My Souvenir Tea Set

A year ago, I had just the blue mug with FLAMBOROUGH
HEAD written on it. I'd had it a good number of years
-- maybe even ten years.Then one day I was browsing
eBay for Flamborough memorabilia when I came across
the sugar bowl. I had no idea there was a sugar bowl to
this set in fact I didn't even know there was a set! Anyway
I purchased it and then continued to browse e Bay for the
creamer. I reasoned that wherever there is a sugar bowl
there has to be a creamer. It was a good number of months
before I found anything else, then suddenly I came
across the teapot! Another surprise. I purchased
the teapot and continued to watch for the creamer. Then
just before we left to go to England for a month, the creamer
appeared on eBay. I purchased this. The last two items
I picked up from the sellers in England while we were there.

So now, here is my set, only valuable to me because they
are from my village and because I didn't know they existed.
(I think they cost less than $20 for all four pieces!)

THIS ONE'S FOR WANDA

....Speaking of husbands, especially Pastors, (see
Wanda's Blog: brushstrokesfromtheheart.blogspot.com),
here's one I caught of Barry a few years ago with our
last cat, 'Pogue'.



Don't know who looks the most relaxed, the cat or Barry.
Probably the cat.

CHANGE OF PACE

Sleepy cat, sleepy cat, soaks up the sun.
Tummy full, tummy full, breakfast is done.
One last long stretch and a twitch of an ear,
Contented deep sigh; there's nothing to fear.

Sound asleep, sound asleep-- somewhere in space.
Drifting and dreaming; warm, comfy place.
Soft, gentle breathing, -- but make no mistake--
One chirp from a bird and he's up, wide awake!

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Milton I'm not, but this was just for fun. I brought
the sheep rug on which Bailey is dreaming, from
North Wales a few years ago. It's not real sheepskin
and washes quite well. Note the silver, crushed velvet
bed to the left. Do you think this cat is spoiled?

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I'm getting some photo ATC's together. It's been a
long while since I posted any. To view them, click on
the side bar to the right at ChrisJ's Photo ATC's

THE TWILIGHT ZONE

One evening at the Conference last month, I felt the
need for a break from so many people and so much
noise (people in the dining room, at coffee breaks,
finding seats etc. I find I frequently need some peace
and quiet -- that's why I love my patio.) So I skipped
an evening session and sat outside in the gardens for
a while. In June, in England the sun doesn't really set
until after 10:00 pm.




So here was my view in the twilight. Just what I
needed.

But then, as I sat there I saw something strange
against the sky, climbing one of the tall trees in a
nearby grove. It was large and weird-shaped. It
wasn't really scary, just weird. Then as I watched, it
suddenly dawned on me that it was one of the
peacocks I had seen around the grounds of the
house earlier that day. I had no idea peacocks
roosted in trees !



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Speaking of weird, this tree was in the field behind
me. Not scary either, just on old oak that had seen
better days and was trying to start some new growth.


But isn't the dark sky a great foil for it?

And to go from the sublime to the ridiculous, this
sign in a Cotswold village just struck me as a wee
bit incongruous!






Even funnier was my sister's comment on
this photo. It is of Barry and I "with our
seeing eye dog"!

It's those automatically darkening glasses again!!
The dog belongs to the B&B we were staying at.
We'll have to start carrying two pair of glasses with
us when we go on vacation.

Quick Heads Up

Just posted three more Prisma ATC's on my other blog.
See side bar for link.

Back soon with more photos.

WEEK 3: FLAMBOROUGH HEAD

Oh dear! Fog, wind and rain for a whole week.
You can't even see the top of the radio mast at
the fog horn station in this photo -- and that's the
North Sea out there.



First the fog...



then the wind...



Those cliffs are about a hundred feet high (the
chalk part).



The skies over the lighthouse looked ominous.



Then came the rain! It bucketed down -- so much that
the footpath of steps down to the beach at North
Landing became a series of waterfalls.



But we sisters, (Kay and I,) took advantage of
the dry spells. (Sorry about the sunglasses, they
darken automatically). Look at all the school children
in the background who came in bus loads to see
Flamborough Head and the caves. This area is
noted for its geological significance, hence the school
children.

But why did Kay and I brave the weather? Because
we grew up there -- about a hundred yards away
from where this photo was taken.

In this aerial view you can see where our house used
to be located. The houses with the red roofs are on
the right side of the lighthouse road. On the left side of
the lighthouse road, where those houses bend
to the right, there is a patch of dark green and the
light green of the golf course right-angles into it.

Our house was right there.

Yes, our father was the manager of the golf course.


If you would like to know more about Flamborough,
go to my web site www.flamboroughhead.com
The first couple of pages are about my book, but
the rest of the pages are about Flamborough.

Back on the Coach Again

We spent Tuesday in Chester and North Wales.
Chester is a great city with many places to explore,
including Roman walls on which you can walk and
see grooves in the stone path from the Roman Chariots.

Here is a fine example of Tudor houses in Chester.


...and poor Helen got thrown into the stocks by the
town crier.



North Wales is so beautiful -- more lakes and
mountains. This is Capel Curig near Mount Snowdon,
which is the highest mountain in England and Wales
at 3560 feet.



I'm not sure if this photo below is Snowdon.
I took it mainly for the sturdy English oak tree on the
left. The English have always been proud of their oak
trees because"hearts of oak" were what was used to
build the fine British navy ships in the times of Elizabeth I
-- but you'd never know it was an oak tree from this photo.
Couldn't decide if I wanted the tree or the view. I
was in a small tea garden waiting for the rest of the
gang to arrive and even got sun burned -- in England??



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From Wales we headed south to the Cotswolds, an
area of small, picturesque villages that used to be a
prime area for sheep and wool, but since there's
little call for wool these days they have turned to
tourism -- but tastefully, thankfully.


The problem here was when to stop taking photographs!



Again, the weather was gorgeous...



...and the photo opportunities spectacular.






How could we not take these photos?!



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Finally, we moved on to Oxford where folks with
more energy than I have, took a walking tour.
I took a bus! Many old buildings and of course
the town was full of students. This is the city
where C.S. Lewis and Tolkien lived and wrote.


This old brick cross was in the center of the road in
the market place and is truly alone worth the visit
to Oxford, for this is the place where Hugh Ridley and
Nicholas Latimer, and not much later Thomas Cranmer,
were burned at the stake for their Protestant beliefs,
during the reign of Mary I.

It is said that as the flames arose around them, Latimer
declared:
"Be of good comfort Master Ridley, for we shall this day
light such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as I trust
shall never be put out." October 16, 1555.
Less than 50 years after Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses
to the door of Wittenberg Cathedral-- (the beginning of the
Protestant Reformation), these men gave their lives so that
the man in the street could read the Bible for himself.