horse, Grey Dolphin. According to local legend, Sir Robert killed a monk and resolved to ask the King for a pardon. In 1326 he rode to where the King's ship was anchored, off the Isle of Sheppey, and rode out through the water to gain forgiveness from the King. Returning, he met a witch who said that de Shurland's horse, Grey Dolphin, which had borne him so bravely to the ship, would be the death of him. Sir Robert immediately killed the horse and cut off its head. A year later Sir Robert was walking along the shore when a shard of the horse's bone pierced his foot. Blood poisoning set in and Sir Robert died, killed by his horse as predicted by the witch.

In the arches between the two churches is the final resting place of Sir Thomas Cheyne KG [1485-1558]. As Sherriff of Kent from 1516 and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports from 1536 until his death, (a position he held through the reigns of all five of the Tudor monarchs), he became one of the most powerful men in the South-East of England. For many years he served as Treasurer of the Household for Henry VIII and remarkably retained this post under Mary 1.

In the north-east corner of the northern aisle there is the effigy of a man dressed in high Gothic armour from the late 15th century. Some sources suggest it might be Sir Hugh de Badlesemere, a Yorkist soldier who fought in the War of the Roses. However others say that it might be George, 1st Duke of Clarence, as George was constable of nearby Queenborough Castle. Supposedly executed at the Tower of London by drowning in a Butt of Malmsley, there is evidence, though, that George was buried with his wife in Tewksbury. The effigy is of very high quality and clearly reflects wealth, but all the shields and heraldry have been hacked off, which might suggest Tudor vandalism of a supposed Yorkist tomb. This could support the 'Clarence' theory, but the effigy also rests with his feet on a curly haired ram and not a bull - the bull badge being traditionally associated with George, Duke of Clarence.

Another effigy of early 15th century date was dug up in the churchyard in 1833 and this lies against the north wall. Some sources suggest this is General Geronimo who appears in the Register as being buried in December 1591. He was captured in a Spanish galleon by Sir Edward Hoby in 1588 and held hostage in Queenborough Castle. The ransom was never paid and he died in captivity. He clasps a small egg shaped image in his hands which is said to represent his soul

Other rough hewn tombs recovered at this time are thought to be tombs of abbesses of the Abbey.

www.minsterabbey.org.uk/3.html

-------------------------------------------

MINSTER

IS the principal parish in the Island of Shepey. It lies on high ground near the middle of the north side of it.

The parish takes its name from the monastery founded very early within it, Minstre in the Saxon language signifying a monastery or religious house.

The manor of Newington claims over a small part of this parish, but the paramount manor over the whole of it is that of Milton.

THE PARISH of Minster is by far the largest of any in the island. The village is situated on high ground near the middle of it, with the church, and ruins of the monastery close on the northern side of it; of the latter there is little more than the gate-house remaining.

THE VILLE of Sheerness is situated at the western bounds, as well of this parish as of the whole island, a further account of which will be given hereafter. It was formerly accounted as part of this parish, but it has long since been made a ville of itself, and as to its civil jurisdiction, entirely separate from this parish.

The cliffs on the northern side of this island, are likewise the northern boundaries of this parish; Queenborough and Sheerness bound it towards the west, and the Swale and the island of Elmley southward.

In June 1756, a monstrous fish, thought to be a young whale, was driven on shore at this place. It measured thirty-six feet and upwards in length, twentytwo feet in circumserence, and eight feet from the eyes to the tip of the nose. It was supposed to yield twenty hogsheads of oil.

King Edward III. in his 17th year, granted a fair to be held here on Palm Monday, which is still continued for toys and such like merchandize.

SEXBURGA, one of the daughters of Annas, king of East Anglia, and widow of Ercombert, king of Kent, between the years 664 and 673, having obtained lands in this parish of her son king Egbert, founded A MONASTERY here, which she finished and got well endowed for seventy-seven nuns, whom she placed in it, king Egbert himself adding several lands to it, and she became herself the first abbess. Soon after which, about the year 675, she resigned her government of it to her daughter Ermenilda, who became the second abbess, and then retired, in the year 699, to the Isle of Ely, to the monastery there, over which her sister Etheldred presided. (fn. 1)

During the times of the Danish invasions, the religious of this monastery were subject to continual instances of cruelty and oppression, and at last their house was in a great measure destroyed by them, and the nuns dispersed. In which situation it seems nearly to have remained till the reign of the Conqueror, who, on the prioress of the nunnery of Newington near Sittingborne having been strangled in her bed, consiscated their possessions, and removed the few remaining nuns to this ruinated monastery, which continued but in a very mean condition till the year 1130, when it was reedified and replenished with Benedictine nuns, by archbishop Corboil, and dedicated to St. Mary and St. Sexburg.

In the 8th year of king Richard II. anno 1384, the temporalities of this monastery were valued at 66 l. 8s. and the spiritualities at 73l. 6s. 8d. Total 139l. 14s. 8d.

¶In the 27th year of king Henry VIII. an act having passed for the suppression of all religious houses, whose revenues did not amount to the clear yearly value of two hundred pounds, this monastery, whose revenues amounted to no more than 129l. 7s. 10½d. annual re venue, or 122l. 14s. 6d. clear yearly income, being then ten pounds less than they were near two hundred years before, was surrendered up to the king, at which time it was in so indigent a state, that there were but a prioress and ten nuns in it. To the former, Alicia Crane, the king granted a pension of fourteen pounds for her life, towards her proper support and maintenance.

MINSTER is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Sittingborne.

The church, which is dedicated to St. Mary and St. Sexburg, (as was the monastery) is supposed by some to have been the very church of it, but by others, that it only adjoined to it; at present it consists of two isles and two chancels. The steeple is at the west end, being a large square tower, with a turret at the top, in which there is a clock, and a ring of five bells. It was formerly higher than it is at present, as appears by the remains. There was formerly a building adjoining to the east end of the north chancel, as appears by a doorcase and some ornaments on the outside of it. In the north chancel, on the south side, is the tomb of Sir Thomas Cheney, knight of the garter, &c. who was buried with great state, in a chapel which had been the conventual church, adjoining to the north east part of this parish; but his son Henry, lord Cheney, having in 1581, anno 24 Elizabeth, obtained a licence to remove the coffins and bones of his father and ancestors from thence, he having sold the materials of the chapel to Sir Humphry Gilbert, and placed them in this parish church, the coffin of his father was, among others removed, and deposited in this chancel. On the north side, under an arch in the wall, on a grey marble, lies the figure of a man, habited in armour. In the south, or high chancel, against the south wall, is an antient tomb, with the effigies of a man lying at length crosslegged, and in armour; on his right side is the figure of a horse's head, carved alike in alabaster, and fixed to the tomb, concerning which many idle reports are current. (fn. 10) On a stone in the middle of the chancel, are the figures in brass of a man and woman; his in armour, cross-legged, with large spurs, his sword by his side, and this coat of arms, Ermine, a pale, engrailed, (perhaps it might have been originally a cross, the rest of it having been rubbed out); on her mantle, Three bars, wavy; under his feet a lion, under her's a talbot; the inscription underneath is gone, except the word Hic at the beginning of it. At the upper end of the north isle is a small stone, seemingly very antient, with a cross bottony on it.

In the year 1489, there was a chapel, dedicated to St. John Baptist, Situated within the cemetery of Minster, in Shepey.

The church of Minster seems to have been part of the endowment of the monastery at the first foundation of it.

¶This church was not many years afterwards appropriated to it, (fn. 11) the cure of it being esteemed as a donative, in which state it continued at the time of the dissolution of the monastery, when it came, together with the rest of the possessions of it, into the king's hands, where it remained till the king granted the rectory of Minster, with its rights, members, and appurtenances, and the advowson of the church there, to Sir Thomas Cheney, knight of the garter, &c. to hold in capite by knight's service, whose son Henry, lord Cheney, of Tuddington, alienated this rectory, with the advowson, to Robert Levesey, esq. in whose descendants it continued sometime afterwards, till at length it was sold to Gore, and William Gore, esq. of Boxley, died possessed of the rectory impropriate, with the advowson, in 1768. He died s.p. and by his will devised it to his relation Robert Mitchell, esq. who dying likewise. s.p. in 1779, gave his estates to his three nephews, Robert, Christopher, and Thomas, sons of his brother Thomas, the eldest of whom, Robert Mitchell, esq. became afterwards the sole proprietor of them.

The parsonage at present consists of a house, barns, &c. and one hundred and eighty-eight acres of arable, meadow, and pasture belonging to it, together with all the great and small tithes of the parish, of all kinds whatsoever.

The ecclesiastical jurisdiction of this parish extends over the ville of Sheerness, the populousness of which adds greatly to the burials in it, insomuch that in some years of late, they have amounted to between two and three hundred.

The church of Queenborough was formerly esteemed as a chapel to this church, but it has long since been independent of it. The cure of it is still esteemed as a donative, the yearly stipend of the curate being 16l. 13s. 4d. In 1578 the communicants were three hundred and eight.

In 1640 the stipend of the curate was 16l. 13s. 4d. Communicants two hundred and sixty-five. It is not in charge in the king's books.

Roger, abbot of St. Augustine's, in 1188 let to Agnes, prioress, and the convent of St. Sexburg, certain tithes within this parish, to hold in perpetual ferme at fourteen shillings yearly rent, &c. These tithes were those of Westlande; being those of Sir Adam de Shurlande, and of Adam Rusin (fn. 12)

www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol6/pp216-229

What Carnival would be complete without Smufs?

Because I have the awesomest brother ever

Headstand in Pershing Park.

The Secret Garden is so named by be because I very nearly missed it when I was wandering around the Gardens of St Erth. The entrance is partially obscured by a wonderful green bower, and were it not for a small amount of stonework around the pond and a bench at the far end, I would not have thought to go inside. It is actually called Koban's Pool; named for former owners Tommy and Penny Garnett's Labrador who loved to wallow there. The garden features shady foliage trees, shade tolerant plants and water pants that grow in profusion from the pond.

I spent a delightful Saturday with the Famous Flickr Five+ Group in Blackwood at the Garden of St Erth. As my first Famous Flickr Five+ excursion, I was just delighted by how kind and welcoming everyone was. I look forward to future trips to places I have never been (such as the garden of St Erth) with the Famous Flickr Five+ Group in the future.

In 1854 a Cornish stonemason named Matthew Rogers decided to pursue his luck in the goldfields around Mount Blackwood in Victoria, so he packed up his life in Sydney and journeyed south. His venture proved successful, as he became one of the gold rush's most successful miners.

In the 1860s, Matthew built a modest sandstone cottage from stone quarried from around Bacchus Marsh behind a boot factory in an area known as Simmonds Reef, just outside what was then the very busy and thriving gold mining community of Blackwood which at the time had a population of some 13,000 people. He named it "St Erth" after his Cornwall birthplace. The original title was dated 1867, but it is believed the house was built before then.

The sandstone cottage is typical of Victorian architecture found in Australia at that time. Built in Victorian Georgian style. It features a symmetrical facade of exposed sandstone brick with sash windows either side of the front door, all of which are characteristics of Victorian Georgian architecture. The shady verandah, today covered in curling wisteria vine, features elegant, slender posts, which is also typical of the architectural style, as is the medium pitch corrugated iron roof.

Matthew attached a wooden building to the western end of his neat stone cottage which served as the Blackwood post office for a time, and also a general store; both essential parts of the burgeoning community.

The gold rush lasted for twenty eight years. Matthew's daughter Elizabeth and her husband Jim Terrill continued to maintain the store, but as gold ran out, the wooden buildings of the town were moved to Trentham. For a time the house lay empty and the bush moved back in. Eventually it was bought by a group of Melbourne businessmen who called themselves the Simmons Reef Shire Council.

Today, "St Erth" is the Garden of St Erth; a wonderful garden featuring fruit trees, an espalier orchard, heirloom vegetables, perennials, daffodils, tulips, flowering shrubs and a plant nursery. The Garden of St Erth is one of two main sites in Victoria for the Diggers Club, who specialise in growing and selling heirloom variety plants and old fashioned exotic plants. The homestead forms the entry to the beautiful garden, as well as a shop showcasing the heritage seeds, gardening equipment and myriad gardening products in line with the Diggers Club's commitment to sustainable gardening. Outside there's a plant nursery with a wonderful array of trees and plants for sale. A pretty cafe offers drinks, cakes and meals indoors or out featuring where possible local produce and some sourced from the garden.

Matthew Rogers was born at St. Erth, Cornwall, on 11th June 1824, he arrived in Victoria in 1854 with his wife Mary, and came to Blackwood about 1855. Matthew and Mary Rogers were the wealthiest people in Simmons Reef. Matthew did well from his mine called "Mount Rogers Big Hill Mine". He is stated to have made a fortune out of ore that yielded one and a half pennyweights to the ton. Mary Ann Rogers was born in Hayle in Cornwall 24th June 1828. She looked after the store and the Post Office attached to the house. The Rogers had no children, and adopted a girl born in 1872, called Elizabeth. Mary Ann Rogers died on the 27th of August 1896, aged 68 years. Matthew Rogers died on the 6th of January 1902.

Nestled against the Wombat State Forest, the township of Blackwood was originally founded in 1855 during the Victorian gold rush. The township's post office was opened in September 1855, and was known as Mount Blackwood until 1921. The township has shrunk significantly since the gold rush ended, and today many of its properties are weekenders for Melbourne professionals. The town still has a main street featuring a post office and general store, a pub, a cafe and an antique shop. It still retains some of its original miners cottages beyond "St Erth". It is a quiet, sleepy town, and is a delightful retreat for some peace and quiet. Blackwood is perhaps best known today for its music and culture festival held in November. It attracts artists from across the world.