Tiger Eats Man and other Excitements of a Day in London

The good part is, it has a handle that could be turned to make the victim moan in agony.

This artwork made such an impression it was copied in ceramic, on a much smaller scale.

The more I read about British Colonialism, the more I think tigers were a good idea.

On a cheerier note, this container caught my eye as something my daughter would like in her new home. But the V&A are very unsharing.

Popping into the Gift Shop at the Wellcome Foundation, there were all sorts of gift ideas for the craft-minded.

For some less scary books we retreated to the British Library. The building has a whole central glassed-in core of old books, stretching up several floors. It is a very soothing space to be in. Do you know the oldest printed book is a Buddhist text, made by wood-block printing: The Diamond Sutra.

The Library also has this great Tapestry, by Kitaj, with scenes hinting at the Vietnam War, T.S.Eliot's The Wasteland, and the buildings at Auschwitz.

Hmmm, London Does have some interesting things. I might go again one year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wish-Fulfilling Cows and Homesick Soldiers

There were two of these cows and I thought the Victoria and Albert Museum might not miss one, but it would have been hard to carry on the Underground.

There were gazillions of people downstairs queueing for tickets for the Alexander McQueen Exhibition, so instead I went to the Ceramics floor and had it all to myself. This piece had an idyllic landscape of home on the plate the soldiers are attached to.

...and here is the Sunderland Nuclear Powerplant.

Maybe that's how thewe tea-pots got melted.

 

 

 

Well, it Started Off Sunny

In Peterborough the sun was shining. It helped grow these vegetables and herbs: a gift from a Green-Thumbed Gardener. ( David's brother).

It was sunny until we reached the beach.

There was a strange Crop Circle.

So we added our own.

No visible Sharks.

Though it was sort of like swimming, getting back to the car, in that we got wet and needed towels.

Home we drove, back to the drier inland,

 

 

FREE CASH and THAI BARGES

There's lots of Free Cash about, and last week I even spotted a Free Cash Machine. Just think, you could have one at home.

In spite of Peterborough being awash with free cash, it seems there isn't money to keep the public grass green. Ah, sometimes I yearn for the Green Fields of Perth. Who said it rained here?

I guess I'll just have to have True Grit instead. So THAT'S where you get it.

Maybe I'll live on a narrow-boat on the Nene. This one has its own flower garden, herb garden and firewood supply. I snapped this further along the river from where we ate, on the large grain barge which is now a Thai Restaurant.

Opposite is an old warehouse just screaming out to be made into trendy apartments. It will happen.

 

 

Domesticity and Darning, Sashiko-Style

Enjoying chrysanthamums ...a gift for having David's lovely grandchildren sleep over. Seven, ranging from three to thirteen, complete with Pet Pillows and Sleeping-bags. No tears or tantrums.

Cooking Haggis for the Scotsman in the house. We collected this one in an Award-winning Haggis Butcher in the High Street of a Scottish Border town.

After cooking, I turn my hand to darning, in the decorative but practical Japanese Sashiko style. My dress used to be white. When it was stained I dyed it blue. Now it is fraying I darn it. With good fabric you can do that.

 

In between am practicing. After five weeks am finally good enough to learn a scale...never thought I'd be so pleased to play a scale!

 

Ongoing Industry: Teasels and Tweed

Teasels are seed heads, left over at the end of summer when the purple flowerettes have faded and the seeds have scattered.

These were used to fluff up the woven wool, to achieve a softer finish. Or maybe for a patent back scratcher.

These really are the colours of the surrounding hills. The colours are chosen in different combinations to reflect a certain landscape.

Why stop at a suit when you could have........the Shooz!

Or something cutting edge from the innovative fashion section? Don't ask ME what it is, but the production technique is apparently very cool.

Intarsia.....whatever!!

 

 

Addendum

 

A Short History of Hawksley's Patent Treads:

Patent No 3306 was taken out by engineer and inventor George Hawksley of 1 Montrose Villas, Caledonian Road, Middlesex in 1865 for 'improvements in constructing the treads of steps or stairs', and the earliest mention of Hawksley's Patent Treads is in a description of Bow Station in the Railway News of September 1870 described as a vast improvement on the 'smooth stone tread of the past, on which, or rather off which one was so likely to slip when running in a hurry to catch a train'.

Joseph Westwood was the maker of Hawksley's Patent Treads, from about 1879, supplying institutional and commercial buildings all over Britain and further afield, for example in 1883 tendering for the supply to the new Brisbane Treasury building (now a casino) in Australia.

From 1895 Hawksley's Treads were manufactured, together with an improved version, invented by a Greenwich civil engineer, J. T. Andrews, by the Andrews-Hawksley Patent Tread Company Ltd which were used on omnibus and tram platforms, comprised of wooden cubes in wrought iron framing. They were said to be stronger than comparable treads using cast iron frames, with the additional advantage that the blocks could be reversed when worn.

A number of local people took shares in the new company, including Harry Hooper, the Millwall surveyor and estate agent, and Horace Bradshaw, a carman and contractor.

In the Leeds Mercury 4 May 1883 a description of the new Keighley Railway Station reads: 'The steps are made of small square-faced blocks of pitch pine let into iron frames and known as Hawksley's Patent Treads'. In 1900 Andrews Hawksley's Patent Tread Company Ltd was wound up in the Chancery Division London. By 1904 Hawksley treads were manufactured by the St Pancras Ironwork Company, of London.

Note: Joseph Westwood senior is the founder of the football club which became West Ham Football Club, its nickname 'The Hammers' and 'The Irons' coming from it's ironworking heritage.

Functional Stairs in the Museum

A primitive computer keyboard? Chocolate? No, a Nineteenth century patent no-slip stairs tread, made from squares of wood. I suspect jarrah.

Next to the Museum is this Day Nursery. Wouldn't you just love your Nursery to look like this!

And opposite is the local BBC Office. Not quite so pretty. In the UK it is a Criminal Offence to not pay your TV Licence. It is £145 a year.

Sadly this does not make the TV better: see below. And believe me, the other channels are not better.

 

I could go on, but you get the idea. So I watch IView and SBS Catch-Up.

 

Cultural Fusion and Confusion

Ye Olde Elizabethan Chinese Restaurant in the Scottish Borders. We ended up going to the Indian "Taste of Spice" though. ("Indian" is seen as a mis-nomer here, the term "Asian" being used instead. Which is even more confusing.) The only other option was a local Pub which even our delightful B&B host said was unfriendly to non-locals.

Morning-tea time offered more options though.....a reassurringly Arts-and-Crafts era William Morris wallpaper in a long-established Coffee Shop with the solid British name of Turnbull. What! Not tea!? Isn't that a bit " American/ New World"?!! The loo had a combo extractor fan/music system that played Nat King Cole. Sigh, lets face it, there is Cultural Leakage going on, and it's Too Late To Stop It. And didn't tea come from.....

Ah, at last, here something Scottish. But what's that? His brother may have his Scots accent still, but this man has definitely lost his to East Anglia. Corruption or adaption? And what is my accent? Mid-Indian Ocean?

That leaves Squirrels. They aren't anything. They just are. One day I might see one. Maybe.

 

 

Older than the Pyramids...Pagan Midsommer on Lewis.

The Callanish Stones ( Clachan Chalanais in Gaelic, which is still commonly spoken in the Isles) date from the Bronze Age. There is a chambered tomb in the centre. Although we met a pagan who was en route to celebrate the Summer Solstice at the stones , we resisted the urge to dance naked at midnight. Besides, it was cold.

They form a cross shape.

Glimpsed from the motorway in Falkirk, near Edinburgh ( which we skirted this time) are these magnificent sculptures....The Kelpies....mythical Water Horses, occasionally harnessed with a magic bridal for man's purposes, but ultimately the reverse of domesticated. These shots are from the BBC Website as I couldn't get a proper shot from the road, and will give you a notion of the size.

From yet another era is this stone broch on the Isle of Lewis. The brochs had several levels, with spiral stone stairs inside. They are relatively young, from the iron Age - just over 2,000 yrs.

After the humid 33 degree day here in Peterborough yesterday, I am certain I have Hebredian blood and need to live in permanent coolth.