Saturday 12 April 2014

Bits and Pieces



Today is

I have mentioned before Messymimi’s great blog which combines peeks into her personal life (mainly her children and pets) and a daily list of Festivals, International Days, etc.  Today, for example, amongst lots of other things, is...

D.E.A.R. Day (a/k/a Drop Everything And Read) -- sponsored by the American Library Association, on Bevery Cleary's birth anniversary.   Beverly Cleary is an American author of more than 30 books for young adults and children. One of America's most successful writers of children's literature, she has sold 91 million copies of her books worldwide.  She was born in 1916 and is 98 years old.

It is also Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day.

And, interestingly, it is Big Wind Day – the anniversary of the strongest natural wind ever recorded on the earth's surface, at Mount Washington, NH, US; the wind gusts reached 231 mph.


The Everlasting Orchid

At the beginning of October Partner-who-loves-tea bought an orchid.   It has been in flower every day since then.

 So this week I bought another.  I wonder if it will also just keep on flowering.


The Ugly Volvo
If you are on Facebook I can thoroughly recommend The Ugly Volvo in which a stand-up comic tackles motherhood.  The link is to a recent post about having a tattoo. This is for anyone who has ever had a child; anyone who has ever contemplated having a child; anyone who has never been fortunate enough to have a child; and anyone who has been fortunate enough to never have had a child. 


Julia Louis-Dreyfus
And talking of tattoos (only it’s a photo-shopped one) Julia Louis-Dreyfus looks fabulous at the age of 53 on the cover of Rolling Stone.


But John Hancock didn't sign the Constitution.  He signed the Declaration of Independence.   Oopsies!  The American actress, comedian and producer demonstrated her sense of humour  by defending Rolling Stone -- "John Hancock not part of tattoo. It is a birthmark.1962 photo is proof. Apologies 2 @RollingStone #crackexcuse."


 My world

So what is happening in my world?  Partner-who-loves-tea and I have both had bad backs and a couple of trips to an osteopath have largely fixed mine and helped hers a bit.   PWLT has also had a birthday – I won’t mention which one.  One of her presents was a mirror which she used to good effect to hide from the camera as she usually does.


The sun shone on her birthday and we took a trip to Brimstage Hall craft centre for coffee, a look around and then some lunch.   




Although the exact date of construction is unknown, Brimstage Hall is believed to have been built between the 12th century and 14th century, making it one of the oldest buildings on Merseyside. 




Originally the site was enclosed by a moat and high embankment. The building's first known occupants were Sir Hugh Hulse and his wife, who were granted the right to construct a chapel in 1398.

The Ladies and Gents…



I must mention that on the way there the local rape fields were gloriously in flower.


 

On the way home we passed a house in Heswall with a telephone box and a fire pump in its front garden. I wonder if there is a pillar box in the back garden.




15 comments:

  1. As usual, a visit to your rambling is interesting. Julia Louis-Dreyfus is a talented comedienne, and at 53 she looks better than I did at even 23. I should hate her, but I don't because she is so much fun to watch. Wish PWLT a belated happy birthday for me. I love the texture on Brimstage Hall. I suspect we don't have any building anywhere in the USA that old! Middle son once had a telephone booth in his living room, but it wasn't colorful like the one pictured here.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is great stuff! As I read this I'm suffering a nasty bout of Bursitis and a general inflammation of the joints; I now feel a bit better.

    The whole thing about buildings that have been here since the 12th century just knocks me out. We have nothing close to that in the Colonies. The oldest significant ruins I've ever seen are the remains of miner's shacks from the gold rush, which are pieces of old timber and corrugated metal roofs. A few buildings in St. Augustine, Florida come close, but none are anything like these you've photographed.

    What are rape fields? I've neither seen nor heard of them.

    I also like the telephone box (phone booth) in the yard. Virtually all pay phones have vanished in the U.S. They used to be quite common, but the cell phone did them in.

    Happy Birthday to the Missus!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry about the bursitis - painful! Rape is a relative of the cabbage but is grown for its seeds which are made into rapeseed oil (an alternative to sunflower oil / vegetable oil /ólive oil or whatever you use for frying over in your part of the world.)

      Delete
  3. Thank you so much for mentioning my blog! It's so much fun to note that every day has a reason to celebrate, and interesting things are always going on.

    That orchid is lovely! My black thumb, which can kill silk houseplants, salutes anyone who can grow something so exotic.

    Not being on Facebook, i'll have to see if i can find those amusing takes on motherhood elsewhere. Heaven knows we need to keep our sense of humor intact with kids around.

    Many happy returns of the day to Partner-who-loves-tea! It looks like you had a lovely time.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh, love the red phone booth, and your visit to the village and Brimstage Hall.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sounds as if you had a wonderful day out. I love your photo essays. And many happy returns to Jo. xoxox

    Regarding Julia Louis Dreyfus's "incorrect" tattoo -- probably everyone was so busy looking at her gorgeous bod that no one even noticed the John Hancock on her left side!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Well there's another half an hour of my life gone. I read your post and looked at the familiar places and wondered what else was left (commercially) of Brimstage Hall (and thought of those huge meringues) and then thought how correct you were over Julia Louis-Dreyfus looking stunning. "I wonder who she is" I thought and looked up Wiki. And that was where my half hours started..... Oddly I've never see Seinfeld and, although The New Adventures of Old Christine appears to be on NZ's TV2 every night (I see it on the channel information page) I've never seen that either. Hmmmm. Where have I been all these years?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have never seen Seinfeld wither, GB. Actually that's not quite true. I have seen odd bits of it before other programmes but it didn't appeal to me. Veep remains a total mystery...

      Delete
  7. Many Happy Returns to PWLT.
    I could spend an hour doing a displacement map for Julia. I could then correct the typo.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Love the historic buildings - so intriguing! And the flower fields - beautiful:)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Orchids are great plants, aren't they? I don't know why I've never been tempted to own one. Anything that last so long should be at the top of my wants list. I wonder what NZ was like back when that building was built? Amazing to have something so old still functioning. It looks very inviting, hope you enjoyed your lunch. Belated happy birthday to you dear wife.

    ReplyDelete
  10. The rape fields are in full bloom here, too; maybe you have seen the picture on one of my recent posts. I've never seen them like this at the beginning of April! (In fact, when I took the picture, it was not even April yet, but the 30th of March.)
    Brimstage Hall looks a good place to spend one's birthday.

    Sorry to hear about your bad backs. I am currently getting physio again for mine; usually, I have a round of physio sessions prescriped once or twice a year to keep my skoliosis in check.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Happy belated Birthday to Jo....wishing her many many many more birthdays.
    Be careful with that mirror Jo, as we get older lots of lines and odd shapes appear on our faces, and I for one don't need a mirror to exaggerate the "age" contours.
    Loved the orchid and your photos of Brimstage Hall....so glad the sun was shining brightly on Jo's special day for your visit.
    Julia is one of my favourite actresses, I'm a Seinfeld fan, so I've been watching her in that show as well as her other show The New Adventures of Old Christine...she is hilarious.
    Take it easy with your backs.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Such a fun post and I love hearing about your visits to those lovely old buildings! Your flowers are beautiful! The ones indoors and the field full of yellow blossoms! Hey, I think we could all make the cover of Rolling Stone Mag...with a little (ok, a lot) of help from photo shop!) I'm sorry about your bad back...although I really love bad backs..my hubby's a Chiropractor after all! Happy Birthday to your lovely wife! Have a wonderful Easter weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I like the pump in he garden.

    ReplyDelete

Hello - thanks for dropping by to leave a comment. Your comments are much appreciated even if I don't always reply. They will appear as soon as they have been moderated.

Blog Archive