Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Richard..............

Richard 111 Last Plantagenet King of England. Was he a loyal brother who stepped in when his brother died? Then following his concience set aside the sons of that brother when their legitamacy was in question or......was he a murderer of his nephews in order to seize the throne?
Who was he? I doubt anyone will change their opinion unless some undisputable evidence comes to light. As of now one must decide based on what we do know of his charactor.
Love or hate him, he is one of Englands best known Kings because of all the tragedy and intrigue that have surrounded him for hundreds of years.

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I have read a lot about Richard. Ever since I was quite young and I saw Lawrence Olivier play him in Shakespeare's Richard 111, I have been fascinated with him. I didn't know enough to know he was supposed to be a bad man......I just knew that I wanted to know more.

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The more I read about his early life the less I believed that he was bad. Maybe in those violent times he was a violent man and made choices we would never make now......but I do not believe he killed the Princes in the Tower. I would instead put that on the head of Henry V11.
I read the book "Daughter of Time" by Josephine Tey and that cinched it for me. If you have any interest in Richard, do read that book.
Anyway........the body of who is believed to be Richard has been found. I am so eagerly awaiting the results from DNA tests and everything else. It has to be him, and he can now be buried as a King of England should.

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There is so much I could write about Richard. I despise Shakespeare for making him into a hunchbacked villain for the entertainment of the Tudor courts.


From the BBC.
Conclusions of investigations into human remains thought to be those of Richard III are due to be revealed in the first week of February.
Experts at the University of Leicester have been analysing the bones since they were discovered beneath a car park in the city in September.
They are awaiting DNA test results before revealing their conclusions.
Circumstantial evidence points to the remains being those of the English king, the team has said.
University spokesman Ather Mirza said: "The university is expecting results of the series of tests in the next few weeks during which period the results will be analysed."
The University of Leicester has led the search for the king in association with Leicester City Council and the Richard III Society.



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(Loyalty Bind Me)

Wikipedia.....for those interested.

Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England for two years, from 1483 until his death in 1485 during the Battle of Bosworth Field. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat at the Battle of Bosworth Field was the decisive battle of the Wars of the Roses and is sometimes regarded as the end of the Middle Ages in England. He is the subject of an eponymous play by William Shakespeare.
When his brother Edward IV died in April 1483, Richard was named Lord Protector of the realm for Edward's son and successor, the 12-year-old King Edward V. As the new king travelled to London from Ludlow, Richard met and escorted him to London, where he was lodged in the Tower of London. Edward V's brother Richard later joined him there. Arrangements began to be made for Edward's coronation on 22 June.
However, before the young king could be crowned, Edward IV's marriage to the boys' mother Elizabeth Woodville was publicly declared to be invalid, making their children illegitimate and ineligible for the throne. On 25 June an assembly of lords and commoners endorsed these claims. The following day, Richard III officially began his reign. He was crowned on 6 July. The two young princes were not seen in public after August and there arose subsequently a number of accusations that the boys had been murdered by Richard, giving rise to the legend of the Princes in the Tower.
There were two major rebellions against Richard. The first, in October 1483, was led by staunch allies of Edward IV and most notably by Richard's former ally, Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham. The revolt collapsed and Buckingham was executed at Salisbury near the Bull's Head Inn. In August 1485 there was another rebellion against Richard, headed by Henry Tudor, 2nd Earl of Richmond (later King Henry VII) and his uncle Jasper. Henry Tudor landed in Pembrokeshire, his birthplace, with a small contingent of French troops, and marched through Wales recruiting foot soldiers and skilled archers. Richard died during the Battle of Bosworth Field, the last English king to die in battle (and the only English king to do so on English soil since Harold II at the Battle of Hastings in 1066).

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Hedgehogs...............

I remember at our house on Bidwell Hill we found out we had hedgehogs in our back garden. One night Dad heard a terrible noise out back. Groans like someone in pain, he said. Mr McDonald next door was one for his drink and often came home worse for wear. Dad found him unconcious in the back yard once, apparently he had been in an accident and staggered home falling in the back yard. Dad carried him inside and took care of him. Well.......he suspected this noise had something to do with Charlie Mac........so out he goes with a flashlight, only to find some disgruntled hedgehogs meandering around the lawn looking for worms.


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Hedgehogs now are becoming scarce. The cutting down of hedgerows, the roads and dogs all take their toll. Human intrusion upon their habitat has been the worst of all. Hedgehogs and many other animals need their own little highways where they can travel around their territory. Hedges replaced by fences stop that from happening. Many animals like the Fox and Badger will make their own way and can actually thrive around humans. My aunt has a couple of foxes who come to supper every night. At her old house she had a family of Badgers.
The hedgehog is not the same type of animal though.

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Simple changes to back yards can make a big difference to these small creatures. I know people who have set up places for them to nest and breed. I found this picture of a hedgehog house.
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Hedgehogs are very prickly...........one day when we were first married Gerry and I went up to Scotland, just into Scotland we didnt have time to go far. Anyway on one country road just on a bend we saw a hedgehog trying to cross the road. Because it was on a bend I figured he needed some help. It would be hard for someone coming the other way to see him. So we stopped and I tried to help him across. He rolled into a ball and was so pokey I could not pick him up. Lucky we had a blanket in the car and I was able to get him with that and put him on the other side of the road............Those spikes are really pokey.
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We don't have hedgehogs in Michigan............but I know that in England and Europe there are organizations that help to save them. There are places to learn all about them and their habitats and how to help them.
http://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/
This is just one place. For those who have an interest the web is a great place to start.

Sunday, January 6, 2013

Marmite.............

Oh no!!!!!........I am out of Marmite. I love it on toast in the mornings. I lavish the toast with butter first and drizzle on the Marmite. Its very healthy. Made from Brewers Yeast it contains a lot of niacin. That is supposed to be a good thing. All I know is that its addictive.
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Mum used to use it a lot in gravy or soups. I don't. I have tried Bovril for that (beef extract) but its not the taste I want for gravy and is very salty. Its good to drink though.

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My Dad would love a cup of Bovril with bread in it as a late night supper to go to bed on. He also liked hot milk with bread and sugar. He always had the late night supper. Something with bread broken into it, sometimes OXOs.

Bovril and OXO are both meat extract, very salty and during war time used to supplement the rations for the troops, especially in WW1 and the small wars around that time for example the Boar War.

So I grew up with these products and learned to make my gravy with OXO. I can only get those in England and believe me I brought a load back with me. Anyone who visits us knows to bring OXOs.
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OXO is the one thing I can not get here and can not live without.
Back to Marmite.........the Aussies have Vegemite. Not sure if its the same or not, not inclind to try it. I can get Bovril and Marmite here and also Bisto (another gravy making product) thats good for making Shepherds pie.

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Mine has vegetables in it as well as meat and that's what's for supper tonight because of this post. I wondered what I was going to do............blogging, who would have thunk it.
Linking with Mosaic Monday.. atDear Little red House....love that blog.

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Gypsy's in the Hedgerows.........

When I was a child I lived in a small rural village, it had gas lights and thatched roofs on many houses or pubs. All gone now............growing up in the country, we were used to the Gypsies who came by every summer. They would camp in a farmers field, actually it was a space between fields with a gate to the road. They would be more or less out of sight and kept to themselves. They had the horses and the old fashioned caravans back then. Maybe not the fancy ones but at least horse pulled. gypsycaravans They called themselves Didicoys. The ladies made pegs and would walk around door to door selling them. I am sure there were other things they sold but I remember the pegs because mum bought some. They wore long dresses, headscarves and carried baskets. 1535-Slovenian-Gypsy-family-at-Ellis-Island-by-Augustus-Sherman (photo by A.Sherman) These older pictures dont usually show the painted wagons british-wagon The children were kept out of the way because I don't remember seeing them. There was prejudice I am sure, because I always heard that when something was broke or missing that the "gypsies" did it. I personally doubt it there were plenty of naughty kids in the village year around trust me. gypsy The men would sharpen knives and scissors and I know from experience that they did a great trade when they came along our street. We kids only looked out from behind the lace curtains I don't know if the adults still had hang ups about kids being stolen by the gypsies haha......predudice in many forms. Not us kids though we were in awe. First off the horses........the Gypsy Vanner. Oh what a beauty, I could do a post just on the horses. p1251157424485879 I am so tempted to post some more horses hehe...........ah well, here is one with a more modern day "Traveler" family. gypsy_caravan11 One thing I know, after they left us kids would go and see if they left any old pram wheels in the hedges. We used to use those to make "chariots" .....put a soap box on a set of wheels and you had the makings of a very cool chassis. Took a little ingenuity and soon one could be racing down Bidwell Hill.

Thursday, January 3, 2013

London Enbankment...............

Did you know that what we know as "the enbankment" along the River Thames was once 22 acres of water meadows. The land was reclaimed and the walls built to enclose the river so that at high tides or flood time the city remains safe. It had to be an amazing challenge at the time. Now of course the Thames Barrier is the big wonder, but without the enbankment London would not exist as it does today. The River Thames is the life blood to London. The wharfs along the river hold the Markets. World famous, and you sure know when you get close to Billingsgate, the fish market at Canary Wharf. This was not what I was going to write about though. When I was "courting" and living in London we would walk through the East End and I learned a lot just walking around the city. I knew my way around back then, could not do that today but I do sometimes dream about it. My boyfriend was from Dagenham in the East End...........I learned a lot from him about the city, not all good. Dont ask me now why I was with him its a long story but at least I got to know London.I also learned about life. walk-along-the-embankment-at-chelsea-frederick-brown The enbankment walks are much used in the same way as they always were. Strolling along the river on a sunny afternoon or starry evening,For me it was a magic place. Especially at night. We would stroll through back streets, you would be amazed at some of the architecture of the hidden places. The Enbankment itself has history for those who look, and maybe that is part of my fascination. Egypt. Egyptology. Cleopatra's Needle, that has nothing to do with Cleopatra but is authentic and has quiet a story behind it. It was over a thousand years old in Cleo's time. Then the Sphynx who watch it, they were set the wrong way apparently and do not guard as they are supposed to and are forever destined to look at the "needle" a bomb came close to destroying them in WW2. You can still see the marks from shrapnel. enbankjpg When I talk of the embankment thats the part I mean, in fact there are enbankments all along the Thames but the City of Westminster is what I was familiar with. banojpg I used to know the area inside out but not any more. I would not be able to negotiate the streets now. Maybe once I spent some time there. Bodicea she still stands there as she has for a very long time bodijpg You can gaze down at that river and know its the same old river that the Romans first saw and the Vikings lost a ship in. They found that one hot summer when the water went down. We would walk from there across Tower Bridge and (shame on us) we carved our initials on the bricks. You walk past the Tower where traitors used to be executed and I would often get the tube at Tower Hill to go back to Putney Bridge. So very long ago now. No I didn't marry that person and he is gone now. I was in love for a brief time and maybe its because I loved London rather than him???? How do I know I was 18.


Linking up with Little red house, mosaic Monday

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Living in London........

I lived in London in the early 1960s. The best time ever to be in the city. I was 18 years old in 1964 and wanted to work in London. My parents did not like the idea. I was naive and didn't realize that they really had no say in it, but back then they sure did. Back then we did as we were told, more or less. Anyway an agreement was reached and I could work in London and come home on the weekends. So Friday night I would catch the train home and Monday morning back I would go. I worked for N.A.A.F.I that was the institution that supplied food to the armed forces. I was a "key punch" operator. (another story) So it was that I moved to "Heathlands" a womens hostel run by NAAFI. We had a matron who was in charge and set the rules. The hostel was an old mansion and was so interesting. Could be spooky too. We had a cook as well as the Matron and someone cleaned I suppose but I dont remember seeing anyone. Maybe we had chores. I dont remember. Heathlands was between Wimbledon and Putney. earlsfield-to-osterley-lock-006_zps6f60f99a We lived right opposite Wimbledon Common. To get to work we had to go into Putney, walk or thumb a lift, or if lucky a bus. From there the underground. It was quite a trip to get into work. It was fun because all of us were going to the same place. Some days the girls would report seeing an up an comming young actor on the bus in the morning, soon everyone would know Oliver Reed. putney_bridge_zps81a58554 So once I settled in to living and working in London eventually I didn't go home every weekend. London was calling. What a wonderful city it is. Exploring the city at night and walking where ever we wanted with no fear for safety. Sitting in the subway in the early hours of the morning no one ever bothered us. This was the time of the Mods and Rockers. The birth of the mini skirt. Walking the streets of London seeing the models so tall and beautiful shopping along Bond and Oxford street. The West End. Going to shows. Harrods_zps58eab33b we would go to the overseas club and see the Arabs who were going to the London colleges so exotic to us in their robes. So romantic we thought. We met all kinds of people. The streets in London had their Buskers and street entertainers. So much to see and do. We could sit in the middle of Picadilly circus and watch the world go by, the lights of the huge advertisements overhead. Eros overlooking everything. avis-roy-piccadilly-circus-london_zpscdbf6a46 Trafalgar Square was also a good starting point because we could walk down the Mall and through the parks in the evening. A calm in the midst of all the hustle and bustle. regentpark_zpsaaa366d9 I could write forever about life in London. In the 1960s the British music scene was just beginning and by the time I was living there it was in full swing. Twiggy and Jean Shrimpton set the styles, the music was The Stones and Marianne Faithful then the Liverpool lot but I was faithful to my London bands. Mick Jagger had been going to the London School of Economics and some of the new bands were upper class kids. Rebellion was in the air. Not violence but change...........London was the place to be.

Monday, December 31, 2012

A New Year.................

I think this year especially I am ready for a new year. A symbolic clean slate. A new beginning. I don't bother with the celebrations any more. I would just as soon sleep it through these days. happy-new-year-1_zpse8e3ec6e It was not always so. I do remember probably the very best New Years Eve was spent in Trafalgar Square. I was living in Putney at the time, well between Wimbledon and Putney. I was working in London then. Well my boyfriend and his friend Len took me to Trafalgar Square for the New Year's Eve. I don't remember too much about the evening. I do remember people were dancing in the fountains, hanging in the trees and just having a great time. People sitting on the lions and I bet they would have climbed the column if they could. I have never been in such a crowd before. I can not remember fireworks. IMG_0246_zps3f26f375 When Big Ben struck midnight, there was such a roar from the crowds.......... big-ben_zps905c329f The whole crowd shifted, it was time to catch the last bus or the last train to get home and so the crowd headed towards the tube stations. We were carried along and I showed my boyfriend how I could take my feet off the floor and still travel. I suppose the danger of the situation did not occur to me at that age. There were kids dancing on the roofs of cars in the traffic jam that developed. Had to climb over cars to get to the subway. We made it home and I caught the last bus home. What a night. There have been better New Years eve parties since but nothing ever as memorable. londonnewyear380_zps27150c7f
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Hooking up with Alderberry Hill and Make the scene Monday..................#55 Sharing with Blue Monday and Smiling Sally..............

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

I heard the bells..................

“I heard the bells on Christmas Day, Their old familiar carols play, And wild and sweet the words repeat Of peace on earth, good will to men.”
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Christmas.........I am not really into religious holidays but I do love Christmas. The memories, the feeling of love, of family and giving. Kindness and generosity. Yes, people should behave that way every day. The fact is they do not. They do sometimes make an effort at Christmas and so I can go with that. I love the memories mainly. I do believe its not the same as it was years ago but what is? I guess we have to make our own traditions and new memories. We can't just say its not what it used to be, we have to make it what we want it to be.
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The problem as I see it is that after the dinner..........we eat at 4pm. Everyone sort of just sits there. Stuffed to the gills, and itching to go home and rest up. While Jason is bored out of his mind and all I want to do is relax. We still have clean up to do (usually my husbands job) I am certainly not in the mood for entertaining. The day is spent cooking or putting out the snacks. Making sure people have something to tide them over till supper. Years ago we had the granddaughters come over and stick around awhile. They and Jason would go to the movies or bowling. Now thats all passed, they have their own lives now.........so what can we do to make it more fun? I don't know. Angels I think part of it is we have put aside the real reason for Christmas. Instead of expecting to entertain or be entertained we should be happy to be together as a family and maybe tell stories of Christmases we remember from childhood. We may learn some things from our kids and they will learn how different things were for us.........It seems everyone gets onto the electronics and no longer communicate. Lets try some candle light. No TV and no electronics......maybe we will begin a new tradition next year.
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Christmas, Merry Christmas, Dividers, Keefers Pictures, Images and Photos

Monday, December 24, 2012

Tis The Night .........

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse; ideak I suppose we all have some sort of memories from childhood that we remember this time of year. Of the child we once were staring out the window, looking, hoping for a sight of the sleigh coming over the roof tops......... christmas-eve-tree-silver We listen for those tinkling bells on the harness of the reindeer. Instead we hear bells and carol singers at the top of the road under the lamp post. Sometimes the Salvation army may come with their band and people wander up to listen as I watch from my window. Supposed to be asleep by now but its such a magical night, the stars shine so bright in the clear night sky. Victorian-christmas-carolers-christma Sometimes the singers would go door to door and it was polite to answer the door and stand and listen.......The old songs, the real Christmas carols. When they had gone and all was quiet again, I know I would sit and continue to watch and listen Santa Of course I would always fall asleep, never did see that sleigh but wonder of wonders next morning there would be gifts on the end of my bed. My parents thought they might get to sleep in by doing that but of course I would always run in to show them this miricle. So that would backfire on them I guess. Other years I would find the gifts under the tree. I suppose they figured they may as well just get up. I dont remember. christmas-eve1 Naturally I did not get gifts like those above. I would get one or two things from parents, a book usually from Nan and Granddad and my aunt Ivy would often buy me a book. That was all I wanted or expected I thought myself lucky to get so much all at once. A miricle. ChristmasEveCandlelightService May the magic of Christmas stay with you always, and remember that it is our Saviors birth celebration. He gave us the biggest and most important gift.........eternal life.