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The news was that Jools' cough was little better. She got a mail back from the surgery on Friday saying her (non-urgent) appointment with the doctor was on December 14th. But as we were going to Tesco, she would have a chat with the pharmasist and see about some of the behind the counter stuff.
Winter has arrived, though no snow as yet, but the wind is set in the east, its cloudy and feels raw outside.
I would spend part of the day churchcrawling.
After shopping.
We go to Tesco, Jools really only coming so she could get something for her cough.
With a few bottles of tripel and cider we managed to spend £140. A bag of rice, not white easy cook rice I'll admit, but that's £4.50 now.
Wow.
Back home with the shopping and a bottle of serious cough syrup, we put the shopping away and have breakfast.
No surprise then that Jools wasn't coming out with me, she wanted to get the cough under control, would only take the new syrup when needed as it can make you drowsy.
I had a list of churches, and first up was our local one, St Margaret.
They were having a craft day. I thought it might be a fayre, but was a kid's craft day. Anyway, the church would be open and I could take shots of the memorials and windows.
There were pagan heads at the top of each column, and as corbel stones. The more I looked, the more pagan heads, even at the top of two of the columns, but not all.
No real ancient glass, but good quality Victorian.
The church itself is the triumph, being an early Norman and well preserved.
Although, sadly, the tower is in poor repair and needs reroofing, which is why it is currently encased in scaffolding.
I am sure when we called in at Barham last week, a sign said there was a craft fayre on, so would be open. I would go back, and get some shots, I thought.
Its a half hour drive, if that out of Dover down the A2 and off at the Wingham turning, down the valley and parking outside the church, its spire pointing to heaven.
Inside the church there was no fayre again, just a warden showing a lady round. We all said "hello", and I went about getting shots.
I have been here at least three times, but now take the big lens to get details of the windows and memorials high up, so there are always new details to reveal.
Star item is the window of St George and the dragon, though is hidden in the north-west corner, and best viewed from the stairs to the belltower.
After 20 minutes, the visitor left and the warden turned off the lights, forgetting I was there, but I had my shots.
From Barham its a short drive to Bridge, then along the Nailbourne to Patrixbourne, where I see the door was open, but I had another target: Bekesbourne, the next village along, crossing the dry bed of the bourne, stopping on the lane outside the church. I look left to the Old Palace, but there were no cars parked there, so no point of even knocking, I drove on.
Instead of turning left back to Bridge, I turn right towards Littlebourne, no real idea where I was going.
Littlebourne could wait for another time, I only went back there in 2020, I went to Wingham, driving on towards Sandwich.
I thought, it's a long time since I was at Woodnesborough, I could cut through Ash and go there.
Which is what I did.
I could have stopped at Ash too, that's usually open, but there'll be other times. I have been there twice and got good shots last time for sure.
From Ash, the road climbs, leading to Woodnesborough, Woden's Hill, where there was a hill fort in antiquity. The church is on the highest point, overlooking the marshes of the old Wantsum Channel, and on to Sandwich which when the Channel was still flooded, was on a spit of land.
The church is a marker for miles around due to its cupola, something is shares with Ringwould near to home.
Inside it was so dark, I thought I would need to find the lights, but I could not find them. So, I hoped the camera would cope without.
It did.
But again, I was here really to record the windows, which were rich in detail. I took 215 shots here, 560 in a morning at three churches.
Not bad.
But I was done, what light there was, was fading, even though it was only just after one. I would go home.
Once home I got busy.
I have a taste for beans. Not baked beans, but Boston Beans. I had a recipe, and we got the ingredients that morning, so went about making a huge panful. Three tins of haricot beans, tomatoes, stock, spices, bacon, pork belly, mustard, and black treacle.
Cooked on the hob for an hour, then cooked long and low in the oven for four hours.
What came out looked and tasted like fine Boston Beans. We will be eating these for weeks.
At the same time I make fritters.
The plan was to be all cooked and eaten before the football began at three.
I did it with half an hour to spare, the leftover wine drunk too, meaning I would struggle to stay awake for Holland v USA game. Netherlands win pretty comfortably.
And in the evening, with a soundtrack of funk and soul thanks to Craig, I watch Argentine v Australia, which was a stunning game.
Even better, I sat on the sofa to watch, Cleo eyed me as if to say how dare you take my chosen sleeping place. But she came over, paced around, then lay between the arm of the sofa and my leg. Scully lay on the other side. I had 50% of the household cats.
Happier than I have been for ages.
Best of all was that the syrup worked, stopped the coughing, and Jools fell asleep right off.
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A morning out, revisiting some familiar fairly local churches.
Final visit was to Woodnesborough, aka Woden's Hill, near to Sandwich.
It was open, but no light switch that could be found meant that the church was dark, but the camera coped well.
Woodnesborough sits on the highest point near to the coast, its cupola marking the spot, and visible for miles in all directions.
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The tower makes this church one of the easiest in Kent to identify. It is capped by a little cupola and wooden balustrade of eighteenth-century date that replaced a medieval spire. During the Middle Ages the church was owned by Leeds Priory which invested heavily in the structure, and was no doubt responsible for the excellent sedilia built in about 1350. The canopy is supported by a quadripartite vault in turn supported by angry little heads. Above the sedilia is the cut-off end of a prickett beam. The east window, of Decorated style stonework, has a thirteenth-century hangover in the form of a shafted rere-arch. There are two excellent modern stained glass windows designed by F.W Cole, which show the Creation (1980) and St Francis (1992). The good altar rails are of Queen Anne's reign, as are the splendid Royal Arms.
www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Woodnesborough
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WOODNESBOROUGH,
¶OR Winsborough, as it is usually called, lies the next parish northward from Eastry, being written in the survey of Domesday, Wanesberge. It took its name according to Verstegan, from the Saxon idol Woden, (and it is spelt by some Wodensborough) whose place of worship was in it; however that may be, the termination of the word berge, or borough, shews it to be of high antiquity.
art of this parish, over which the manor of Boxley claims, is within the jurisdiction of the justices of the town and port of Sandwich, and liberty of the cinque ports; and the residue is in the hundred of Eastry, and jurisdiction of the county of Kent.
There are three boroughs in this parish, viz. Cold Friday, Hamwold, and Marshborough; the borsholders of which are chosen at the petty sessions of the justices, acting at Wingham, for the east division of the lath of St. Augustine.
THIS PARISH is large, being two miles and an half one way, and upwards of a mile and an half the other. The church stands nearly in the centre of it, on high ground. At a small distance from the church is Woodnesborough hill, both of which are sea marks. This hill is a very high mount, seemingly thrown up by art, and consisting of a sandy earth, it has been thought by some to have been the place on which the idol Woden from whom this place is supposed to have taken its name) was worshipped in the time of the Saxons; by others to be the burial place of Vortimer, the Saxon king, who died in 457, whilst others suppose this mount was raised over those who fell in the battle fought between Ceoldred, king of Mercia, and Ina, king of the West Saxons, in the year 715, at Woodnesbeorb, according to the Saxon chronicle, which name Dr. Plot supposes to be Woodnesborough. Vortimer, as our historians tell us, at his death, desired to be buried near the place where the Saxons used to land, being persuaded that his bones would deter them from any attempt in future. Though authors differ much on the place of his burial, yet this mount at Woodnesborough is as probable, or more so, perhaps, than any other, for it was near to, and was cast up so high as to be plainly seen from the Portus Rutupinus, which at that time was the general landing place of the Saxon fleets. Some years ago there were found upon the top of it sundry sepulchral remains, viz. a glass vessel (engraved by the Rev. Mr. Douglas, in his Nænia;) a fibula, (engraved by Mr. Eoys, in his collections for Sandwich;) the head of a spear, and some fragments of Roman vessels. Much of the earth of sand has been lately removed round the sides of it, but nothing further has been found.
At a small distance northward from hence, at the bottom of a short steep hill, lies the village called Woodnesborough-street, and sometimes Cold Fridaystreet, containing thirty four houses. The vicaragehouse is situated in the middle of it, being a new handsome building; almost contiguous to it is a handsome sashed house, belonging to the Jull family, now made use of as a poor-house; through this street the road leads to Sandwich. West ward of the street stands the parsonage-house, late the seat of Oliver Stephens, esq. deceased, and now of his window, as will be further noticed hereafter. Besides the manors and estates in this parish, particularly described, in the western parts of it there are several hamlets, as Somerfield, Barnsole, Coombe, with New-street, Great and Little Flemings, Ringlemere, and the farm of Christians Court.
In the north east part of the parish, the road from Eastry, by the parsonage of Woodnesborough northwestward, divides; one road, which in antient deeds is called Lovekys-street, going towards Ash-street; the other through the hamlet of Marshborough, formerly called Marshborough, alias Stipins, to Each End and Sandwich, the two windmills close to the entrance of which are with in the bounds of this parish. Each, Upper Each, called antiently Upriche, and Each End, antiently called Netheriche, were both formerly accounted manors, and are mentioned as such in the marriage settlement of Henry Whyte, esq. in the beginning of queen Elizabeth's reign. After the Whytes, these manors passed in like manner as Grove, in this parish, to the James's. Upper Each, or Upriche, has for many years belonged to the family of Abbot, of Ramsgate, and is now the property of John Abbot, esq. of Canterbury. Each End, or Netheriche, belongs, one moiety to the heirs or devisees of the late earl of Strafford, and the other moiety to John Matson, esq. of Sandwich.
¶It cannot but occur to the reader how much this parish abounds with Saxon names, besides the name of Wodens borough, the street of Cold Friday, mentioned before, is certainly derived from the Saxon words, Cola, and Friga, which latter was the name of a goddess, worshipped by the Saxons, and her day Frige-deag, from whence our day of Friday is derived; other places in this parish, mentioned before likewise, claim, surely, their original from the same language.
This parish contains about 3000 acres, the whole rents of it being about 3373l. yearly value. It is very bare of coppice wood; the Old Wood, so called, in Ringleton, being the only one in it. The soil of this parish is very rich and fertile, equal to those the most so in this neighbourhood, particularly as to the plantations of hops, which have much increased within these few years past. The middle of the parish is high ground, and is in general a flat open country of arable common fields. West and south-westward the lands are more inclosed with hedges. North and north-westward of the parsonage, towards Sandwich, they are low and wet, consisting of a large level of marsh land, the nearness of which makes the other parts of this parish rather unhealthy, which is not otherwise very pleasant in any part of it. There was a fair held here yearly, on Holy Thursday, but it has been for some time disused.
In Ringleton field, in this parish, there was found about the year 1514, a fine gold coin, weighing about twelve shillings, with a loop of the same metal to hang it by; on one side was the figure of a young man in armour, a helmet on his head, and a spear over his right shoulder; on the reverse, the figure of Victory, with a sword in her hand, the point downwards.
The church, which is dedicated to St. Mary, consists of a nave, and two isles, having a square tower steeple at the west end, with a modern wooden turret and vane at the top of it, in which are five bells, made in 1676. It had a high spire on the tower, which was taken down some years ago. At the east end of the chancel is a marble tablet for John Cason, esq. of this place, justice of the peace, obt. 1718; John Cason, esq. his son, obt. 1755; arms,Argent, a chevron, sable, between three wolves heads, erased, gules, on an escutcheon of pretence, sable, a chevron, between three fleurs de lis, of the field; another for Thomas Blechenden, of the antient family of that name, of Aldington, in Kent, obt. 1661; arms, Azure, a fess nebulee, argent, between three lions heads erased, or, attired, gules, impalingBoys. On the south side, an antient altar monument with gothic pillars and arches, having had shields and arms, now obliterated. Against the wall, under the canopy, two brass plates, which have been removed to this place, from two grave-stones in the chancel; the first for Sir John Parcar, late vicar of this church, who died the v.day of May, a°o dni m° v° xiij° on the second are Latin verses to the memory of Nichs Spencer, esq. obt. 1593. In the middle of the chancel, a gravestone for William Docksey, esq. of Snellston, in Derbyshire, a justice of the peace, obt. 1760; Sarah his wife, youngest daughter of John Cason, esq. obt. 1774; arms,Or, a lion rampant, azure, surmounted of a bend, argent. On a gravestone on the north side of the chancel, on a brass plate, On a chevron, three quatersoils, between three annulets, quartering other coats, now obliterated, for Master Myghell Heyre, sumtyme vicar of this churche, who dyed the xxii day of July, m° v° xxviii. In the north isle are several memorials for the family of Gillow, arms, A lion rampant, in chief, three fleurs de lis. At the entrance into the chancel, on a grave-stone, on a brass plate, John Hill, gent. of the parish of Nassall, in Staffordshire, obt. 1605. A mural monument for William Gibbs, of this parish, obt. 1777; arms,Argent, three battle axes, in fess, sable. In the church-yard are altar tombs to the memory of the Julls, and for Sladden; one for John Verall, gent. sometime mayor of Sandwich, obt. 1610; and another for John Benchkin, of Pouton, obt. 1639.
There were formerly painted in the windows of this church,Or, a chief indented, azure, for John de Sandwich. Several coats of arms, among which were those of Valence and St. Leger,Argent, three leaves in sinster bend, their points downward, proper.— On a canton, azure, three crescents, or, for Grove.— Argent, three escallops in chief, or, in base a crescent, gules, for Helpestone, usually called Hilpurton, bailiff of Sandwich, in 1299. A shield, being Helpeston's badge, another On a fess engrailed, three cinquefoils, between three garbs, for John Hill, of Nasall, in Staffordshire, who lies buried in this church. —A fess engrailed, three lions rampant, in chief, on the fess, a crescent for difference, for Spencer, customer, of Sandwich. — Quarterly, four coats; first, On a chevron, three quaterfoils; second, Per pale, ermine and argent; third, A cross, between four pomegranates, slipped; sourth,Three bars, wavy, for Michael Heyre, vicar here in 1520.
The church of Woodnesborough was given, in the reign of king Henry I. by a religious woman, one Ascelina de Wodensberg, to the priory of Ledes, soon after the foundation of it; to which deed was witness Robert de Crevequer, founder of the priory, Elias his son, and others; which gift was confirmed by the said Robert, who by his charter, released to the priory all his right and title to it. It was likewise confirmed by archbishop Theobald, and several of his successors, and by king Henry III. by his charter of inspeximus in his 41st year.
Archbishop William Corboil, who came to the see of Canterbury, three years after the foundation of Ledes priory, at the instance and petition of Ascelina above mentioned, who resigned this church into his hands for this purpose, appropriated it to the prior and convent, for the finding of necessary cloaths, for the canons there; and a vicarage was accordingly endowed in it.
There was a controversy between the prior and convent, and Adam, vicar of this church, in 1627, anno 14 Henry II. concerning the great tithes arising from the crofts and curtilages within this parish, which was referred to the prior of Rochester, who was the pope's delegate for this purpose, who determined that the prior and convent of Ledes, as rectors of this church, should receive, without any exception, all the great tithes of wheat, barley, oats, beans, peas, and of every fort of corn arising, or to arise from all lands, crofts, curtilages, or other places whatever, situated within the bounds, of this parish; and that the prior and convent should yearly pay to the said vicar, and his successors, half a seam of barley, and half a seam of beans, at the nativity of our Lord. (fn. 10)
¶After which, this parsonage appropriate,(which appears to have been esteemed as a manor) together with the advowson of the vicarage, remained with the prior and convent of Ledes, till its dissolution in the 31st year of king Henry VIII. when it was, with all its lands and possessions, surrendered into the king's hands, who by his dotation charter, in his 33d year, settled both parsonage and advowson on his new-founded dean and chapter of Rochester, with whom they remain at this time. On the dissolution of deans and chapters, after the death of king Charles I. this parsonage was surveyed in 1649, when is appeared that the manor or parsonage of Woodnesborough, with the scite thereof, and all manner of tithes belonging to it, with a garden and orchard of one acre, was valued all together at 300l. that the lessee was to repair the premises, and the chancel of the church; that the vicarage was worth fifty pounds per annum. The then incumbent was under sequestration, and there was none to serve the cure; and that the church was then quite ruinated, and in great decay. (fn. 11)
STRANGE UPDATE: I had last night 05 July put here a "Memorial" for my 2nd grandbaby who died on 02 July & joined his/her brother Gabriel who also died this year 12 Jan 07 but now We are in a state of "confusion" not knowing now as 5 days after we were told our 2nd grandbaby "Little Baby Nava" had died on 02 July 07 bet. 1:00 Pm- 5:02 Pm. and now today 06 July at 1:35 Pm, we get another phone call saying the Baby is still alive or atleast "appearing" so as my daughter's pregnancy & hormone etc.. levels are all registering that they are increasing!! The blood test came back positive! We are in shock, and after 5 days of mourning, to get news like this is quite confusing to say the least! You can read the full story to my 'REPLY" to dkhlucy down below.... Do we mourn or do we celebrate that we have a "Miracle"?? One thing is for sure, we are frightened as we do worry about Little Baby Nava's Health now.. I trust in God, that he has a greater plan, I just need to catch my breathe here for a moment to try to grasp all this...
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This is my 1st Grandbaby- Little Baby Gabriel's grave whom died 12 January 2007 at 2:30 A.M. age: 56 days, BUT we sadly just lost our 2nd granbaby- Little Baby Nava on 02 July 2007 between 1PM-5PM. Monday, age: 7 weeks and we have no way to bury him/her so I am burying him/her here with his/her older brother Little Baby Gabriel. My daughter was going to announce her pregnancy on the 19th if she felt comfortable as because of what happened to our 1st grandbaby, it is most understandably why. I got the phone call at 5 pm. and just couldn't believe my ears!! We lost 2 precious grandbabies just 10 days short of 6 months! How can this be? Tears just choked my eyes & my heart sank with deep grief. My beloved cousins had told me on 15 May that I was to be a grandmother again which just so happens to be the day Cousin St. Sr. Marie Rose Ferron- Stigmatist, Mystic, Victim Soul of Woonsocket, RI., USA.'s, burial day and her brother Anatole's birthday and now it became the conception day of Little Baby Nava! I didn't say anything to anyone except my husband for worry of what happened to Little Gabey, so I wanted to wait to see. No, the death of Little Baby Nava is not related to what happened to Little Gabey at all, Thank God, it is just sadly, very common for most women to experience miscarriages atleast 1-3 times during their lifetime of child-bearing years. Much of it happens during the "early stages" and some women don't even know they have miscarried til there is another sign. My daughter was at work and collapsed bleeding & had to be rushed to the hospital. There is where she lost Little Baby Nava after they had done the sonogram etc.. She was released before 5 pm when that was the time I got her phone call. My heart aches for my daughter and beloved son-n-law whom love their children so much and was so looking forward to this new precious baby. God, blessed us again with such a beautiful gift of life even tho it was cut very short, Little Baby Nava's life is precious to us!!! He/She is a part of our family forever now and I place him/her under my cousins care as well as my St. Grandparents and relatives. I wish we could have been able to atleast christen & baptise him/her but that is just the "selfish" part of me, as I know, trust, and love God, our beloved Father to do so for us as he has a greater plan for these 2 precious children we share! Thank You my Beloved Father for my 2 precious Grandbabies-You have shown me that Life is valuable no matter the age or stage and I treasure your gifts dearly! Please Kiss them daily from Grandma as they sit upon your precious lap with your loving arms about them. Thank You Father, I know you will and that you hear my prayers!
~~In Sweet Memory of:
Gabriel E. Nava
(Conceived: 05 March 2006, Born: 18 November 2006 05:55 PM., Baptised: 04 Dec. 2006, Died & Revived: 08 Jan 2007 (Anniversary of the Baptism of the Lord & Anniversary of Our Baptism & Anniversary of Cousin Bl. Andre Bessette Rejection to Holy Cross Day), Died: 12 January 2007 2:30 AM. age: 56 days- the Anniversary of his cousin Blessed Brother Andre Bessette's Burial day- 1937 Eve of BVM & St. Hilary) (Buried-16 January 2007 2:59 PM.- Eve of St. Anthony Day & also, very oddly our family good friend Wendy Davis died while we were burying him.)
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~~In Sweet Memory Of:
Little Baby Nava
(Likely Date of Conception : May 15, 2007 (St. Isadore day & Anniversary of Burial of St. Sr. Marie Rose Ferron & also her brother- Anatole's birthday), Born: 02 July 2007 1:00PM. ca. Died: 02 July 2007 bet. 1-5 PM., Buried: 02 July 2007: Estimated Due Date : February 5, 2008 (40 weeks full term) ) (Anniversary of 3rd Pilgrimage to Marie Rose Ferron where many miracles happened including the Prayer Song "Heaven" by Los Lonely Boys & the day of her prayer- she must have more souls!)
(Note: I used a planned parenthood conception- due date calendar pregnancy.parenthood.com/pregcal.html)
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Sadly I must put more loved ones here that have passed recenly :
~~In Loving Memory Of:
Leopoldo Carpentieri (15 July 2006 Saturday, 71 years) (day after Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha day & Eve of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel)
~~In Loving Memory Of:
Gabriel E. Nava (18 November 2006 05:55 PM. Day aft. St. Elizabeth of Hungary Day- Died & Revived: 08 January 2007 Anniversary of His cousin Bl. Andre Bessette Rejection to Holy Cross Day & Our Baptism - Died: 12 January 2007-Anniversary of his cousin Blessed Brother Andre Bessette burial day & His g.g. grandfather Thomas Barron Death day) (Buried 16 January 2007 Eve of St. Anthony Day)
~~In Loving Memory Of:
Wendy Davis (16 January 2007) (Died when we were burying our 1st Grandbaby Gabriel) (The Eve of St. Anthony day)
~~In Loving Memory Of:
Joseph Wilkinson (16 March 2007 7:33 PM) (Eve of St. Patrick day)
~~In Loving Memory Of:
Paul Barney (26 March 2007) (The Annunciation of the Lord)
~~In Loving Memory Of:
Little Audrey Marie Santo, Mystic, Stigmatic & Victim Soul of Worcester, Massachusetts, USA. (19 December 1983- 09 August 1987- 14 April 2007) (The Saturday of the Octave of Easter & The EVE of DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY & HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY)
& Now Happily to report 2 births:
~~BABY ANNOUNCEMENT:
Trinity C. Luiz d/o Tadd & Tara (Martin) (21 April 2007 12:34 PM., 6 lb. & 11 oz., 21 Inches, 36 hours labored.) (St. Anslem Day)
~~BABY Announcement:
Angelina Joe Gallagher Roche d/o Paul Roche & Barbara (Gallagher) born: 02? June 2007 (2 months early but is doing well and growing weight Praise God! born 3 lb & ? oz.
And sadly our last Death Announcement:
~~BABY DEATH Announcement:
Little Baby Nava (02 July 2007 1Pm) (Eve of St. Thomas Day)
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Banjo is growing so fast it amazes me. He's a not that tiny 7 weeks old puppy we brought home anymore, it's hard to see it in pictures but his face is changing. I can see another breed in there I just cant put my finger on it. And his ears, oh his cute ears. I really hope they go all the way up haha.
taken with : Canon 350D + Leica-R 60/2.8 + available light indoors
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Ursula Andress was known for her beauty throughout the 1960s, mostly thanks to a little film named Dr. No.
Throughout her career, Ursula used her looks to her advantage and took over the silver screen across the world. But behind the scenes, she was just as mysterious and alluring as she was onscreen. She led a wild life and made the most of her time as a Hollywood heartbreaker. Get to know more about her with these 25 stunning facts about the first Bond Girl, Ursula Andress.
She is from Switzerland
Ursula Andress was born in Ostermundigen, Switzerland, on March 19, 1936. She was the third child born to Anna and Rolf Andress who would go on to have three more children together. Her father, Rolf, was a German diplomat, so they lived a privileged life in a large house.
However, he was expelled from Switzerland due to political reasons, and her grandfather became the guardian of Ursula and her siblings. Their grandfather wasn’t the doting type. He worked a busy job as a garden designer
She Worked Hard and Dreamed of Leaving
Ursula’s grandfather put her to work when she came to live with him. She did hard labor in his large nursery. She would work in the greenhouses during the day and clean out furnaces at night.
By the time she was 16, Ursula was going to school in Bern, Switzerland, and knew how to speak, German, French, and Italian. She wanted to travel the world and was more than ready to leave Switzerland behind. Her strict grandfather was the only obstacle standing in her way.
Her Big Break Came When She Was At School
A french film school visited Ursula’s school when she was 17. They were in the process of filming L’Affaire Maurizius, which starred the heartthrob Daniel Gélin. Upon meeting him, Ursula fell totally in love even though Gélin was 30 years old and married. Ursula’s infatuation with Gélin worried her mother.
And when Gélin finished his movie, they devised a way to get Ursula out of Switzerland. Gélin made a fake contract that stated Studios de Billancourt would get Ursula “into movies.” Her mother eventually relented and let her leave for Paris.
Her Family Had to Track Her Down
While in Paris, Ursula studied for a year. But things started to fall apart when she and Gélin ended up in Rome. Gélin’s issues became too much for Ursula thanks to his drug use, so she dumped him. But she didn’t tell anyone.
Her family realized she was AWOL, alone and abroad. To find her, they didn’t stop at contacting the local police. They got Interpol involved, too! Despite this, Ursula refused to be brought back to Switzerland and decided to try and hide.
She Hid With Bridgitte Bardot
Ursula was able to avoid Interpol for a while by hiding at the Hotel de la Ville with Bridgitte Bardot, an actress and model, and Roger Vadmin, a movie director. Vadim later stated that the trio “slept innocently naked, three to a bed.”
But Ursula couldn’t hide from Interpol forever. They eventually caught her and tried to bring her home. Somehow, she convinced her family to let her stay in Rome. For a while, she took nannying jobs to get by in Rome. But with her stunning good looks, it wasn’t long before Urseul got into modeling.
She Was a Jake-of-All-Trades At Times
Ursula began modeling by posting for artists around the area. Then, she found her way into the movie business. During this time, she appeared in three different movies that were filmed in Rome.
Upon the advice of Marlon Brando, an old friend of Gélin’s, Ursula stopped jumping from job to job and decided to try and make it in Hollywood. After doing a screentest for Paramount Pictures, she was offered a seven-year contract and uprooted her life in Rome to make it big on the silver screen!
Her Hollywood Training was Grueling
In January 1955, Ursula started her Hollywood education. Paramount began her training by getting her to study the movies of Marlene Dietrich and Greta Garbo. They were two of the most beautiful actresses of their time.
Paramount also sent her to learn English from the mother of Audrey Hepburn, though she was unsuccessful in the end. However, Ursula found this to be too confining for her free-spirited way. She said she felt like they “locked me up in a glass cage.”
Her Social Life Kept Her Career Afloat
Ursula was receiving weekly payments from Paramount, but her career was in jeopardy because she couldn’t speak English. But she found her ways to keep her name in the mouths of the public.
Her social life made her well known, especially since she had a fling with the incredibly famous actor, James Dean, for four months. Though it helped with her positive publicity, the fling did not advance her career. After ending her fling with Dean, Ursula met John Derek when she was 19 years old. He was handsome and a Hollywood actor who was also married with children.
Her Career Was Going Nowhere
Derek ended up walking out on his family for Ursula and the two got married in 1957 before going around the world on a four-year-long honeymoon. During this time, Derek became baffled at Ursula’s lack of ambition. She bought herself out of her Paramount contract and signed with Columbia Pictures.
However, her career continued going nowhere. She rejected the roles she was given and would not read the scripts the studio sent to her. Ursula’s career would have continued to go nowhere if it weren’t for a stroke of luck in 1962.
She Almost Refused to be Honey Ryder
A photo of Ursula, taken by Derek, found its way into the hands of the producers for a film titled Dr. No, the first James Bond movie.
Her looks sold the producers and they instantly gave her the role of Honey Ryder, the seductive love interest of James Bond. Filming was to being in two weeks. But this still wasn’t enough for Ursula. She turned down the role at first. But when her good friend and famous actor, Kirk Douglas, read her the script out loud, she fell in love with it and finally accepted the role.
Filming Could Be Difficult
Ursula set off for Jamaica and the set of Dr. No, only to become intimidated by Sean Connery upon first meeting him. However, she and Connery quickly hit it off. They had great onscreen chemistry, and developed a friendship offscreen, as well! Connery became “very protective” of Ursula who still did not know English and was relatively unknown. This helped her feel more comfortable on set. Especially with the issues she faced.
For starters, she was told she didn’t “look Jamaican enough” and was given a big spray tan. Then, her heavy Swiss-German accent made it impossible for anyone to know what she was saying. So, in the end, they had to dub over her singing and speaking parts. But, let’s be honest, this isn’t exactly what Honey Ryder was known for, anyway.
She Made The Bikini, Herself
What launched Ursula into fame was the scene in Dr. Nowhere Honey Ryder walked out of the ocean in that famous white bikini with a diving knife strapped to her hip. This one scene made Ursula an overnight icon in 1962. It was an unforgettable movie entrance. And Dr. No ended up doing much better than first anticipated. She began to get movie offers handed to her hand over fist.
And many don’t realize that Ursula made that bikini herself! She was offered many different bikinis when she got to set, but she didn’t like any of them. So she got to work and whipped the perfect one! That bikini ended up going up for sale at a James Bond auction, along with the 1965 Aston Martin DB5 driven in GoldenEye. Ursula’s bikini sold for £41,125, that’s over $46,000!
She Made a Movie With Elvis
The next film Ursula took on after Dr. No was Fun in Acapulco where she starred alongside Elvis Presley. Ursula was hesitant to do the movie at first, due to some gossip she had heard about the King of Rock and Roll. But, to be fair, Elvis was just as intimidated by her.
It is said that he wouldn’t take his shirt off for the movie because of her. Elvis wanted to get back together with his first love and wouldn’t even let himself be alone in the same room with her. Eventually, Ursula and Elvis warmed up to each other and went on to become lifelong friends, even if this did churn the rumor mill.
She Was Making Movies Left and Right
Ursula also filmed the movie 4 for Texas with Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, and Anita Ekberg while she filmed Fun in Acapulco.
During her screen tests for 4 for Texas, Ursula auditioned in the nude. The plan was to make that character much steamier. But censors wouldn’t allow it, and she appeared totally clothed in the movie. Next, Ursula filmed Once Before I Die with John Derek, her husband, in 1964. The two had been a couple for seven years at this point.
Her Marriage Dissolved On Set
Though they had been together for several years, Ursula and Derek’s relationship began to deteriorate on the set of Once Before I Die. Rumors about Ursula having an affair with Ron Ely, another actor in the movie, began to spread and got to Derek. To this day, Ursula has never confirmed or denied the rumor.
He got so mad that he kicked Ursula out of his home in the summer of 1965. After this, Ursula decided to head to England. That year, Ursula also shot racy photos that ended up in Playboy magazine. When asked why she did them, she simply answered, “because I’m beautiful.” She went on to do seven more shoots for them over the next 15 years.
She Moved On
In England, Ursula landed the leading role of an immortal queen in the film She. It was a successful movie, but she ended up hating it as she said she was “forced” to make the movie. But she did say, “The only thing I adored were the costumes. I was just lucky to look good in it because they photographed me beautifully."
While on the set of She, she met her next love in the form of actor John Richardson. Their relationship began quickly and since Ursula had not completely divorced Derek yet, their relationship made quite a stir. However, it did not last long and she lost interest in him after just a few months.
Her Love Life Was Becoming A Pattern
The same year she filmed She, Ursula filmed an Italian science-fiction movie called The 10th Victim. During filming, you guessed it, she started dating Marcello Mastroianni, her co-star. Their movie was very successful, but, as a couple, they were not. Again, Ursula lost interest and left Mastroianni after a few months.
Not one to let love get her down, Ursula went to Paris to film the movie Up to His Ears in 1965. There, she fell in love with her co-star (again). But this time, Jean-Paul Belmondo gave her the push she needed to finally finalize her divorce from Derek. Ursula even said Belmondo was “the love of her life.”
She was in another James Bond movie
When 1967 rolled around, Ursula was offered a part in another Jame Bond movie, Casino Royale. This time, she played Vesper Lynd.
She was paid a whopping £200,000 for the movie, but the movie studio was happy to do it. Director Val Guest said she was “universally loved by everyone in [the] studio.” Casino Royale became a huge success at the box office but Ursula soon slowed down with the number of movies she was making, choosing to take on more unique roles.
She Took On Roles That Were Different
The next movies Ursula made were not your typical leading lady parts for the era. She defied the expectations of a “soft and submissive” female lead.
Instead, she played the most sultry roles she could find, starting with Lady Britt Dorset in Perfect Friday in 1970 and a brother worker named Cristina in Red Sun in 1971. Both of these roles allowed Ursula to show off her… assets. Due to her level of undress in these movies, she also earned the moniker of “Ursula Undress.”
Her Relationships Were Becoming More Questionable
In 1972, Ursula’s seven-year-long relationship with Belmondo soured. Instead of getting caught up in heartbreak, Ursula went back to Hollywood and worked through her pain, briefly entering into a fling with actor Ryan O’Neal. O’Neal was perhaps the worst of all her partners. He had a reputation for being a womanizer and wouldn’t even send his daughter to her room until Ursula told him, “I don’t want to sleep with you while your daughter is in the bed.”
And, much like her most recent relationships, she met her next lover on the set of the Italian movie Stateline Motel. Fabio Testi was, you guessed it, her co-star. Their relationship lasted four years. Looking back on all her past relationships, she said that she still loved all of them in a deep, platonic way, and thought it would be fun for them all to live in one big house together.
She Won't Change to Meet Hollywood's Needs
At this point, Hollywood was changing and many actresses started to ditch their old roles to play “real” women instead. But Ursula wouldn’t change. She continued to play leading ladies that were gorgeous and seductive. However, this wasn’t what audiences wanted to see anymore. They wanted women that did more than flaunt their beauty. And between Ursula not taking on complex roles and the disaster of her next several movies, her career started to spiral.
Her next movie was Slave of the Cannibal God in 1978. She appeared in several graphic scenes and was once filmed completely nude. Plus, the film had several disturbing animal cruelty scenes. While the movie went on to become a cult classic, it was banned entirely in the UK at the time.
She Was Aphrodite, Literally
The next year, Ursula played the sultry character of Louise de La Valliére, the mistress of King Louis XIV of France. She wore eight different costumes, all of them showing off her beauty. But critics weren’t impressed. The movie received bland reviews
Her next movie was the classic Clash of the Titans where she naturally played the goddess of beauty and love, Aphrodite. She had top-billing, but only said one line in the entire movie. But that was enough for her to fall in love with yet another co-star.
She Had A Son And Began to Settle Down
Ursula started dating the star of Clash of the Titans, Harry Hamlin while filming the movie. But there was a large age gap between the two- 16 years to be exact! She soon became pregnant and was encouraged by Hamlin to have the baby at 44 years young. Their son, Dimitri Alexander Hamlin, was born on May 19, 1980. Shortly after, Ursula and Hamlin were engaged.
If her career had been floundering before, it nearly died after she gave birth. Until Dimitri was born, she was someone “who up until then refused even the responsibility of pets.” She took on roles much less frequently, only taking small parts in television series in the 80s.
She Made Some Even More Questionable Decisions
Unfortunately, Ursula’s relationship with Hamlin wasn’t meant to be. She described herself as “possessive” of him and this led to their eventual demise. 3 years after the birth of Dimitri, the couple called it quits in 1983. Hamlin moved on while Ursula continued working while taking care of her son and adding to the long list of lovers she never committed to.
Under another wild string of events, she began dating Fausto Fagone in 1986. He was a 20-year-old student studying economics in college while Ursula was already 50 years old. The age gap of 30 years was frowned upon, making Fagone’s parents enraged. And ever since they ended things in 1991, Ursula has kept her love life quiet.
She Misses Sean Connery
Nowadays, Ursula is basically retired from acting, only making a few appearances in the media here and there. She likes to split her time between her homes in Switzerland and Rome.
However, she took Sean Connery’s death in 2020 as a personal blow. She described him as “a fabulous actor,” “loyal,” and “a great friend.” She also said there would never be anyone quite like Connery. She said, “For me, Sean is not dead, he will always be alive, with me forever.”
Processing pics from the Boneyard {The Archives}. I found a guide on poses that showed you how to take 7 photos and from it get 21 different portrait shots. I put the call out on facebook for other amateur photographers and models. The response was GREAT. We had 3 photographers and 12 models. This is one of the models from the session.
These shoes are way out of my comfort zone, what with the shininess and the lack of heel and did I mention they're shiny? But I desperately needed a non-flip-flop flat sandal that I could wear to work because apparently 5 months pregnant is the point at which I can no longer stand to wear heels on a daily basis. I was thinking of everything I learned from M:PT when I picked these, and I think, despite how far out of my comfort zone they are, I kind of love them. They're pretty casual, which makes them good for office wear (the dress code is not strict at my workplace) or weekend wear.
Also, if I may say something about this skirt. I haven't owned a denim skirt since I was in elementary school, and now that I have this one, I can't believe I went so long without it. I'm pretty sure I'm going to need to buy a non-maternity version of this skirt next summer.
Dassanech men put on leopard skins and ostrich feathers headdresses to join dimi ceremony to celebrate circumcision of teenagers, Omo valley, Omorate, Ethiopia , Camera: ILCE-7RM2 , f5.0 , 1/500 , 43.0 mm , ISO 80 , © Eric Lafforgue www.ericlafforgue.com
Construction sites near Moor Street Queensway (mainly near Park Street).
Saw another construction site on Albert Street / Fazeley Street.
This one had pipes in it.
I noticed that the tarmac covering where pipes were laid on Jennens Road went towards Masshouse.
It's poppy season again. A billboard with the message "It's not as painful to put on a poppy".
I have to say I put my heart and soul into this set. Just wanted it to look really good. I hope everyone enjoys it as much as I did doing it!! I can honestly say around 12 hours or more went into this set to get it right.
There are 26 sits and 16 cuddles 32 Sex animations and 4 conversation animations 47 Bento Sex animations mixed with cuddle and spankings
Also since my birthday is coming up on the 9th I bundled it up with the velvet set and its 35 percent off for both the regular is usually 20 percent. So if you like both now is the time to get it. The links are below
marketplace.secondlife.com/p/LS-IVORY-EDITION-COUCH-SOFA-...
marketplace.secondlife.com/p/LS-IVORY-AND-UPHOL-BUNDLE-BE...
1. Open a beer and put on some Stones.
2. Chop and simmer whatever veges you can find in the pantry and fridge; in this case spuds, carrots, cauliflower, onions, add zucchini when the others are nearly tender.
3. Fry shallots, chopped garlic and fresh ginger, red peppers and Thai yellow curry paste in a little oil in a frying pan and add to veges; add coconut milk, fish sauce and simmer on low heat.
4. Change the record and open another beer.
5. Ladle into deep bowls, garnish with fresh coriander and chilli sambal, add a dash of lime or lemon juice. Invite the guys around and serve with crusty baguettes.
6. This is low salt and cholesterol free, it also has a moderately low cooking energy cost. Enjoy!
Options: add a handful of prawns or some grilled skinless chicken; if using green curry paste, leave out the red ingredients and use more greens like broccoli and green peppers.
I've not spent much time in Thailand but my daughter has, and she eats this straight from the pot!
Video by Canon S100
New research puts us one step closer to unlocking the secret. Researchers from Dalian University of Technology in China used computer tomography (CT) scans of a real-life woodpecker to construct a detailed, digital model of its body. Then they used software to simulate the bird's pecking--a process that can force the woodpecker's head to endure up to 1500 g-force units. For comparison's sake, a passenger on a typical roller coaster will only experience about 5 g's.
Science China Press
A schematic of the woodpecker's pecking process.
The study, published this month in Science China: Technological Sciences, shows that the key to the woodpecker's survival lies in how it converts the energy it absorbs. When a woodpecker strikes a tree, the impact energy--energy that is released during a collision--is converted to strain energy in the body. Too much strain in the head can be catastrophic, but the woodpecker's incredible anatomy--including a specialized beak and skull--redirects most of the strain into the rest of the body, instead of the head.
In fact, 99.7 percent of the strain energy is converted in the woodpecker's body, and only 0.3 percent is converted in the head. This small amount of strain is quickly dissipated from the head in the form of heat. This process protects the brain from damage, but causes temperatures inside the skull to rise quickly, meaning woodpeckers have to take frequent breaks while they're pecking. In this way, the woodpecker's whole body is involved in the fight to protect its brain from damage.
Source ( Audubon Magazine )
Here it is…my last big vacation of 2015. It also happened to be the longest of the year. I’ve actually put off editing these pictures (until this week – mid-January 2016). I’ve been putting this off because, honestly, I have very mixed emotions about the trip.
I have absolutely nothing but good things to say about India and all the Indians I met there – better things yet to say about Indian cuisine. However, I didn’t travel alone, and that caused quite a bit of headaches. So, I’ve been lazier than usual about going through these. However, in looking at them, I’m starting to dwell only on the good side, and hopefully will show that here. (I won’t mention anything else about what or why I didn’t enjoy the trip. Honestly, I hope to go back to India again sometime. It’s the 7th largest country in the world and has a lot to see…)
This particular trip was 13 days…and very localized. We only visited two states: Rajasthan (RJ) and Uttar Pradesh (UP). Also Delhi, though I didn’t go out in Delhi and don’t have a single picture to show for it. In those two weeks, we took the following tour, in this order: landed in Delhi (at 3:00 a.m.) on September 26. At 7:30 a.m., we were on a bus to our first destination: Rajasthan.
The first week we spent in Rajasthan visiting each of these cities for approximately two days: Jaipur, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, and Udaipur. (I found myself thinking, “There sure are a lot of ‘purs’ here…just like there are a of ‘zhous’ in China – Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Zhengzhou, Zhouzhou. ‘Pur,’ like ‘zhou,’ apparently means “town.”) Rajasthan is hot. Damn hot. Even in late September the daytime temperatures seemed to soar close to 40 degrees. At least 35, for certain… Rajasthan has a lot of desert terrain and many castles. Quite a few old palaces are out in Rajasthan, so it can tend to have a bit of a romantic feel to it.
After finishing in Rajasthan, we went over to Uttar Pradesh for literally one afternoon seeing the Taj Mahal in Agra, before shuffling off to the holy city of Varanasi (one of Hinduism’s most famous – if not the most famous – cities). From Varanasi, we took an 18 hour train ride (during which I apparently ate something so nasty that it stayed with me…for close to three months). Note to readers: Try to avoid eating on Indian trains. After another two days in Delhi, we flew back around 4:00 in the morning on October 9. For now…back to the beginning in Jaipur.
Jaipur is famously called the Pink City. A lot of the old town architecture is pink, so…well, you get the idea. It’s named for its founder, Jai Singh II (1688-1744), a great warrior-astronomer who assumed power at age 11 upon his father’s death.
The following is from Lonely Planet India: “Jai Singh could trace his lineage back to the Rajput clan of Kachhawas, who consolidated their power in the 12th century.” Their capital was at Amber (which is pronounced ahm-AIR…not AM-burr) about 10 kilometers northeast of town. This is northern India’s first planned city, if LP is being honest with me.
All I hope you get out of that is that this is an area with close to a millennium of “important” history to India, but the city of Jaipur as we see it now is only about 300-400 years old. Jaipur currently has a population of about three million. There’s an Old City (Pink City) which is where most of the tourists head – including yours truly – a new city, and….that’s about it. For my purposes (and in an attempt at brevity), I’ll say we went to the Central Museum (Albert Hall) south of the Old City. We also visited Hawa Mahal, Tripolia Bazaar (and Gate), and Jantar Mantar in the Old City. Other than that, we went to Amber Fort for a few hours.
Things started innocuously enough. We had left Delhi at 7:30 in the morning and gotten to Jaipur about 5 hours later. We had one stop on the bus for breakfast. I don’t recall what I ate…some type of curry, of course, but I don’t recall which. It may have just been mutter paneer. It was, however, delicious, and I didn’t feel hungry at all again until dinner.
The bus. Bus transportation in India, by the way, is rather interesting. Sometimes they are private buses (the small kind that only hold 8-12 people), sometimes sleeper buses, sometimes regular coaches…but the regular coaches didn’t seem too common. There doesn’t seem to be any uniformity in India about this.
Anyway, the bus dropped us off right next to Amber Fort. Since this was one of the small 8-12 person jobs, it could pretty much stop and go where it pleased, it seems, and this one didn’t actually take us to Jaipur.
As soon as we got off the bus here, we hired a tuk tuk (san lun che, for you Chinese readers) that took us down to the Old City. There, we switched to another one that took us the 2-3 kilometers west of the Old City to the more quiet and residential Bani Park where our hotel (the Hotel Anuraag Villa, which turned out to be about the nicest one we stayed in) was located. The second tuk tuk driver is the one we hired to take us around that afternoon and the next day. For the first day, I paid 500 rupees (~50 RMB/$8) for 4-6 hours’ work. We checked in and he waited patiently as we ate lunch in the backyard of the hotel.
Our driver took us first to the Central Museum (Albert Hall) where we spent an hour or two in mid-afternoon. The museum itself isn’t too bad. It has standard fare: tribal dress, Buddhist sculptures, even an Egyptian mummy. The building itself, though, is worth seeing. Anyway, an hour here was more than enough time.
From there, we went to the Sun Temple (I think that’s what it’s called) where I enjoyed the late afternoon sun (and rather smoggy view, though not quite as smoggy as Chinese cities I’m accustomed to). After that, we ended up going to a rather nice restaurant that cost about 2500 rupees (250 RMB/$40) for two. I splurged. It was fantastic.
After a night of sleep that may or may not have transported me to an alternate universe (I sleep more deeply than most bears), I woke up ready to go the next morning. I hired the same tuk tuk driver to haul us around, and we went first to the Old City (Hawa Mahal, the Tripolia Bazaar, Jantar Mantar, and Amber Fort…plus another fort in the middle of the water whose name I’ve forgotten). Though the time was a little shorter than the previous day, I paid him 750 rupee, since he actually drove us around farther. That’s still just under $15, so I had no problem with that.
Hawa Mahal (Palace of the Winds) is the most recognizable architectural building in the Pink City (though it’s technically just outside the Old City). It’s a five story building that was built by Sawai Pratap Singh in 1799 to “enable ladies of the royal household to watch the life and processions of the city.” There are nice views of Jantar Mantar and the City Palace to the west and the Siredoori Bazaar directly across the street.
Jantar Mantar is an observatory that was built by Jai Singh in 1728. “Jantar mantar” is derived from the Sanskrit “yanta mantr,” which means “instrument of calculation.” There are some rather large, interesting, and certainly eclectic sculptures, all for measuring time among the heavens.
Amber Fort was the highlight of Jaipur for me. The Kachhawaha Rajputs ruled from here for over 800 years. This fort was built beginning in 1592 by Maharaja Man Singh using war booty. It’s a royal palace built from pale yellow and pink sandstone with various courtyards. If you walk up the hill, you will enter the fort through the Suraj Pol (Sun Gate) and find yourself in Jaleb Chowk (Main Square) where the armies presented to the king. Walking up the stairs from Jaleb Chowk will bring you to the second courtyard and Diwan-I-Am (Hall of Public Audience) with its double row of columns. The maharaja’s apartments are located around the third courtyard, which you enter through Ganesh Pol. On one side of the interior courtyard is the Jai Mandir (Hall of Victory) which has many mirrored tiles. On the opposite side of Jai Mandir, across Maota Lake (a very small decorative pond, really) is Sukh Niwas (Hall of Pleasure). The fourth courtyard has the zenana (women’s quarters), which were designed so the maharaja could make his nightly visits without the other women knowing about it. In all, the fort/palace and the views from the fort are wonderful. I won’t say “breathtaking” or “stunning,” but certainly worth the visit.
Once I bade farewell to the tuk tuk driver, we wandered around the Old City a little longer before heading over to the hotel for dinner and to see a puppet show (that was not free, but wasn’t advertised as costing anything; they basically try to shame you into “donating” when they’re done). After that, we headed to the train station for a midnight ride across the state on Indian Railways…the first of five train rides throughout these two weeks.
If anyone has seen Slumdog Millionaire, you saw Indian Railways in action…with people riding ON the cars, among other things. I didn’t see anything quite like that, but…the lowest class passenger cars were quite crowded. We were always in first- or second-class sleepers which, to me, didn’t differ too much from the style of sleeper cars in China, though they weren’t quite as nice. They were…very close to the same, at least from my experience.
So, goodbye Pink City and hello Golden City. Jaisalmer was a twelve hour ride due west from Jaipur, and we arrived sometime mid-morning. More to come…
A close up of the extraordinary palps of the male cellar spider, Pholcus phalangioides. Its shots like this that make it obvious why the male palps are often described as 'boxing gloves'.
Andrea Argabright of West Virginia University puts the finishing touches on their team entry in the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2013 house at Orange County Great Park in Irvine, CA on October 2, 2013. Credit: Eric Grigorian/U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon
I put my trust into you guys in letting you lead the way on this walk…..And now look……We are lost in the deepest jungle miles away from any civilisation ……And to make matters worse…… I swear I caught a glimpse of a python snake in the poison yellow plant undergrowth……And for goodness sake don’t look behind you now, but I swear that is a black widow spider on the gate …..And don’t get me started on the pack Lions I can hear behind the hedge row……Gulps…..Now form a ring of steel around me to protect me from this place and get me back to civilisation as quickly as you can……..What do you mean that I have over exaggerated our problem by calling a worm a snake……A money spider a black widow…..And a herd of dairy cows a pride of lions ……And making a butter cup into a poison plant……And that the facts are, that we are in the Oxfordshire countryside, in middle England……..Ummmmmmmm…….Well okay…….Maybe it was a bit of over reaction on my part……But you should know by now….. That I like to see a pub or two on our walks……And look as I might……I really don’t see one……Do you….No …..I thought not……What that you say…..You have packed a couple of beers in my camera bag for me to sit and enjoy……. That’s great news guys……Now come and sit close with me whilst I enjoy…..And let me say that I never really doubted you guys……As I always knew I could trust a Sheltie to get it right ….
Trevi fountain (put these on short view)
11/20/2004 When in Rome! Heather and Rich fly to Rome and have fun on their first day.
It is 11:30 pm local time, and oh but we've been footsore and on the way. It all started a couple of day ago, Thursday for us, when we left home about 6:40 pm with Maddy and Spencer. I officially finished the book by writing two chapter intros. I later got on line and learned that Schuyler planned to do intros for ch1 and ch6, and write the 'how gps works' section for ch5. This meant that I am, officially, at least until QC (quality control) comes back, done with the book.
Wow.
And we drove to Dad's and the kids were rambunctious until we opened up our new CD's for Harry Potter and the Prisonar of Azkaban...we listened to the first CD and that quieted them right down!
And we had a dinner at Dad and Judy's and then up to my Mom's, where we chatted a bit...then bed. And the 5:15 am alarm. It didn't feel all that bad, surprisingly.
The flight to NY went well. I watched the incredibly stupid, but still amusing, movie Anchor Man, heather geeked on our itinery. Then I did a bit, then geeked with my GPS.
Note to self...GPS is cool, and this whole idea of narrative of place is cool, but really, taking GPS tracks in Rome doesn't work that well. I think it is best supplemented with voice recordings of places and later geocoding to a map.
hmmm. I try and create meaning by automatically/quasi automatically parsing track logs of less meaningful trips or segments of trips-down I5 to go lobster diving, for example, but perhaps it is the meaning in the trip that is more important. The GPS is a tool for helping to look at that, but I think I can post process intermittent track points, coupled with memory and photos and voice recordings, to get a better sense of trip.
Anyway...the leg to NY went very quickly. Then we were stuck on the tarmac for a bit while our gate was cleared for us. Eeeks...I had to pee!
Then we actually were in a bit of a rush to make our connection...we got there before the 'we are closing the door on your ass' stage, but not much!
I felt a bit ick for a bit, but once I took an ibuprofen, got rid of my heart burn and had some dinner i was okay. We took sleeping pills when we took off. I took another one after dinner, and then forced myself to try to sleep.
It didn't feel as though it were working-almost as though the sleeping pill made weary but not asleep...odd feeling. But I guess I slepped. Heather woke me when they served breakfast. I did not wake easily, and I went back to sleep a couple of times. I was seeing double for part of the time.
Poor Heather says she only slept about 2 hours.
But we arrived, and waltzed through customs and onto the train. Amazing! About 10 euros apiece and we had a nice train ride with two Italian women and an italian man...we didn't really talk, but, oh well.
Into the train station, and a bit of trouble getting oriented to find our hotel. Now it is easy, but the first time was not so easy.
And then somehow it got later and we figured out the metro to go to the vatican. I was pissy about wanting to eat, and we had trouble with that-the place Heather wanted for us wasn't open until 12:30. We had okay ham and cheese sandwiches and excellent olives from a deli, ate in the plazza (?) by the gellatti milleneum.
Then we went up to the vatican. We had missed the vatican museum, sadly, but we perservered and toured Saint Peters. Heather and I were seperated at this point. I hooked up with a free tour guide and learned lots of great stuff.
Heather called when I was about to learn how to become a Swiss Guard. I accidentally hung up on her, and then couldn't figure out how to call her back, but I guessed she'd be in the front, and she was. She was pooped! But gamely lead me through the tombs of the popes. That is neat...it is so non-cave like...and yet, there is plenty of room for more of them :-)
Well we hiked back to the metro, metroe'd back to the train station and walked back to the hotel and took a 2ish hour nap...it was about 3:00 when we started this 'nap' thing.
Well we woke and did like the Romans, and then got ourselves out of the hotel. We took the 40 bus out and walked down to campo di fiori and did Rick Steve's 'Nighttime rome' walk...
We had dinner in the Piazza Navona at the 'Tre Scalini' cafe/Mokarabina coffee bar. We had drinks an appetizer and a primi-ie, we shared 1 appetizer and 1 primi, and a desert, shared, and it cost a bit. Later we saw what looked like better food for much less money. live and learn. I loved the pantheon (only the outside, as it was closed) and saw where kids had set up to camp at the pantheon, etc.
We got minorly scammed at the Trevi fountain over some flowers that were 'given' to us...and when I didnt' pay enough for them the guy took 2 of three back! ack. I was not too annoyed-I mean, I should know better, right?
And I took pictures and we made our way back to the hotel.
tags: italy heather rich rome
put together from pieces of our winter garden. surprised to find precisely the right colors.
calendula flowers (dried from earlier in the year. i used them in my bath the night before, i had thrown them back in the garden after bath)
pomegranate flowers
pomegranate fruit pith
watermelon seeds and dirt
basil seeds
Put a new bird feeder on a tree in our backyard...been having fun with my 150-500mm lens. French Kiss texture "Yultide" with color changed to light brown.
He put his glasses on expecting the supernova-like flash of the camera. I didn't happen to mention that I wasn't using the flash this time.
I put drinks and ice packs in a cooler box and took them with me. I weeded my wife's parents' garden. It's hot, so I'm exhausted. When the drink is gone, the work outside is over. Go home, take a bath and take a nap. Together with Miya-O, my cat.
Water & Light at Sassi Mazar Balochistan May30, 2015
SUN SHINES IN THE NIGHT
Sassi punnu mausoleum got Solar Energy
Every year thousands of peoples from various parts of Sindh, Baluchistan and Punjab gather at the shrine of Sassi and Punnu in Singher village to attend a 3 days carnival. Singher village is , 52 Kilometers away from Hub town. Singher means chain, as the village is surrounded by the chain of hills where it is believed that Sassi and Punnu were buried under a landslide.
Before the monsoon a carnival organizing committee receives donation from the Baloch tribal chiefs of Sindh and Balochistan to bear the expenditures of the event. Collected funds are mostly used for providing food, water and accommodation to all the devotees there. Sufi Faqirs (singers) from Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab travel to perform songs on the occasion to pay homage to Sassi Punnu, the popular tragic romance of Sindh and Balochistan. Besides folk songs, a traditional Sindhi game malakhro similar to Japanese wrestling sumo also attracts a large number of the people to come there.
Lands from mountains with old graves scattered in the area and rainy water ways are quite difficult to cross for the travellers. Despite this, devotees, males and females, travel long distance to visit the site the entire year. For the local people, camel is the only means of transport and people gather there during the occasion.
There is only one well, which is useful for the communities otherwise the entire area underground water level is unsafe for human consumption. In case the area receives monsoon rains the people use rainy water from ponds.
For the benefit of peoples living in surroundings as well as devotees who visit during carnival and over the year, Masood Lohar, country Manager UNDP, GEF small grant program decided to use solar energy for providing clean and safe water and lighting on the mausoleum.
On 30th May 2015, Shaan Technologies Private Limited installed a 3 HP Solar Powered pump on a 250 ft deep well that is located near the tomb. Operating on a 3 kilowatt solar panel bank this pump provide 30 Gallon water per minutes & eliminates requirement of diesel generator operated pump that organizing committee previously used to supply water during the festival.
Now solar pump serves as a continuous source of clean water without any additional cost. A water tank is provided to store pumped water. This tank helped as a 24 hours ready source of water for the local people.
In addition to that 2 solar powered floodlights were also installed in front yard of tomb. These 14 watt LED lights runs on a 35 watt solar panel that provide sufficient power to run LED lamps up to 12 hours. Dusk to Dawn photo sensors is also used in the system that automatically turns on the light just before the sunset and turns off at dawn. This project was financed by the UNDP GEF Small grant program. Lodhie foundation contributed 10% cost of the project under its poverty alleviation initiative.
Project Summary
Location: Sassi Punnu Moseleum, Singher Village, Near Hub Dam, Baluchistan
Coordinates: 25°18'41"N 66°53'21"E
Nearby cities: Karachi, Hub City, Sonmiani / Winder city
Initiated By: UNDP, GEF Small Grant Program in association of Lodhie Foundation
Implemented by: Shaan Technologies Private Limited Karachi
Implantation Date: 30Th May 2015
Equipment installed:
(1) One 3HP DC Submersible water pump with 3KW Solar panels and Pump Controller
(2) Two Solar Powered LED Floodlights
Beneficiaries: Up to 2500 people living in the Singher village and surroundings
Folktale of Sassi & Punnu
Sassi Punnu is a famous folktale of love told in the length and breadth of Sindh, Pakistan. The story is about a faithful wife who is ready to undergo all kinds of troubles that would come her way while seeking her beloved husband who was separated from her by the rivals
Sassi was the daughter of a Brahman Hindu Rajah from Rohri . Upon Sassui's birth, astrologers predicted that she was a curse for the royal family’s prestige. The Raja ordered that the child be put in a wooden box and thrown in the Sindhu, present day’s river Indus. However, she was saved by a washer-man belonging to Bhanbhor, near Gharo district, Thatta . The washer-man raised her as his own daughter.
When Sassui became a young girl, she was as beautiful as the fairies of heaven. Stories of her beauty reached Punhun a prince from Kech Makran Balochistan and he became desperate to meet Sassi. The handsome young Prince therefore travelled to Bhambore. He sent his clothes to Sassi's father (a washerman) so that he could catch a glimpse of Sassi. When he visited the washerman's house, they fell in love at first sight. Sassui's father was dispirited, hoping that Sassi would marry a washerman and no one else. He asked Punnhun to prove that he was worthy of Sassui by passing the test as a washerman. Punnhun agreed to prove his love. While washing, he tore all the clothes as, being a prince, he had never washed any clothes; he thus failed the agreement. But before he returned those clothes, he hid gold coins in the pockets of all the clothes, hoping this would keep the villagers quiet. The trick worked, and Sassui's father agreed to the marriage.
At last Punnu (Punhoon) married her. However, his father, Ari, the King of Ketch, did not like his son getting married to a low-caste girl, so he instructed his other sons to go to Bhanbhor and bring back Punnu at any cost. They visited Punnu as his guests and during the night they intoxicated him and his wife. Later, they put their brother on one of the camels and left. When Sassi woke up in the morning, she was shocked to find Punnu missing and all his brothers gone. She understood their trickery. She left Bhambhor immediately to Kech Makran on foot in search of him. The Kech Makran is located along the Makran Coastal Highway in Baluchistan, Pakistan.
After crossing Pab Mountain, she reached the Harho range. She could not proceed further when her path was blocked by the Phor River. So she started retracing her steps. Soon she was accosted by a beastly goatherd who intended to molest her. Sassi prayed to God for protection. Immediately the ground below her feet started caving in like quicksand and she disappeared within seconds. Seeing the miracle, the goatherd repented sincerely, and to make amends for his misconduct, he made a grave in the site and became its custodian.
Punnu found no peace of mind at Kech. He languished and soon became an invalid. Under the circumstances, his father allowed him to return to Bhambhor.
During his return journey, Punnu happened to pass by the site where Sassi had met her death. When the goatherd came to know his story, he told him as to what had happened to Sassi. Punnu was beside himself on hearing the horrible news.
He prayed to God to unite him with Sassi. Again the ground became quicksand and he soon disappeared into the bowels of the earth. So came to an end the tragic love story of Sassi and Punnu. The legendary grave still exists in this valley.
The famous Sufi saint and poet Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai sings this historic tale in his sufi poetry “Shah jo Risalo” as an example of eternal love and union with Divine.
Sassi’s resting place is said to be about 45 miles away in the Pub range to the west of Karachi. A local man of some importance constructed a simple mausoleum in 1980 over the joint grave of Sassi and Punnu. It is often visited by tourists.
Weekly Challenge #68: Tangle with C-F-V
Each week Diane & Carolien’s Weekly Zentangle Challenge puts out a challenge for folks to make their own representation of Diane & Carolien’s idea. This week is Challenge #68 the Alphabet challenge of C-F-V. Use tangles starting with...
www.dianeclancy.com/blog/2016/08/weekly-challenge-68-tang...
I was heading out to put out the trash when I heard the crows going crazy. This is why. The bobcat is not as sharp as I would like but the plant is in great focus. But you can still see his expression.
Here it is…my last big vacation of 2015. It also happened to be the longest of the year. I’ve actually put off editing these pictures (until this week – mid-January 2016). I’ve been putting this off because, honestly, I have very mixed emotions about the trip.
I have absolutely nothing but good things to say about India and all the Indians I met there – better things yet to say about Indian cuisine. However, I didn’t travel alone, and that caused quite a bit of headaches. So, I’ve been lazier than usual about going through these. However, in looking at them, I’m starting to dwell only on the good side, and hopefully will show that here. (I won’t mention anything else about what or why I didn’t enjoy the trip. Honestly, I hope to go back to India again sometime. It’s the 7th largest country in the world and has a lot to see…)
This particular trip was 13 days…and very localized. We only visited two states: Rajasthan (RJ) and Uttar Pradesh (UP). Also Delhi, though I didn’t go out in Delhi and don’t have a single picture to show for it. In those two weeks, we took the following tour, in this order: landed in Delhi (at 3:00 a.m.) on September 26. At 7:30 a.m., we were on a bus to our first destination: Rajasthan.
The first week we spent in Rajasthan visiting each of these cities for approximately two days: Jaipur, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, and Udaipur. (I found myself thinking, “There sure are a lot of ‘purs’ here…just like there are a of ‘zhous’ in China – Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Zhengzhou, Zhouzhou. ‘Pur,’ like ‘zhou,’ apparently means “town.”) Rajasthan is hot. Damn hot. Even in late September the daytime temperatures seemed to soar close to 40 degrees. At least 35, for certain… Rajasthan has a lot of desert terrain and many castles. Quite a few old palaces are out in Rajasthan, so it can tend to have a bit of a romantic feel to it.
After finishing in Rajasthan, we went over to Uttar Pradesh for literally one afternoon seeing the Taj Mahal in Agra, before shuffling off to the holy city of Varanasi (one of Hinduism’s most famous – if not the most famous – cities). From Varanasi, we took an 18 hour train ride (during which I apparently ate something so nasty that it stayed with me…for close to three months). Note to readers: Try to avoid eating on Indian trains. After another two days in Delhi, we flew back around 4:00 in the morning on October 9. For now…back to the beginning in Jaipur.
Jaipur is famously called the Pink City. A lot of the old town architecture is pink, so…well, you get the idea. It’s named for its founder, Jai Singh II (1688-1744), a great warrior-astronomer who assumed power at age 11 upon his father’s death.
The following is from Lonely Planet India: “Jai Singh could trace his lineage back to the Rajput clan of Kachhawas, who consolidated their power in the 12th century.” Their capital was at Amber (which is pronounced ahm-AIR…not AM-burr) about 10 kilometers northeast of town. This is northern India’s first planned city, if LP is being honest with me.
All I hope you get out of that is that this is an area with close to a millennium of “important” history to India, but the city of Jaipur as we see it now is only about 300-400 years old. Jaipur currently has a population of about three million. There’s an Old City (Pink City) which is where most of the tourists head – including yours truly – a new city, and….that’s about it. For my purposes (and in an attempt at brevity), I’ll say we went to the Central Museum (Albert Hall) south of the Old City. We also visited Hawa Mahal, Tripolia Bazaar (and Gate), and Jantar Mantar in the Old City. Other than that, we went to Amber Fort for a few hours.
Things started innocuously enough. We had left Delhi at 7:30 in the morning and gotten to Jaipur about 5 hours later. We had one stop on the bus for breakfast. I don’t recall what I ate…some type of curry, of course, but I don’t recall which. It may have just been mutter paneer. It was, however, delicious, and I didn’t feel hungry at all again until dinner.
The bus. Bus transportation in India, by the way, is rather interesting. Sometimes they are private buses (the small kind that only hold 8-12 people), sometimes sleeper buses, sometimes regular coaches…but the regular coaches didn’t seem too common. There doesn’t seem to be any uniformity in India about this.
Anyway, the bus dropped us off right next to Amber Fort. Since this was one of the small 8-12 person jobs, it could pretty much stop and go where it pleased, it seems, and this one didn’t actually take us to Jaipur.
As soon as we got off the bus here, we hired a tuk tuk (san lun che, for you Chinese readers) that took us down to the Old City. There, we switched to another one that took us the 2-3 kilometers west of the Old City to the more quiet and residential Bani Park where our hotel (the Hotel Anuraag Villa, which turned out to be about the nicest one we stayed in) was located. The second tuk tuk driver is the one we hired to take us around that afternoon and the next day. For the first day, I paid 500 rupees (~50 RMB/$8) for 4-6 hours’ work. We checked in and he waited patiently as we ate lunch in the backyard of the hotel.
Our driver took us first to the Central Museum (Albert Hall) where we spent an hour or two in mid-afternoon. The museum itself isn’t too bad. It has standard fare: tribal dress, Buddhist sculptures, even an Egyptian mummy. The building itself, though, is worth seeing. Anyway, an hour here was more than enough time.
From there, we went to the Sun Temple (I think that’s what it’s called) where I enjoyed the late afternoon sun (and rather smoggy view, though not quite as smoggy as Chinese cities I’m accustomed to). After that, we ended up going to a rather nice restaurant that cost about 2500 rupees (250 RMB/$40) for two. I splurged. It was fantastic.
After a night of sleep that may or may not have transported me to an alternate universe (I sleep more deeply than most bears), I woke up ready to go the next morning. I hired the same tuk tuk driver to haul us around, and we went first to the Old City (Hawa Mahal, the Tripolia Bazaar, Jantar Mantar, and Amber Fort…plus another fort in the middle of the water whose name I’ve forgotten). Though the time was a little shorter than the previous day, I paid him 750 rupee, since he actually drove us around farther. That’s still just under $15, so I had no problem with that.
Hawa Mahal (Palace of the Winds) is the most recognizable architectural building in the Pink City (though it’s technically just outside the Old City). It’s a five story building that was built by Sawai Pratap Singh in 1799 to “enable ladies of the royal household to watch the life and processions of the city.” There are nice views of Jantar Mantar and the City Palace to the west and the Siredoori Bazaar directly across the street.
Jantar Mantar is an observatory that was built by Jai Singh in 1728. “Jantar mantar” is derived from the Sanskrit “yanta mantr,” which means “instrument of calculation.” There are some rather large, interesting, and certainly eclectic sculptures, all for measuring time among the heavens.
Amber Fort was the highlight of Jaipur for me. The Kachhawaha Rajputs ruled from here for over 800 years. This fort was built beginning in 1592 by Maharaja Man Singh using war booty. It’s a royal palace built from pale yellow and pink sandstone with various courtyards. If you walk up the hill, you will enter the fort through the Suraj Pol (Sun Gate) and find yourself in Jaleb Chowk (Main Square) where the armies presented to the king. Walking up the stairs from Jaleb Chowk will bring you to the second courtyard and Diwan-I-Am (Hall of Public Audience) with its double row of columns. The maharaja’s apartments are located around the third courtyard, which you enter through Ganesh Pol. On one side of the interior courtyard is the Jai Mandir (Hall of Victory) which has many mirrored tiles. On the opposite side of Jai Mandir, across Maota Lake (a very small decorative pond, really) is Sukh Niwas (Hall of Pleasure). The fourth courtyard has the zenana (women’s quarters), which were designed so the maharaja could make his nightly visits without the other women knowing about it. In all, the fort/palace and the views from the fort are wonderful. I won’t say “breathtaking” or “stunning,” but certainly worth the visit.
Once I bade farewell to the tuk tuk driver, we wandered around the Old City a little longer before heading over to the hotel for dinner and to see a puppet show (that was not free, but wasn’t advertised as costing anything; they basically try to shame you into “donating” when they’re done). After that, we headed to the train station for a midnight ride across the state on Indian Railways…the first of five train rides throughout these two weeks.
If anyone has seen Slumdog Millionaire, you saw Indian Railways in action…with people riding ON the cars, among other things. I didn’t see anything quite like that, but…the lowest class passenger cars were quite crowded. We were always in first- or second-class sleepers which, to me, didn’t differ too much from the style of sleeper cars in China, though they weren’t quite as nice. They were…very close to the same, at least from my experience.
So, goodbye Pink City and hello Golden City. Jaisalmer was a twelve hour ride due west from Jaipur, and we arrived sometime mid-morning. More to come…
View Put your hands in the air on Black
View Put your hands in the air Map/EXIF
Sony DSC-RX100 + 28-100mm F1.8-4.9 @ 16.2 mm - 1/250 sec at f/5.0, ISO 3200
Aperture priority mode @ 0 EV E.C - Pattern metering - no flash
Subject Distance: unknown
One of many confetti cannons fired that night. Sander Van Doorn is on deck.
47°35'43" N 122°19'54" W, 311 ft
WaMu Theater, Downtown Seattle
Seattle, Washington, United States
Taken on 10.27.2012, uploaded on 10.27.2012.
©2012 Adam James Steenwyk. Please contact me at ajamess [at] gmail [dot] com if you would like to use this photo. Blog: www.f128.info