Halloween

 Happy Hall🎃ween

The village theme this year is a celebration of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

This image has claimed its place in history.

The poster on the left says "Paddington this marmalade sandwich is delicious"

And Paddington's reply on the right is "Thank you ma'am".

How clever is this, an orange between two slices of bread.

The poster at the front has three questions

1) Who am I

2) What is my first name

3) What pets did I have

And the next one says "Would you like  to join me for tea".

 

 I think this is quite whimsical, I think it represents Her Majesty in a royal carriage.

This is my favourite.

It's so clever, a cauliflower for HM's hair, the scarf, the glasses, and the cute corgi.

🦇 Be safe and well 🦇

Polly x

The Natural History Museum

A Day In Purgatory At The Museum.

Night at the Museum, the first one, I love that film.

Anyway back to my day at the museum.

It's a beautiful old building

Circa 1830

Hello dear reader, let me explain. On Wednesday I had an outing with my local coach company to Kensington. The coach dropped us off outside the Natural History Museum and we had a "do as you please day". Some visited the museums, some went shopping, and some went sightseeing. I visited the museums, starting with the Natural History Museum. Two happenings conspired to make it very frustrating.

Happening #1. when I booked it I didn't know I would be battling with residual effects of a vicious cold i.e. a stuffy head and nose causing headache.

Happening #2. I didn't realise it would be HALF TERM. OH MY WORD, the museum was awash with children, there were shouting children, screaming children, children running around all over the place, some were bashing things, surly bored children standing in the way, not wanting to be there but parents thought it would be a good idea to do something interesting during the holiday. (I can relate to that). There were pushchairs, one child even had a scoooter with him! In my head I was screaming "Get out of my way"  - I'm turning into a grumpy old lady! It is good that there is so much for children to see, do and learn though, and it's all free.

"I can do this" I thought, so armed with a map I set off to explore.

I was dissapointed that the T-Rex skeleton wasn't in the main hall, perhaps it's on loan or on tour, but the Blue Whale was impressive. 

I'm fascinated by dinosaurs, they were hugely successful.

This giant Sequoia is amazing. Sequoias are among the largest living species on earth. It's timeline goes from 557 when it was just a seedling to 1891 when it was felled at the age of 1,335, with interesting historical facts and population figures inbetween.

The ceiling of the Hintze Hall is a gilded canopy

depicting a wide diversity of plants from around the world.

The mammals section is brilliant.

At this point I had been in the museum for abour 3 hours with a break for a sandwich and orange drink. It was warm in this area and I could feel a hot flush coming on. Whilst I was taking this photo a young woman walked in front of me and before I could stop myself I said "Oh for goodness sake". She apologised, I smiled meekly and thought "It's time to go". Thankfully I knew the way to get back to the entrance quickly and before long I was sitting outside enjoying the wonderful sunshine and cooling down before going to the V&A museum. It's only a short walk away but with all the walking around the NHM my foot was hurting from the Morton's neuroma so when I arrived I sat down with my first coffee of the day and a paracetamol. 

It was a haven of tranquility.

The V&A started as a Museum of Manufactures in 1852. Queen Victoria laid the foundation stone in 1899. It's the world’s leading museum of art and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects, books and archives that span over 5,000 years of human creativity. The museum holds many of the UK's national collections and houses some of the greatest resources for the study of architecture, furniture, fashion, textiles, photography, sculpture, painting, jewellery, glass, ceramics, book arts, Asian art and design, theatre and performance.

Unfortunately I didn't have much time left so it was a whistle stop tour around just a few of the collections.

Triumphal-arch clock flanked by hardstones and micromosaic vases

What a beautiful cabinet

and a stunning mosaic cabinet and clock.

The V&A is a beautiful museum, I will definitely be going back.

I had a lovely day and rounded it off with a Macdonalds when I got home!

∼ Be safe and well∼

    Polly x

A Good Read

Something In The Water by Catherine Steadman

"Have you ever wondered how long it takes to dig a grave"? Asks Erin in the first line of this suspenseful psychological thriller.
The story begins as Erin digs a grave in a forest in Norfolk. She contemplates the difficulty of digging six feet deep, and reveals that the body is her husband’s. She wants to do a good job so she will not get caught, but also struggles with her moral compass. She does not believe she is a bad person, and then addresses the reader, telling us to decide as she tells us her story from the beginning, going back three months to when it all began.
Erin is a documentary filmmaker on the brink of a professional breakthrough, Mark a handsome investment banker with big plans. Passionately in love, they embark on a dream honeymoon to the tropical island of Bora Bora, where they enjoy the sun, the sand, and each other. One day while scuba diving in the crystal blue sea, they find a black canvas duffle bag floating in the water. They take it on board and stare at it. You know when you're watching a horror film and you shout at the screen “Don’t do it, don't open it” but you know they’re going to, so too do Erin and Mark.
Suddenly the newlyweds must make a choice: to speak out or to protect their secret. After all, if no one else knows, what have they got to lose? From this point on the tension is ramped up and I was on the edge of my seat throughout... so many thoughts... what would I do in this situation? What is the ethical thing to do?
There is also a very fascinating side story. Erin is filming a documentary about prisoners about to be released. Eddie, Holly, and Alexa were all strong, interesting characters. I found each of their stories compelling, definitely adding another layer to this excellent story.

∼ Happy Reading ∼ 

Polly x

Nidd Hall

Despite depressing weather myself and friends M & J had a lovely 4 night break at Warner's Nidd Hall in beautiful Yorkshire. I developed a horrid cold the day after arriving home, but am feeling better now.

A grade II listed building Nidd Hall was built in the 18th century by a wealthy Bradford wool merchant. It is rumoured that Edward VIII met Wallis Simpson at a party there.

Our rooms were very nice. Warm, comfortable and a comfy bed.

My radiator wasn't working for the first night but was fixed first thing

the next day and then the room was lovely and warm.

My room was the two windows at the top, above the horses' neck and back. 

A previous owner kept and bred horses,

Warpath won a few races and sired many winners.

Church in the grounds

I often wish I played chess so I could play on these fun boards! Mind you the weather was NOT conducive to outdoor activities, except for our day in York which was mild with glorious sunshine for most of the day. 

York Minster, courtesy of a postcard. I just couldn't get a good angle.

The magnificent Great East Window is the largest expanse of medieval stained glass in the country, a masterpiece in glass and stone depicting the beginning and end of all things. For the last 12 years, the 600 year old window has been the subject of a major restoration and conservation project – one of the largest of its kind in Europe.

The Shambles courtesy of another postcard. There were too many people milling around to get a good photo.

Afternoon tea was originally the brainchild of the Duchess of Bedford who was Lady-in-Waiting to Queen Victoria. She thought there was "An intolerable length of time between luncheon and evening dinner" and decided that it would be enjoyable to take some refreshment halfway between the two. She arranged for tea and sweet and savoury snacks. The habit soon caught on and before long this very English interlude was being enjoyed by all. Despite our love of cream teas we desisted because we were going to have an ample dinner later.

I wanted to visit the Yorvik museum but J suddenly told us it was 2 o/clock, and as we had to be back at the coach for 3.30 we wouldn't have enough time. I thought time had gone very quickly but didn't think to check my watch. On the way back we saw a clock and realised J had got the time wrong, her watch is very small, she read 2 o/clock instead of 1 o/clock. We did a ride on the tour bus instead

The next day we went to Skipton where they usually have a very good market on both sides of the high street. The weather was dreadful, non stop rain, only 3 stallholders turned up! It was only a half day trip but because of the conditions everyone agreed to leave earlier. M, J and I went for a swim and I used the sauna.

Our third trip was a tour around the Yorkshire dales. Beautiful scenery 

and lots of sheep!

I like sheep

with stops at Pateley Bridge

 where we bought sweets

from the oldest sweet shop in England

I think this is an old fashioned press for making wine gums.

If you enlarge the image you can see the shapes on the metal cylinder.

and Hawes 

where we bought cheese at the Wensleydale creamery.

Now we're deciding which Warners to go to next.

∼ Be safe and well∼

    Polly x