Pictures with the title "308"
View allAll Photos Tagged hypocrisy
Siena
Copyright - All images are copyright © protected. All Rights Reserved. Copying, altering, displaying or redistribution of any of these images without written permission from the artist is strictly prohibited
for never intending to go beyond promise, it costs nothing :-(
Edmund Burke
Truth Matters! Character Matters!
prunus mume, japanese flowering apricot, 'Okitsu-Akabana', j c raulston arboretum, ncsu, raleigh, north carolina
New release - [ADD] Peggy Set
Exclusive for this round of
.- two styles
- 20 color
- Maitreya + Petite- Legacy + Perky- Kupra- eBODY REBORN- Belleza Gen.X Classic + Curvy
all info in the blog
Definition:
hy-poc-ri-sy
noun, plural hypocrisies.
1.
a pretense of having a virtuous character, moral or religious beliefs or principles, etc., that one does not really possess.
2.
a pretense of having some desirable or publicly approved attitude.
3.
an act or instance of hypocrisy.
See also: lies, lying
Yet another, just tell me when to stop.
Like many birds, man has done soo much harm either directly or through his selfish or ignorant activities.
These birds are a good example,
Rats & cats are among their biggest enemy along with cars, destruction of habitat etc .
I won't bore you with the list.
I was amazed to read of cat organisations or groups that are aghast at the idea of humainly destroying feral cats ????
Our "civilised society" is anything but logical.
Many cat owners freely allow their animals to roam especially at night involving high, unacceptable levels of cruelty to birds and other animals yet this is "acceptable " .
What hypocrisy.
I believe to make progress in wild bird and animal welfare these noise makers should spend their time educating cat owners in responsible pet keeping.
Domestic cats live on an average of 15- 17 years however feral cats live only 3-5 years after a miserable life of hunger, disease and general poor living conditions...
They say the world is spinning around
I say the world is upside down
They say the world is spinning around
I say the world is upside down
Oh yeah, too much injustice
How can there be peace?
Religious hypocrisy
Political tyranity
You see it my ...
What about the children now?
~The song was originally associated with human and spiritual unity, closeness and compassion, and it still is, but more recently it is also cited or alluded to in satirical or cynical ways which suggest false moralizing, hypocrisy, or naively optimistic views of the world and human nature~
Happy Monday boys and girls. I know I've not been around in while. I promise I'll be by to catch up tonight. HUGS.
Mandarin Duck as seen in FL a couple of months ago.
I visited as best I could tonight but the storms keep rolling around. Think I'll turn off the computer for a while. I'll be back. HUGS
...that's impossible—it's inside you and all around :)
Shit on that stupid contractor and price gouger Trump, shit on that murderer and warmonger Putin, shit on that misanthropic Netanyahu and his right-wing extremist government, shit on Europe's brutal asylum policy and hypocrisy, and shit on Black Friday commercialism too.
Enjoy the sun, be a peaceful person, and have a great day :)
A few weeks ago, when Christmas was about to start, I went to a hill in a park in the Las Tablas neighborhood to take some night photos.
Once again, I took a photo of the iconic La Vela Building, where the BBVA Headquarters are located.
That night the sky was completely cloudy, reflecting the glow of the great city.
Now, January 6, with Three Kings Day, Christmas is finally over. In my case, I wanted this day to come for several reasons, the first because it is a very magical day for children, when they receive many gifts from the Three Wise Men, and the second because I wanted the Christmas celebrations to finally end. You won't believe me, but every year I hate these holidays more and more and people´s hypocrisy.
Now it's time to return to the daily routine, in my case and because of my work I never abandoned it during these Holidays, and it's time to reflect on our current behavior and offer more solidarity and respect to others. In this way, we will all be happier and we will feel more integrated.
I hope that your beginning of the year is being calm and happy.
Press "L" to enlarge the image.
________________________________
Sede central del BBVA en las Las Tablas, Madrid, España
Hace unas semanas, cuando estaban a punto de comenzar las Navidades, fui a un cerro en un parque del barrio Las Tablas a tomar algunas fotos nocturnas.
Una vez más, tomé una foto del icónico Edificio La Vela, donde se encuentra la Sede del BBVA.
Esa noche el cielo estaba completamente nublado, reflejando el resplandor de la gran ciudad.
Ahora, 6 de enero, con el día de los Reyes Magos, por fin se acaba la Navidad. En mi caso, deseaba que llegara este día por algunas razones, la primera porque es un día muy mágico para los niños, cuando reciben muchos regalos de los Reyes Magos, y la segunda porque deseaba que las celebraciones navideñas finalmente terminasen. No me creerás, pero cada año odio más y más estas fiestas y la hipocresía de la gente.
Ahora toca volver a la rutina diaria, en mi caso y por mi trabajo nunca la abandoné durante estas Fiestas, y es tiempo de reflexionar sobre nuestro comportamiento actual y ofrecer más solidaridad y respeto con los demás. De esta forma, todos seremos más felices y nos sentiremos más integrados.
Espero que tu inicio de año esté siendo tranquilo y feliz.
Pulsa "L" para ampliar la imagen.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9VFg44H2z8
I've given up
On society
Up on my family
Up on your social disease
I've given up
On the industry
Up on democracy
Done with all your hypocrisy
All of the chaos
And all of the lies
I hate it
I'm wasting here
Can anyone wash it all away?
I'm waiting here
For anyone to wash it all away
Wash it all away
I've given up
On the media
Feeds my hysteria
Sick of living down on my knees
I've given up
On morality
Feeds my brutality
Fuck what you think about me
All of the chaos
And all of the lies
I hate it
I'm wasting here
Can anyone wash it all away
I'm waiting here
For anyone to wash it all away
Wash it all away
I won't change for you
And I can't take the pain
There's nothing you can do
And there's nothing you can say
I've given up
On everything
Up on everything
Up on everything
I'm wasting here
Can anyone wash it all away?
I'm waiting here
For anyone to wash it all away
Wash it all away
I'm wasting here
With everyone just wash it all away
I'm waiting here
For anyone to wash it all away
Wash it all away
Wash it all away
August
The noise is stilled.
I come out on the stage.
Leaning against the door-post
I try to guess from the distant echo
What is to happen in my lifetime.
The darkness of night is aimed at me
Along the sights of a thousand opera-glasses
Abba, Father, if it be possible,
Let this cup pass from me.
I love your stubborn purpose,
I consent to play my part.
But now a different drama is being acted;
For this once let me be.
Yet the order of the acts is planned
And the end of the way inescapable.
I am alone; all drowns in the Pharisees’ hypocrisy.
To live your life is not as simple as to cross a field.*
-Boris Pasternak
From ORIGAMI
violetta. -female horror mesh lips (RARE01) /Gacha
tomoto, kimono muji white
From Hair Fair
tram F519 hair
From Japonica
violetta. -nail appliers -asanoha syuiro
Others
.Pekka. HYPOCRISY Eye makeup (white)
violetta. -F maro-mayu eyebrows(Dark Tone)
[the Skinnery]Blusher set / Blusher-lolli
This photo was taken at
Violetta main store.
"The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceful, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy."
James 3:17
keywords:
nature, flowers, sun, spring, macro, vibrant, colorful, sunny, canon, sunlight, summer, close-up, bokeh, blur
*Working Towards a Better World
In all sincerity, I see no point in war, violence only breeds violence, death, hardship, deep sorrow, pain and fear. Diplomacy creates the possibility of debate, exchange of ideas, the ability to find peaceful solutions through compromise. Diplomacy is not always successful, but it has a good chance of eliminating the pain and fear caused by war.
It seems to me that we are afraid of trying to work things out in a peaceful way, it is not easy, but surely peace DESERVES A CHANCE?
New York Times article:
"Republican Hypocrisy on Iran"
www.nytimes.com/2015/08/02/opinion/sunday/republican-hypo...
Thank you for your kind visit. Have a wonderful and beautiful day! xo❤️
„Ich habe die Geduld für bestimmte Dinge nicht mehr, nicht weil ich arrogant geworden bin, sondern einfach, weil ich einen Punkt in meinem Leben erreicht habe, wo ich meine Zeit nicht mehr mit Dingen verschwenden will, die mir missfallen oder weh tun. Ich habe keine Geduld für Zynismus, übertriebene Kritik und Forderungen jeder Art.
Ich verlor den Willen, die zu mögen, die mich nicht mögen, die zu lieben, die mich nicht lieben, und die anzulächeln, die mich nicht anlächeln möchten. Ich verbringe keine einzige Minute mehr mit denjenigen, die lügen oder manipulieren.
Ich beschloss, nicht mehr mit Verstellung, Heuchelei, Unehrlichkeit und billig Lob zu koexistieren. Ich bin nicht fähig selektive Gelehrsamkeit und akademische Arroganz zu akzeptieren. Ich hasse Konflikte und Vergleiche.
Ich glaube an eine Welt der Gegensätze, und das ist der Grund, warum ich Menschen mit starren und unflexiblen Persönlichkeiten meide.
In der Freundschaft mag ich den Mangel an Loyalität und Verrat nicht. Ich verstehe mich nicht mit denen, die nicht wissen, wie man ein Kompliment oder ein Wort der Ermutigung spricht.
Übertreibungen langweilen mich und ich habe Schwierigkeiten mit der Annahme derjenigen, die Tiere nicht mögen. Und ich habe keine Geduld für alle, die meine Geduld nicht verdient haben.“
Meryl Streep
“I no longer have patience for certain things, not because I’ve become arrogant, but simply because I reached a point in my life where I do not want to waste more time with what displeases me or hurts me. I have no patience for cynicism, excessive criticism and demands of any nature. I lost the will to please those who do not like me, to love those who do not love me and to smile at those who do not want to smile at me.
I no longer spend a single minute on those who lie or want to manipulate. I decided not to coexist anymore with pretense, hypocrisy, dishonesty and cheap praise. I do not tolerate selective erudition nor academic arrogance. I do not adjust either to popular gossiping. I hate conflict and comparisons. I believe in a world of opposites and that’s why I avoid people with rigid and inflexible personalities. In friendship I dislike the lack of loyalty and betrayal. I do not get along with those who do not know how to give a compliment or a word of encouragement. Exaggerations bore me and I have difficulty accepting those who do not like animals. And on top of everything I have no patience for anyone who does not deserve my patience.”
Meryl Streep
“Israeli students claim that ice cream maker Ben & Jerry’s is “illegally” occupying land in Vermont that once belonged to a Abenaki native American tribe and should practice what it preaches and immediately evacuate the properties.
A cheeky letter sent to B&J — signed by more than 1,000 Israeli students and academics affiliated with Students for Justice in America — accuses B&J of of hypocrisy.
“We have concluded that your company’s occupation of the Abenaki lands is illegal and we believe it is wholly inconsistent with the stated values that Ben & Jerry’s purports to maintain.”
"Come on
Come on, although ya try to discredit
Ya still never read it
The needle, I'll thread it, radically poetic
Standin' with the fury that they had in '66
And like E-Double I'm Mad
Still knee-deep in the system's shit
Hoover, he was a body remover
I'll give you a dose but it can never come close
To the rage built up inside of me
Fist in the air, in the land of hypocrisy"
Rage Against the Machines - Wake Up
Head: LeL Evo X
Body: e-Body REBORN with Juicy Add on
Hair: *S.E LELUTKA X GIRL HAIR BLACK 01
Eyes: IKON Reverie Eyes - Eternal Pack
Outfit:
Dress: [Cruel] Control set Fatpack
Collar: from [Cruel] Sulfur Project
Jewellery:
[AlternatiVe]
Made at Voodoo Land:
"I don't see how a pumpkin patch can be more sincere than this one. You can look around and there's not a sign of hypocrisy. Nothing but sincerity as far as the eye can see." Linus
I never care what I look like, how others see me. I am like this, as my life, my hopes, my disappointments, my joys and my unhappiness have made me. They are without reservations and without hypocrisy.
A wonderful, magical, blessed Christmas - good times, health, smiles... and hope that, like every year, is born in us when we look at the poor manger and the little baby in it.
I wish that your expectations for a peaceful day, for what we know and love, for a world without hypocrisy, hypocrisy and lies will come true.
I wish you good light, a joyful smile, I wish you true friends, I wish you kind eyes, I wish you closeness to your loved ones, I wish you admiration at sunrise and the wonder of nature, I wish you curiosity about the world, a journey into the unknown, - I wish you all the best and the most beautiful, - happy little one a star from the sky that makes dreams come true.
Love, joy and prosperity - Merry Christmas, full of magic
I wish you all a happy new year and i hope all your dream will come true.
With love and peace ♥♥♥
Morgan Nephilim Noctis
" I woke up in a dream today
To the cold of the static
And put my cold feet on the floor
Forgot all about yesterday
Remembering I'm pretending to be where I'm not anymore
A little taste of hypocrisy
And I'm left in the wake of the mistake
Slow to react
Even tough you're so close to me
You're still so distant
And I can't bring you back
It's true
The way I feel
Was promised by your face
The sound of your voice
Painted on my memories
Even if you're not with me
(I'm with you)
You
Now I see
Keeping everything inside
(I'm with you)
You
Now I see
Even when I close my eyes
I hit you and you hit me back
We fall to the floor
The rest of the day stands still
Fine line between this and that
When things go wrong I pretend the past isn't real
Now I'm trapped in this memory
And I'm left in the wake of the mistake
Slow to react
Even tough you're close to me
You're still so distant
And I can't bring you back
It's true
The way I feel
Was promised by your face
The sound of your voice
Painted on my memories
Even if you're not with me
No matter how far we've come
I can't wait to see tomorrow
No matter how far we've come
I can't wait to see tomorrow ... "
♥ www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKmYZM8liLM ♥
More details in my Blog :
James, probably Christ's brother, describes true wisdom. It is, he says, pure, peaceful, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. May I achieve this, with God's help.
Thank you for looking.
“There are three kinds of violence. The first, mother of all the others, is institutional violence, that which legalizes and perpetuates domination, oppression and exploitation, that which crushes and laminates millions of men in its silent and well-oiled wheels.
The second is revolutionary violence, which arises from the desire to abolish the first.
The third is repressive violence, the object of which is to stifle the second by making itself the auxiliary and the accomplice of the first violence, that which engenders all the others.
There is no worse hypocrisy to call violence only the second, while pretending to forget the first, which gives birth to it, and the third which kills it. »
Don Helder Camara (February 7, 1909 – August 27, 1999)
Body: Legacy Perky
Head: Evo X- Avalon
Skin: Esty by TheSkinnery
Freckles & Moles: TheSkinnery
Scar: Hexed - Dagger Scar EvoX TINTABLE
Dirty On Face:zzie's - LeL Evo X - Biker Dirt
Smeared Mascara: Izzie's - Smeared Mascara for EvoX
Tattoo: Hexed - Finn at The Darkness Event
Eyeshadows: Hexed - Finn eyeshadows evox at The Darkeness Event
Lipstick and EyeLashes: Delicatta Eyelashes was a group gift.
Hair: tram J1227 hair / HUD-C
Pasties:[Salem] Lilith Pasties - Reverse
Collar: Saki Collar by Badwolf
Gauged ears: Swallow
Earrings: Badwolf - Pirate Earrings (Swallow Gauged) at Man Cave.
I bought many nice things unissex and grabbed a lot of gifts.
You might check it out really!
Photo Booth: Neon Nasty Restroom - The Bearded Guy
Pose: FoxCity - Dream Sequence pose 2
Malcolm X (Malcolm Little)
Born: Omaha, Nebraska, USA – 19/5/1925
Died: New York City, USA – 21/2/1965
Malcolm X was born as Malcolm Little into an African-American family deeply marked by racist violence. His father, Earl Little, was a Baptist preacher and an active supporter of Marcus Garvey’s movement, which promoted Black pride and self-determination. Because of this, he was persecuted by white supremacist groups and died while Malcolm was still a child, in circumstances widely believed to have been a murder disguised as an accident. His mother, Louise Norton Little, collapsed under the weight of poverty, persecution, and loss, and was later institutionalized in a psychiatric hospital. Malcolm and his siblings were separated and placed in foster homes and institutions.
Growing up in a deeply segregated America, Malcolm experienced systemic racism at an early age. Despite excelling at school, he was discouraged by teachers from pursuing higher education “because he was Black.” As a teenager, he moved to Boston and later to Harlem, living on the margins of society through precarious jobs, petty crime, and drug use. In 1946, he was arrested and sentenced to a long prison term.
Prison and transformation
It was in prison that Malcolm Little underwent his most profound transformation. Through intense self-education, obsessive reading, and correspondence with his siblings, he came into contact with the Nation of Islam. He converted to Islam, rejected the surname “Little”—which he saw as a name imposed by slavery—and adopted the letter “X” to symbolize the lost African identity erased by oppression.
After his release in 1952, he quickly became one of the most powerful and charismatic spokesmen of the Nation of Islam. He preached Black pride, self-defense, separation from white society, and delivered a radical critique of the hypocrisy of American democracy, which claimed freedom while denying basic rights to Black people.
Break and political independence
Over time, Malcolm X entered into conflict with the leadership of the Nation of Islam, particularly Elijah Muhammad, disillusioned by moral hypocrisy and political passivity within the organization. In 1964, he publicly broke with the Nation of Islam.
After the split, Malcolm X undertook a pilgrimage to Mecca, which marked a new evolution in his thinking. He acknowledged the possibility of human brotherhood beyond skin color, without ever abandoning his denunciation of Western structural racism. He founded new political and religious organizations and began to connect the African-American struggle with anti-colonial movements and global human rights struggles.
This phase made him even more dangerous: no longer controlled by an organization, no longer confined to an internal rhetoric, but an autonomous, international, lucid political leader.
Assassination
On 21/2/1965, during a speech at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem, Malcolm X was assassinated by gunfire.
The material killers were members of the Nation of Islam, but the murder occurred within a climate of hatred, isolation, threats, and surveillance, marked by serious institutional failures and responsibilities that were never fully clarified.
Malcolm X was eliminated because he refused compromise, because he broke ideological boundaries, and because his free and radical voice could no longer be controlled.
I publish these portraits to remember those who gave their lives for humanity, human rights, justice, and freedom. This work is meant especially for younger generations, to make visible stories that are too often forgotten or never taught, and to keep alive the memory of those who paid the highest price for truth and dignity.
Cavendish Mews is a smart set of flats in Mayfair where flapper and modern woman, the Honourable Lettice Chetwynd has set up home after coming of age and gaining her allowance. To supplement her already generous allowance, and to break away from dependence upon her family, Lettice has established herself as a society interior designer, so her flat is decorated with a mixture of elegant antique Georgian pieces and modern Art Deco furnishings, using it as a showroom for what she can offer to her well heeled clients.
Tonight however we are at 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, the heir, their eldest son Leslie, and his wife Arabella. Lettice, her fiancée, Sir John Nettleford-Hughes, and his recently widowed sister returned from France, Clemance Pontefract, are visiting the Chetwynd family for Christmas and have stayed on to celebrate New Year’s Eve with them as well before heading off in a few days’ time to Rippon Court, Sir John’s vast ancestral estate in Bedfordshire, where he, Clemance and Lettice all have business.
Old enough to be Lettice’s father, wealthy Sir John was until recently still a bachelor, and according to London society gossip intended to remain so, so that he might continue to enjoy his dalliances with a string of pretty chorus girls of Lettice’s age and younger. After an abrupt ending to her understanding with Selwyn Spencely, son and heir to the title Duke of Walmsford, Lettice in a moment of both weakness and resolve, agreed to the proposal of marriage proffered to her by Sir John. More like a business arrangement than a marriage proposal, Sir John offered Lettice the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of his large fortune, be chatelain of all his estates and continue to have her interior design business, under the conditions that she agree to provide him with an heir, and that he be allowed to discreetly carry on his affairs in spite of their marriage vows. He even suggested that Lettice might be afforded the opportunity to have her own extra marital liaisons if she were discreet about them.
Christmas has been and gone, and with it, Lettice’s elder sister Lalage (known to everyone in the family by the diminutive Lally), her husband Charles and their children and Lettice’s Aunt Eglantine, leaving the house emptier and significantly quieter, especially in the absence of the children. It is New Year’s Eve 1925, and nearly midnight as we find ourselves in the very grand and elegant drawing room of Glynes with its gilt Louis and Palladian style furnishings where Lettice has gathered with her fiancée and future sister-in-law, her father, mother, Leslie, Arabella and the parents of her oldest childhood chum, Gerald Bruton, Lord and Lady Bruton. An eight course New Year’s Eve dinner prepared by the Chetwynd’s cook, Mrs. Casterton, and the Glynes kitchen staff, has been consumed, and the party have repaired to the drawing room to enjoy champagne, wine and for the more daring, cocktails. The gilded chinoiserie rococo galleried table has been moved to in the midst of the sumptuous drawing room by Bramley, the Chetwynd’s beloved butler, and he has covered it in glasses and bottles of alcohol, ice and soda syphons for his master, mistress and guests. A bottle of champagne from the Glynes’ well stocked cellar which has been chilling in a silver coolers is almost empty as the New Year looms.
“Oh, I am sorry to hear you won’t be staying in the county for Twelfth Night* celebrations, Sir John.” Lady Gwenyth remarks sadly. “Such a pity! Mrs. Maingot’s Glynes Village Players are really rather excited about their Twelfth Night performance this year.”
“Even though I am a relative newcomer to the district, Lady Gwenyth, having only acquired Fonengil Park last century,” Sir John replies with his nose crumpling in distaste as he gesticulates with his highball glass of hock and seltzer in his right hand. “One thing I do know from my experience of the Glynes Village Players, is that the more excited they are about their performance, the ghastlier it is sure to be!” He pulls an overexaggerated face of mock horror. “I shall be only too glad to be far away from Mrs. Maingot and her amateur dramatics.”
“Oh,” Lady Gwenyth replies with both a sad and startled face in response to Sir John’s harsh remarks. “I rather enjoy their performances each year, Sir John.”
“Well, I’d hardly compare their amateur dramatics to the plays produced in London’s West End, Lady Gwenyth.” Sir John retorts smugly, before sipping from his glass.
“Yes… well,” Lady Gwyneth says with distain as she takes a sip of her own champagne, peering with repugnance over the top of her glass with beady eyes at Sir John in his smart Jermyn Street** tailored set of tails, white dinner vest and bow tie, a large Glynes hot house red rose in full bloom serving as a rather overly garish boutonnière*** in his lapel. “I’ll have to acquiesce to your greater experience in these matters, Sir John. I haven’t been to the capital since the Jersey Lily**** made her debut on the London stage in ‘She Stoops to Conquor’.
“Indeed.” Sir John murmurs as he looks Lady Gwenyth up and down critically, eyeing her elegant, if somewhat old fashioned Edwardian beaded evening gown in pastel pink crêpe de chiné.
“Still, it will be a pity too, that the Glynes villagers will not have the opportunity to wassail***** you and dear Lettice,” Lady Gwenyth goes on, either ignoring Sir John’s rudeness politely, or simply not noticing it. “Especially now that you two are officially engaged.”
“Oh,” Sir John heaves a rather heavy sigh and waves his hand about, as though shooing an irritating insect away. “There were a great many wassails and good wishes to us both from the villagers over the festive period since Lettice and I motored down from London to spend Christmas here at Glynes.”
“Oh that must be rather nice for you and dear Lettice, Sir John.” Lady Gwenyth remarks. “I still remember all the good wishes I received from the villagers when Algernon brought me to Bruton Hall all those years ago as a new bride. It was lovely, and endeared me to them.”
“Endeared you to them? Indeed Lady Gwenyth?”
“Yes. It really was wonderful. As part of local gentry, you really should spend more time down in the village when you are at Fontengil Park, Sir John. You spend far too much time in London.”
“Ahh, but that is where my business requires me, Lady Gwenyth, not enfolded in the soporific bucolic bosom of the Wiltshire countryside.”
“Thinking of the countryside,” Lady Gwenyth remarks, coughing a little awkwardly at Sir John’s lightly veiled implication that she, her family the families of the other landed gentry live sleepy and dull lives. “I was a little surprised that you’re not spending New Year’s Eve with my son at Miss Fordyce’s country retreat. It sounds far more smart and select for an exciting man about London like yourself, than our dull, bucolic parties.” Lady Gwenyth cannot help herself as she adds an acerbic taint to her comment. “Gerald was rather thrilled by Miss Fordyce’s invitation to her private party in Essex, especially after the last one, which he said was frightfully enjoyable. You were there too, as well as Lettice, I believe, Sir John.”
“I was. My sister Clemance and I are very good friends of Sylvia’s.”
“Yes, Lettice told me that. She led me to believe that Mrs. Pontefract and Miss Fordyce went to finishing school together, or something like that.”
“We were hosted by the same German family, Lady Gwenyth,” Clemance utters clearly, correcting the Chetwynd’s neighbour politely as she steps up to join the conversation. “So, I’ve known Sylvia since we were fifteen years old.
“Clemmie, Lettice and I all received invitations from Sylvia for tonight’s bash, as it happens, Lady Gwenyth,” Sir John explains. “However, since we will be leaving in a day or two to go to Bedfordshire, and knowing Lettice enjoys the tradition of spending time with her family during Christmas, we erred on the side of coming down here to Glynes, rather than going to Sylvia’s.”
“I think I’m enjoying this party far more than I would have Sylvia’s anyway, Lady Gwenyth.” Clemance remarks. “Sylvia has always surrounded herself with all these rather passionate and loud performers and artists. There are bound to be high spirits and hijinks this evening – a spirited scavenger hunt about Belchamp St Paul****** no doubt.”
“Oh indeed.” chuckles Lady Gwenyth.
“No. This is a much more agreeable. I must also say that it was very good of Cosmo and Sadie to put Nettie and I up for Christmas and New Year.” Clemance adds gratefully.
“Yes. It saved me the fuss and bother of having to open up Fontengil Park just for a few days.” Sir John adds.
“Oh,” Lady Gwenyth responds, shuddering as she ignores Sir John’s rather tactless remark and focusses upon Clemance instead. “Cosmo and Sadie are always such gracious hosts at any time of the year, Mrs. Pontefract, especially at Christmas time. I’m sure they were only too delighted to welcome you, Mrs. Pontefract.” She allows herself to give Sir John a momentary hard stare. “However, I was just remarking to Sir John that it is a pity you have to leave before the Twelfth Night festivities.”
“Oh I know. It is a great pity. However, a Royal command is not one my brother can readily ignore, Lady Gwenyth,” Clemance answers. “Or refuse. And since the Prince of Wales has specifically expressed his wish to meet Lettice again as John’s fiancée, I am going simply as chaperone.”
“I am surprised that His Royal Highness would want to leave Sandringham*******,” Lady Gwenyth opines. “I would have thought he would have stayed on the Sandringham Estate with Their Majesties for the duration of the festive season.”
“Somehow, I think Rippon Court offers more entertaining pursuits for His Royal Highness than watching his father play with his postage stamp collection******** or his mother fuss over her Fabergé eggs*********.” Sir John says in a superior fashion.
“Our father was a fine rider, a mad keen steeplechaser********** and a bloodthirsty hunter.” Clemance explains with a shudder. “Mother was too. Between them, they established the Rippon Hunt.”
“Being a keen steeplechaser and foxhunter himself, His Royal Highness has expressed his wish to ride in the Rippon Hunt***********, so however reluctantly, I am taking up my official duties as host of the hunt.”
“Not Master of the Hounds************, Sir John?” Lady Gwyneth queries politely.
“Our parents were the Nettleford-Hughes with hunting in their veins, Lady Gwenyth.” Clemance explains kindly. “They couldn’t understand why Nettie didn’t enjoy, nor have the aptitude for, the outdoor sports they embraced with such gusto.”
“We’re a little more cerebral in our pursuits, rather than Neanderthal*************” Sir John adds. “No, I’m far better placed to entertain His Royal Highness and his coterie after their hunting pursuits in the comfort of Rippon Court, and Lettice as my intended will be offering the winners’ trophies.”
Across the room by the white marble fireplace in which a fire roars, keeping the cold of the Wiltshire winter at bay, the Viscount, Lady Sadie and their eldest son and heir chat together, with Lady Sadie in her usual seat in a gilt Louis Seize armchair, her husband on the high backed gilt salon chair embroidered with delicate petit-point by his mother, and their son standing next to his father, warming his backside as he faces out to the room. Across from Lady Sadie in a matching armchair, Lord Bruton snores deeply.
“Looks like Lord Bruton’s had a bit too much of your firewater**************, Pappa.” Leslie opines, nodding at their neighbour slumped in his seat with his head lolling to his left heavily, his mouth hanging slightly open. “I’d best go wake him.”
Lady Sadie glances up at the dainty ornamental rococo clock on the mantelpiece. “No, no, Leslie.” she fusses. “Let poor Algernon sleep. It’s only a quarter to midnight. Your father or Gwenyth can wake him just before midnight, not that I think he’s care too much if he missed the start to 1926, judging by how tired he looked tonight.”
“Too many unpaid bills keeping him awake at night I’d say.” Leslie remarks.
“Still?” Lady Sadie asks. “I thought all that was behind them now with that last sale of pockets of land to that London man.”
“I think it will take more than that to solve the Bruton’s cash flow problems.” Leslie remarks. “Wouldn’t you agree, Pappa?”
The Viscount doesn’t reply.
“Father?” he asks again.
“Cosmo?” Sadie asks her husband, as she gently reaches out and places a bejewelled hand upon her husband’s left knee.
“Eh? What?” the Viscount blusters.
“You’re miles away, Cosmo.” Lady Sadie says with disappointment, shrinking back into her seat and picking up her nearly empty champagne flute. “You aren’t listening to Leslie or I at all, are you?” She pouts petulantly as she lifts the glass to her lips. “You could at last pretend to be listening to me.”
“Just listen to him, that superior sounding old lecher.” the Viscount seethes, seemingly unaware of his wife’s statement as he nods towards Sir John who stands in his cluster with Lady Gwyneth and Clemance near Lady Sadie’s Eighteenth Century painted drawers, his back turned to the Viscount.
“Cosmo!” Lady Sadie hisses. “Quiet! He’ll hear you.” She looks aghast at her husband. “Like him or not, he’s our guest.”
“He won’t hear me,” mutters the Viscount in a comfortably assured reply. “Not over the sound of his own deafening pomposity.”
Leslie and Lady Sadie exchange knowing glances over the top of the Viscount, Lady Sadie cocking an eyebrow and Leslie rolling his eyes, both silently acknowledging that the Viscount is the pot calling the kettle black***************.
“Oh, His Royal Highness is a fine hunter and steeplechaser,” the Viscount mimics Sir John’s statement in a mewling voice. “As if we didn’t all know it’s more about like being drawn to like, with our wastrel future King seeking a sympathetic audience and place to sleep with his mistress, that damnable trollop Freda Dudley Ward****************, rather than doing his duty and staying at Sandringham with his family.”
“Ahh, the worst kept secret in England*****************.” Leslie ventures.
“The poor King and Queen.” Lady Sadie opines with a sigh. “I pity them.”
“I pity us!” the Viscount retorts. “Having to tolerate that damn philanderer under our roof, as long as Lettice insists on being churlish and keeping up the pretence that this ill-fated marriage will be anything other than a disaster, the magnitude of which we have never seen the likes of in the Chetwynd family before.”
“Pappa!” Leslie exclaims, looking over to Lettice, who luckily for the Viscount, is involved in an animated conversation with Leslie’s wife Arabella on the sofa nearby.
“Stop being so melodramatic, Cosmo,” Lady Sadie chides. “It doesn’t become you, as head of the household. And I say again, keep your voice down, for goodness’ sake. Sir John may be completely hedonistic and self-absorbed, but our youngest child is not.”
“I’ve a mind to go over there, punch the cad in his snooty nose, and fling him out of the house by the ear.”
“Oh no you won’t, Cosmo.” Lady Sadie disagrees calmly and matter-of-factly, slapping him on his knee this time. “It would be the wrong thing to do, and even in the pique of a fit of rage, you know it. It would be too, too embarrassing to conduct such a scene before a houseful of guests, even if most of them present are family: for Sir John, Leslie, Arabella, me, you,” She lowers her voice and adds sadly. “For your favourite, Lettice.”
“It doesn’t mean I wouldn’t like to.” the Viscount mumbles under his breath between gritted teeth.
“You aren’t alone in that, Pappa. We’d all like to.” Leslie says, looking down to his father. “But he is Lettice’s fiancée, and it is New Year’s Eve after all.”
“What the devil has that to do with anything, Leslie?” the Viscount barks.
“Well, you know, Pappa, the season of peace, good will to all men and that all that.” Leslie elucidates with animated gesticulations directed towards the Christmas tree, its golden glass baubles, ribbons and tinsel****************** sparkling and glowing in the drawing room light.
“Good will to all men be damned!” the Viscount retorts in a fiery fashion.
“Language, Cosmo.” Lady Sadie scolds her husband.
“I fail to understand how a man as odious, hedonistic and self-obsessed as Sir John, can have such a lovely and selfless sister like Clemance.” Leslie remarks. “She is kind, considerate, generous of her time, and utterly charming.”
“Perhaps she is compensating for her brother’s character flaws,” Lady Sadie suggests. “I determined that I was going to despise her when I met her up in London, but try as I might, I can’t help but like her.”
“Why can’t Lettice see what a vile old lecher Sir John is?” the Viscount ponders in exasperated disbelief. “I mean, she’s not dim, is she? She’s got the brains and the nous to establish her own very successful business, in spite of everyone, including us, suggesting it was folly, and that she’d fail. How can she be so blind? Has she lost the use of her eyes, or worse yet, her senses?”
“I don’t think Lettice has lost either, my dear Cosmo,” Lady Sadie soothes purringly. “And furthermore,” she adds with a satisfied smile. “I do believe the sheen is starting to rub off this quixotic******************* engagement to Sir John.”
Both the Viscount and Leslie turn and look at Lady Sadie, her son smiling knowingly, and her husband gazing at her in disbelief.
“Alright Sadie.” the older man says. “You have my full and uninterrupted attention.” He heaves a sigh. “Go on. What do you know that I don’t?”
“I told you the day she announced her engagement to Sir John to us almost twelve months ago, that we were going to have to play the long game with Lettice.” Lady Sadie explains.
“You did.” the Viscount buts in. “And we have. What of it?”
“Well, it’s finally starting to pay dividends without our intervention in the matter, thus preventing Lettice from being driven further into Sir John’s arms because of our perceived interference and bias against the match. I can see by your response, Leslie darling, that being the perceptive young man you are, like me, you too have noticed a change come over Lettice and her attitudes to Sir John.”
“I have Mamma.” Leslie admits. “A definite cooling”
“What the devil do you mean, Sadie?” the Viscount splutters in exasperation. “What’s all this about Lettice’s attitudes towards that ghastly old lecher? Stop being so damn cryptic, woman!”
“I’m not quite sure when exactly, but it seems that at least since her return from that decorative arts exhibition in Paris, Lettice has taken a cooler attitude towards her fiancée, Cosmo. When they arrived to stay, I asked Lettice whether she and Sir John have settled on a date for the wedding yet, and she fobbed me off with some fanciful story that they haven’t had time to settle on one yet. It’s all nonsense of course.” Lady Sadie scoffs. “A happily engaged couple would have settled on one by now, no matter how busy they were. You mark my words.” She holds up a wagging bejewelled finger. “She’s stalling, and I am quite sure she is reconsidering her engagement. Furthermore,” she adds. “If you think about how she was when their engagement first became public, Lettice hung off Sir John, and his every word. Not a cross word was had between them.” Lady Sadie nods, steeling her jaw as she speaks. “Yet now look at her. She’s sitting with Arabella.”
“Tice hasn’t stood next to him all this evening.” Leslie adds. “Haven’t you noticed, Pappa?”
The Viscount sits up more straightly in his seat as he glances between Sir John and Lettice, who sits on the sofa with Arabella, her back clearly turned to her fiancée. “No,” he says, a brightness lightening his gruff tones, his glower lifting a little. “I can’t say I have.”
“And she’s given him critical, or even openly hostile glances when he’s said things she doesn’t like or agree with since they both motored down from London to stay.” Lady Sadie adds. “It’s not the look a happily engaged woman gives her fiancée, Cosmo.”
“Bella even told me last night before bed that Tice confided in her the other day that she and Sir John had the fiercest argument up in London over the Prince of Wales’ visit and their need to leave here just after New Year. Apparently, she told Sir John he could jolly well go on his own, Royal Highness or not, as she was staying here until after Twelfth Night like usual. It was only because of Clemance’s imploring that she recanted and agreed to go with them to Rippon Court the day after tomorrow.”
“Really?” Sir John asks, whilst Lady Sadie gasps and smiles at their son’s revelation.
“According to Bella, and she’s less of a Sir John despiser than we are, so I can’t imagine her fabricating or gilding such a tale.”
Just at that moment, Arabella scuttles past her husband and in-laws, vacating her seat as she goes to the side of the fireplace and rings the servants’ call bell by turning the metal and porcelain handle discreetly built in under the mantle. “We must call for Bramley!” she exclaims excitedly. “We need fresh champagne. It’s nearly midnight!”
Seeing an ample opportunity to talk to Lettice, Leslie leaves his parents’ side and moves over to talk to her.
“To your health, little sister.” Leslie says, slipping down onto the seat vacated by his wife on the Louis Quinze sofa, raising his champagne flute to Lettice’s.
“To your health, dear Leslie.” Lettice parrots, raising her own glass so that it clinks merrily against his.
Leslie settles back against the soft embroidered gold satin upholstery back of the sofa and appraises Lettice as she sits opposite him, arrayed in a simple sleeveless tube frock of madder coloured satin with a drop waist and an asymmetrical hemline designed for her by Gerald. The colours warms her pale complexion and accentuates the golden tones of her marcelled waves******************** Her elbow length white kid evening gloves make for a nice contrast to the bright colour of the frock’s fabric. A diamond bracelet, a gift from Sir John to Lettice, winks and sparkles expensively under the illumination of the Glynes electrified drawing room chandeliers above.
“What?” Lettice asks her brother.
Leslie doesn’t answer straight away, which causes Lettice to blush and glance down to see if she has inadvertently spilt something from New Year’s Eve 1925’s dinner onto her gown, where it has remained unnoticed by her.
“What is it, Leslie?”
“You’re up to something.” he replies matter-of-factly after a moment of deliberation.
Lettice laughs in startled surprise at Leslie’s effrontery. “No I’m not, Leslie!”
“Yes you are, Tice.” Leslie retorts before taking a sip of gin and tonic. “Do you remember when you were six and I was sixteen, and I caught you coming out of the barn on the home farm********************* with that pail********************** of molasses for the cows***********************, which you intended to pour into Lionel’s bed?”
“He deserved a taste of his own medicine, after he deliberately poured water on my mattress, making it look like I’d wet the bed.” Lettice defends herself. Nanny Tess was fit to be tied, and I received such a dressing down and a punishment of no nursery tea for a week.” She scoffs and rolls her blue eyes. “You stopped me doing it.”
“I wouldn’t have stopped you, if you hadn’t been so Janus-faced************************ when I asked you whether you were going to try and reciprocate punishment on Lionel, and you said you wouldn’t. I immediately suspected foul play, so I followed you, and as it turns out, I was right.”
“You stalked me, Leslie.” Lettice takes a sip of her own champagne, the bracelet of gemstones sliding down her raised forearm until it comes to a gentle halt where its circumference and that of her arm match.
“I saved you from your own impetuousness, Tice.”
“Says you.” Lettice laughs. “We’ll never know now. I was so guilty being caught red handed as it were by my own big brother, whom I worshipped and adored, that I did as you told me and suffered my punishment in silence without retribution upon Lionel.”
“He would have done something even worse to you, Tice. You know he would.”
“Perhaps.”
“Lionel’s depths of depravity and evil were evident long before he was seven, Tice my dear.”
“True.” Lettice admits begrudgingly.
“Anyway, you are being Janus-faced now. Mamma noticed it, and so did I.” Leslie remarks. “So, what is going on between you and sleazy old Sir John? You’re saying all the right things, but Mamma and I both sense a shift in you, ever since you came home from Paris.” Leslie looks his sister directly in the eyes. “Is the sheen of your ill-considered engagement to Sir John finally wearing off?”
Lettice laughs again at Leslie’s impudence. “Why don’t you say what you really think, Leslie darling.”
“Is it?” Leslie persists.
“I’m not six any more, Leslie. I don’t need rescuing.” Lettice assures her sibling, reaching out her empty glove clad left hand and patting him on the knee consolingly. “I’m twenty-five, and I can manage this situation myself, and I am, in my own way.”
The concern painted on Leslie’s handsome face give away his misgivings. “I just hope, whatever you are up to, you’re doing the right thing.”
“I appreciate you wanting to come to my aid, Leslie darling, but I don’t need my knight in shining brotherly armour this time.”
Leslie sighs in tired exasperation. “You always were the most independent of all the Chetwynd children, forging your own destiny: not like Lally, who married well as Mamma intended, or me who as the heir apparent has grown up with his future mapped out for him.”
“Lionel, for all his faults, is independent too.” Lettice suggests.
“Yes, but stupid too with all his hedonistic actions to end up having his fate chosen for him against his will, shrouded in scandal, by being banished to British East Africa************************* by Pappa.”
“Please trust me on this, Leslie darling. I know what I’m doing this time.” Lettice promises Leslie. “Whether the outcomes are good, bad or a mixture of both. I’m prepared. I’ll be fine.”
“What are you two talking about over there?” the Viscount calls over to Lettice and Leslie from the drinks table, holding aloft one of two chilled bottles of champagne supplied by Bramley. “Come! It’s almost midnight. Time to toast to 1926.”
“Yes, Pappa.” the siblings say, arising from the sofa and walking over to the table where they join all the other guests and their hosts.
The Viscount hands them both fresh glasses of cool, sparkling French champagne.
The clock on the mantle chimes midnight prettily, in the distance the Glynes Church of England bell rings out across the quiet night and the muffled sound of cheers drift up from the servant’s quarters.
“Happy New Year!” Viscount Wrexham cheers. “Happy nineteen twenty-six!”
“Happy nineteen twenty-six!” everyone echoes as they raise their glasses and clink them together happily.
*Dating back to the fourth century, many Christians have observed the Twelfth Night — the evening before the Epiphany — as the ideal time to take down the Christmas tree and festive decorations. Traditionally, the Twelfth Night marks the end of the Christmas season, but there's reportedly some debate among Christian groups about which date is correct. By custom, the Twelfth Night falls on either January 5 or January 6, depending on whether you count Christmas Day as the first day. The Epiphany, also known as Three Kings' Day, commemorates the visit of the three wise men to baby Jesus in Bethlehem.
**Jermyn Street is a one-way street in the St James's area of the City of Westminster in London. It is to the south of, parallel, and adjacent to Piccadilly. Jermyn Street is known as a street for high end gentlemen's clothing retailers and bespoke tailors in the West End.
***A boutonnière or buttonhole is a floral decoration, typically a single flower or bud, worn on the lapel of a tuxedo or suit jacket. While worn frequently in the past, boutonnières are now usually reserved for special occasions for which formal wear is standard, such as at proms and weddings.
****Emilie Charlotte, Lady de Bathe, known as Lillie Langtry and nicknamed "The Jersey Lily", was a British socialite, stage actress and producer. Born and raised on the island of Jersey, she moved to London in 1876, two years after marrying. Her looks and personality attracted interest, commentary, and invitations from artists and society hostesses, and she was celebrated as a young woman of great beauty and charm. During the aesthetic movement in England, she was painted by aesthete artists. In 1882, she became the poster-girl for Pears soap, and thus the first celebrity to endorse a commercial product. In 1881, Langtry became an actress and made her West End debut in the comedy She Stoops to Conquer, causing a sensation in London by becoming the first socialite to appear on stage. One of the most glamorous British women of her era, Langtry was the subject of widespread public and media interest. Her acquaintances in London included Oscar Wilde, who encouraged Langtry to pursue acting. She was known for her relationships with royal figures and noblemen, including Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VII), Lord Shrewsbury, and Prince Louis of Battenberg.
*****Wassail refers to a hot, mulled holiday punch, traditionally made with spiced cider or ale, and also to a winter solstice custom of visiting orchards to bless the trees for a good harvest. The word "wassail" comes from an Old Norse phrase meaning "be in good health" and is a salute to good health.
******Belchamp St Paul is a village and civil parish in the Braintree district of Essex, England. The village is five miles west of Sudbury, Suffolk, and 23 miles northeast of the county town, Chelmsford.
*******The Prince of Wales, later Edward VIII and Duke of Windsor, celebrated Christmas 1925 at Sandringham House in Norfolk, which was, and remains, the traditional Royal Family location for the festive season. His father, King George V, was the reigning monarch at the time, and the family gathered at their country estate for the festivities.
********King George V was a very enthusiastic and obsessive stamp collector who amassed a world-class collection. He began collecting stamps as the Duke of York in the late 1800s and continued obsessively throughout his life. He was so passionate about it that he declared, "I wish to have the best collection and not one of the best collections in England". He made high-value purchases to build his collection, including setting a world record at the time by paying £1,450.00 for a Mauritius two pence blue stamp in 1904. He famously acknowledged that he was the "damned fool" who paid such a high price. He had his collection housed in 328 albums, and it was focused on British Empire stamps. His private collection formed the foundation of the Royal Philatelic Collection, which is now considered one of the most valuable stamp collections in the world.
*********Queen Mary collected a wide variety of objects, including Eighteenth Century furniture, lacquerware, gold boxes, and jewellery. She also collected miniatures, enamelwork, and Fabergé eggs, and was particularly interested in restoring and acquiring pieces that had previously been part of the Royal Collection. Her collection was eclectic and also featured items like the famous Queen Mary's Dolls' House and a significant number of photo albums documenting her life and travels.
**********A steeplechase is a long-distance race involving both galloping and jumping over obstacles, primarily fences and water jumps. In horse racing, steeplechases involve horses jumping over various obstacles like fences and ditches.
***********During the 1920s the Prince of Wales, later Edward VIII and Duke of Windsor, was ranked among the most daring horsemen in England. Having forged an impressive reputation in the hunting field for courage, determination and skill, he moved on to steeplechasing furthering the indignation of George V and Queen Mary who urged their son to abandon the dangerous sport. Unheeded Edward broke his collar bone, blacked his eyes and suffered concussion with what seemed to be alarming regularity. The Prince’s addiction to his hazardous hobby even caused the Prime Minister Ramsay Macdonald to request discontinuance. The prince stubbornly refused. Only after the near fatal illness of the King in 1928, did the he finally renounce the sport and order the sale of his entire stud.
************The Master of the Hounds was in charge of the hunt and supervised the field, hounds, and staff. The huntsman, who had bred the hounds and worked with them, would be in charge of the pack during the hunt. Once the group was assembled, the huntsman would lead the pack of hounds and field to where a fox might be hiding.
*************The term "Neanderthal" was first used in 1864 when Irish geologist William King proposed the species name Homo neanderthalensis for the fossils found in Germany's Neander Valley. However, the first known use of "Neanderthal" to describe the fossil itself dates to 1874 in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.
**************Referring to a strong alcoholic drink like whisky or gin, the origins of the use of the word “firewater” came from two sources: one started with the adulteration of alcohol with tobacco juice, hot peppers or opium, and the other began with the custom of testing the proof of alcohol by throwing it in the fire, if flammable alcohol would be acceptable for purchase.
***************Referring to hypocrisy, highlighting a situation where someone criticises another person for a fault that they themselves share, the idiom originated in the early 1600s from the Spanish novel “Don Quixote”, which was translated into English by Thomas Shelton in 1620.
****************Winifred May Mones, Marquesa de Casa Maury, commonly known by her first married name as Freda Dudley Ward, was an English socialite. She was best known for being a married paramour of Edward, Prince of Wales, who later became Edward VIII. She was twice married and divorced. Her first marriage was on 9 July 1913 to William Dudley Ward, the Liberal MP for Southampton. Her first husband's family surname was Ward, but 'Dudley Ward' became their surname through common usage. They divorced on the ground of adultery in 1931 and were the parents of two daughters. Although married in 1913 to William Dudley Ward, Freda was also in a relationship with Edward, Prince of Wales from 1918, until she was supplanted by American Thelma Furness from 1929 to 1934 before he then took up with Wallis Simpson, whom he eventually married and abdicated for.
*****************Freda Dudley Ward was the Prince of Wales's paramour for many years, with their affair beginning in the early 1920s. Their relationship was not a secret; it was openly acknowledged by their social circles, families, and the public. His parents the King George V and Queen Mary were concerned about the Prince of Wales's affair with Freda Dudley Ward, as it was a public relationship that threatened to cause scandal and damage his reputation, especially given the expectation that he would marry a foreign royal. They disapproved of the affair, viewing it as a public scandal and hoping the situation could be managed and kept out of the papers to protect the monarchy and the future king. It was a source of considerable tension between father and son. The constant disapproval from his father contributed to Edward's already existing resentment and hatred for his royal role and the constraints it placed upon him.
******************One of the most famous Christmas decorations that people love to use at Christmas is tinsel. You might think that using it is an old tradition and that people in Britain have been adorning their houses with tinsel for a very long time. However that is not actually true. Tinsel is in fact believed to be quite a modern tradition. Whilst the idea of tinsel dates back to Germany in 1610 when wealthy people used real strands of silver to adorn their Christmas trees (also a German invention). Silver was very expensive though, so being able to do this was a sign that you were wealthy. Even though silver looked beautiful and sparkly to begin with, it tarnished quite quickly, meaning it would lose its lovely, bright appearance. Therefore it was swapped for other materials like copper and tin. These metals were also cheaper, so it meant that more people could use them. However, when the Great War started in 1914, metals like copper were needed for the war. Because of this, they couldn't be used for Christmas decorations as much, so a substitute was needed. It was swapped for aluminium, but this was a fire hazard, so it was switched for lead, but that turned out to be poisonous.
*******************Taken from the name of the hero in Miguel de Cervantes 1605 novel, “Don Quixote”, to be quixotic means to be extremely idealistic, unrealistic and impractical, typically marked by rash and lofty romanticism.
********************Marcelling is a hair styling technique in which hot curling tongs are used to induce a curl into the hair. Its appearance was similar to that of a finger wave but it is created using a different method. Marcelled hair was a popular style for women's hair in the 1920s, often in conjunction with a bob cut. For those women who had longer hair, it was common to tie the hair at the nape of the neck and pin it above the ear with a stylish hair pin or flower. One famous wearer was American entertainer, Josephine Baker.
*********************A "home farm" is typically a farm that is part of a large country estate and provides food for the main house. In a British context, it was historically the land farmed directly by the landowner or an employed manager, often while the rest of the estate was rented out to tenant farmers.
**********************Although often assumed to be American, the word “pail” is actually an English word that originated in the Middle English period (1150 – 1500) and is used in both American and British English, though it is considered more common in American English today, where it is often synonymous with "bucket". While "bucket" is the more dominant term in British English, "pail" is still understood and can be considered a more old-fashioned or regional variant.
***********************In farming, molasses provides an energy-rich supplement for livestock, helps them to better digest fibre in their feed.
************************Arising in the late Seventeenth Century, referring to the Roman deity of beginnings and endings often depicted with two faces, “Janus-faced” refers to deliberate deceptiveness especially by pretending one set of feelings and acting under the influence of another.
*************************The Colony and Protectorate of Kenya, commonly known as British Kenya or British East Africa, was part of the British Empire in Africa. It was established when the former East Africa Protectorate was transformed into a British Crown colony in 1920. Technically, the "Colony of Kenya" referred to the interior lands, while a 16 km (10 mi) coastal strip, nominally on lease from the Sultan of Zanzibar, was the "Protectorate of Kenya", but the two were controlled as a single administrative unit. The colony came to an end in 1963 when an ethnic Kenyan majority government was elected for the first time and eventually declared independence as the Republic of Kenya.
This festive upper-class scene is not all that it may appear to be, for it is made up entirely of pieces from my 1:12 miniatures collection.
Fun things to look for in this tableau include:
The champagne glasses are 1:12 artisan miniatures. Made of glass, they have been blown individually by hand by Beautifully Handmade Miniatures in Kettering and are so fragile and delicate that even I with my dainty fingers have broken the stem of one. They stand on an ornate Eighteenth Century style silver tray made by Warwick Miniatures in Ireland, who are well known for the quality and detail applied to their pieces. The wine cooler is also made by Warwick Miniatures. The Deutz and Geldermann champagne bottle is also an artisan miniature and made of glass with a miniature copy of a real Deutz and Geldermann label and some real foil wrapped around their necks. It was made by Little Things Dollhouse Miniatures in Lancashire. The clear glass soda syphon and porcelain ice bucket and tongs was made by M.W. Reutter Porzellanfabrik in Germany, who specialise in making high quality porcelain miniatures. The cranberry glass soda syphon was made by Beautifully Handmade Miniatures. The remaini g bottles of alcohol were made by Little Things Dollhouse Miniatures. The gilt tea table in the foreground of the photo on which they all stand is made by the high-end miniature furniture maker, Bespaq.
The Chetwynd Christmas tree, beautifully decorated by Lettice, Harold and Arabella with garlands, tinsel, bows golden baubles and topped by a sparking gold star 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.
The Palladian console table behind the Christmas tree, with its two golden caryatids and marble top, is one of a pair that were commissioned by me from American miniature artisan Peter Cluff. Peter specialises in making authentic and very realistic high quality 1:12 miniatures that reflect his interest in Georgian interior design. His work is highly sought after by miniature collectors worldwide. This pair of tables are one-of-a-kind and very special to me.
The gilt chair to the right of the photo 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 also 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 elegant ornaments that decorate the surfaces of the Chetwynd’s palatial drawing room very much reflect the Eighteenth Century spirit of the room.
On the console table made by Peter Cluff stands a porcelain pot of yellow and lilac petunias which has been hand made and painted by 1:12 miniature ceramicist Ann Dalton. It is flanked by two mid Victorian (circa 1850) hand painted child’s tea set pieces. The sugar bowl and milk jug have been painted to imitate Sèvres porcelain.
On the bombe chest behind the Louis settee stand a selection of 1950s Limoges miniature tea set pieces which I have had since I was a teenager. Each piece is individually stamped on its base with a green Limoges stamp. In the centre of these pieces stands a sterling silver three prong candelabra made by an unknown artisan. They have actually fashioned a putti (cherub) holding the stem of the candelabra. The candles that came with it are also 1:12 artisan pieces and are actually made of wax.
The sofa, which is part of a three piece Louis XV suite of the settee and two armchairs was made by the high-end miniature furniture maker, JBM.
The Hepplewhite chair with the lemon satin upholstery you can just see behind the Christmas tree was made by the high-end miniature furniture maker, Bespaq.
All the paintings around the Glynes drawing room in their gilded frames are 1:12 artisan pieces made by Amber’s Miniatures in the United States and V.H. Miniatures in the United Kingdom, and the wallpaper is an authentic copy of hand-painted Georgian wallpaper of Chinese lanterns from the 1770s.
Мы в осень погрузились незаметно.
В лавину желтизны опавших листьев,
Они, как безусловная примета,
Обрывки позабытых нами писем.
Живём, как жили, осень только снится,
И хочется, чтоб снилась бесконечно,
Ведь сон не сможет снова повториться,
И осень тоже слишком быстротечна.
Она не оставляет равнодушных,
Всем дарит и любовь и восхищенье,
В ней лицемерья нет и нет бездушья,
Она и сон, и явь и наважденье.
Она – то, что даровано природой,
Пора надежд и ярких листопадов,
Она пленит нас даже непогодой,
И согревает чувственностью взглядов…
......................................................................................................
We plunged into autumn unnoticed.
Into the avalanche of yellowness of fallen leaves,
They are, as an absolute sign,
Fragments of letters we have forgotten.
We live as we lived, autumn is just a dream,
And I want to dream endlessly,
After all, the dream will not be able to repeat itself again,
And autumn is also too fleeting.
She does not leave anyone indifferent,
It gives everyone both love and admiration,
There is no hypocrisy in it and there is no soullessness,
She is a dream, a reality and an obsession.
She is something that is bestowed by nature,
It's time for hopes and bright leaf falls,
She will captivate us even in bad weather,
And warms with sensuality of views…
Single‑walled fuel pipelines laid across natural watercourse floodplains are more than engineering shortcuts — they are ecological time bombs. A single breach can leach toxins into fragile Arctic waterways, poisoning fish, wildlife, and the communities that depend on them.
Yet we continue to celebrate “environmental stewardship” in glossy reports and political speeches, while ignoring the quiet hazards buried beneath the snow. This hypocrisy — professing care for the land while permitting infrastructure that undermines it — reveals a society unwilling to confront the cost of its convenience.
Meet the photographer:
Momentarily touched by the reflections of light. It’s like magic; it adds unparalleled radiance as it falls through the darkness onto the surface of the water.
Is it reality? Or is it hypocrisy?
“Fantasy – Earth wind and Fire”
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVRU_6aCDk4
This shot was taken at 2100hrs during the Malacca river cruise. It was hand held.
Antara realiti dan kepura-puraan
Most dictionaries would explain the meaning of this phrase as to ignore something bad that is happening and not try to stop it. Some definitions are a lot more specific and highlight the fact that, usually, this attitude is applied to one group but not the other. That would lead us into the territory of hypocrisy. It is hypocritical to shout about Russian atrocities in Ukraine but stay silent about those committed in Gaza. While there are currently practical steps being taken to end the war in Ukraine with a compromise, unsatisfying as it may be, the developments in Gaza are completely off the chart and moving towards a scenario reminiscent of the Warsaw Ghetto during WWII. Looking the other way is not a real proposition, because, as one observer said, not only Israel's fingerprints will be all over this catastrophe, but those of other nations too. Leica M8, Elmar (collapsible) 2.8/50 at F8.
POEMA DLXXV
delicadamente bati à porta
ninguém abriu
quando se é ingénuo
a alma limpa de hipocrisia não sabe
que por grande que seja o mérito
não se bate a portas onde não se é desejado
a aprendizagem tem muitas vezes uma face dolorosa
[quanto é preciso sofrer para deixar de ser-se ingénuo?
cada um constrói a sua medida!]
POEM DLXXV
I gently knocked on the door
nobody opened
when you are naive
the clean soul of hypocrisy does not know
however great the merit can be
you don't knock on doors where you are not wished
learning often has a painful face
[how much do you have to suffer to stop being naive?
each one builds his measure!]
JOAQUIM MURALE
'in' ATÉ AO ÚLTIMO SOPRO | UNTIL THE LAST BREATH, 2020
The current situation in the US is no different....it is infested by racism, hypocrisy, hatred, division, lawlessness, propaganda, fake news, brainwashing, suppression of the poor and downtrodden.
What a joke, the most powerful democratic country in the world would not even care about their own people and is telling the rest of the world they care about human rights!
Of course it does not help when the country sorely needs leadership which is never forthcoming. Instead the words and tweets only fan the hatred and polarised the country even more.
People used to look up to America but nowadays people look at America with pity.
But there is always hope if the people let their votes do the talking come November.....
A small petunia flower taken on our balcony. The infestation has subsided with a good dose of natural garlic spray.
Many thanks for your visit, comments, invites and favs...it is always appreciated.
Happy Tuesday
The WWII memorial (1960s) and the Cathedral of Mary's Assumption (2010) in Yaroslavl on the Volga, Russia. Shot with a manual lens (7Artisans f1.2). I had published this image before. Russia's extreme suffering during the Second World War is one of the constituent elements of its political outlook today. The other is the post-communist re-integration of the sacred (in the shape of the Russian Orthodox Church) into the nationalist pantheon - Russia as the "Third Rome", the bastion and defender of true Christianity. These two elements combined with a deep anger about the collapse of the USSR and the advance of liberal Western culture (and NATO too) produce a potent mix of nationalist sentiments. Criticising these sentiments I must, but as a UK citizen I can do this only by acknowledging the hypocrisy going on in my own country, for example the fact that London for decades used to be the centre of the world when it comes to money laundering. Our political parties, one in particular, got used to accepting big donations from "oligarchs". In a way, the UK (and others) were quite content to do business with the nationalist monster rising up in the East.
Ok I'm not a real-estate agent, just pointing out the facts of gentrification hypocrisy; and all the hot air they breath. These city bike are only found in afluente neighbors. Why if all are equal..
Sorry got political... But a picture truly is worth a thousand words.
“There are three kinds of violence. The first, mother of all the others, is institutional violence, that which legalizes and perpetuates domination, oppression and exploitation, that which crushes and laminates millions of men in its silent and well-oiled wheels.
The second is revolutionary violence, which arises from the desire to abolish the first.
The third is repressive violence, the object of which is to stifle the second by making itself the auxiliary and the accomplice of the first violence, that which engenders all the others.
There is no worse hypocrisy to call violence only the second, while pretending to forget the first, which gives birth to it, and the third which kills it. »
Don Helder Camara, archbishop of Recife. (February 7, 1909 – August 27, 1999)
...
Whoa, come along to the killing grounds
It's execution day
The grip of a thousand hands
Squeeze the life from supremacy
And after all is said and done
When the dark delays the dawn
Walk your path towards the reaper
Learn that hell is other people
...
Lyrics: Arch Enemy - Handshake with Hell
≿————- ❈ ————-≾
✝Hey dark folks✝
today i going to show you some items from the new Round of the Sabbath Event ♥
Beside of that i will show some great items from my sponsors Psycho Barbie and Hexumbra♥
≿————- ❈ ————-≾
This items are avaible at the Sabbath Event
open until October 11th - 12pm SLT.
⚝Tattoo:Black Lotus - Diervilla Tattoo
This awesome Tattoo is for EvoX only and comes in 3 opacities
(dark, medium and light)
⚝Pose:Pixit - Amor Tenebris
Bento Poses Pack comes in 5 different Poses (Mirrorposes are included).
The Set also includes the Skeleton Probs for each pose,
even the Knife is inkluded.
⚝Pet:Unholy - Chiropthera Shoulder Pet
This Animesh Shoulderpet is really well done!
It comes with a HUD to change the Skincolour and the colour of the bones,
a Sound HUD is included also.
Other sponsors Items:
⚝Eyeshadow: Hexumbra - Spookzilla Lilith Set
This Set comes in 5 different packs:
Set 1 - EvoX HD Demon Eyes HUD for 4 colors
Set 2 - HD Bloody Lips
Set 3 - 3 Eye Makeup swatches
Set 4 - Bloody horns
Set 5 - BOM veins
I Show here only Set 3 and 5. But they all are awesome!!!
Currently Available at the Spookzilla Event (Oct 20-Nov 3rd)
maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Slytherin/131/140/27
⚝Septum: Hexumbra - Ariade Septum
It is a Spiderweb inspired septum ring,
but does it not also look like a Bat?
Available in two packs:
silver tones (steel, pewter, iron) and gold tones (gold, rosegold, brass)
or fatpack with all the metals.
It´s an Exclusive Item and currently available at the Hallow Manor Event
(Oct 13-Nov1st) Here comes your Taxi:
maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Vodka/133/202/36
⚝Outfit:Psycho Barbie - Avelina Outfit
Rigged for Gen X, Khara, Kupra, Legacy, Maitreya,
Reborn /Waifu, Reborn /Juicy/Waifu.
The outfit is available in 40 different colours.
Available at the Mainstore✞
≿————- ❈ ————-≾
If you want to know what else i am wearing have a peek at Leas Blog
♥Stay dark and safe all♥
Times so bad that even angels would wish to crouch and hide, others would prefer death to endless suffering, others again might wish to have never been born in the first place. So many men with guns pulling the religious traditions through the dirt. So much hypocrisy in the 'defence' of democracy; such a corrupted language defining the 'other'; so much violence masquerading as justified reactions. So little preparedness to step into the other's shoes. I could go on. However, when angels are helpless, and when violence is going to create even more violence, the foetal position is the wrong choice. We got to stand up and walk. Sony A7iii, 2x teleconverter, Helios 44M-7.
Geboren in Albi
Look in Large
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec is de afficheontwerper, schilder en chroniqueur van zijn tijd, de "belle époque". Hij is ook de decadente aristocraat die er genoegen in schept de vunzigheid, politieke wanorde, hypocrisie en eenzaamheid van zijn tijd uit te beelden. Hij schetst de verschoppelingen uit zijn maatschappij, in hun intiemste momenten. Hij is ook de kapotte mens die zelf deel uitmaakt van de zwarte nacht van Parijs en de kunstenaar vooral die kijkt en weergeeft, zonder te moraliseren en zonder pretentieus commentaar.
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec is the poster designer, painter and chronicler of his time, the "belle époque". He is also the decadent aristocrat who delights in portraying the filth, political disorder, hypocrisy and loneliness of his time. He sketches the outcasts from his society, in their most intimate moments. He is also the broken man who is himself part of the black night of Paris and the artist above all who looks and renders, without moralizing and without pretentious commentary.
The height of hypocrisy - "Those who supply weapons that kill children cannot teach humanity to Muslims," said Iran's new president Masoud Pezeshkian amid chants of "Death to America" and "Death to Israel."
Starting in 2022, Iran supplies Russia, which unreasonably attacked Ukraine, with thousands of Shahed drones and components for them. The Russians send these drones at night to sleeping cities and villages. These drones kill Ukrainians. What and whose humanity is he talking about?
Вершина лицемірства - "Ті, хто постачає зброю, яка вбиває дітей, не можуть вчити мусульман гуманності", – сказав новий президент Ірану Масуд Пезешкіан під скандування "Смерть Америці" і "Смерть Ізраїлю".
Починаючи з 2022 року Іран поставляє России, яка безпідставно напала на Україну, тисячі дронів «Шахед» та комплектуючі до них. Росіяни відправляють ці дрони вночі на сплячі міста та села України. Ці дрони вбивають українців. Про яку і чию гуманність він говорить?