Owner: anno domini URL:annodomini21.blogspot.com Join Date: Fri, 09 Mar 2007 16:19:07 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: I live in a small northern town on the fringes of the English Lake District. This is a miscellany of thoughts, observations, memoirs etc. and anything else that occurs to me Site statistics:Click here
Wearing White for Eastertide 2007-04-19 09:53:00 Loveliest of trees, the cherry nowIs hung with bloom along the bough,And stands about the woodland rideWearing white for Eastertide,Now, of my threescore years and ten,Twenty will not come again,And take from seventy springs a score,It only leaves me fifty more.And since to look at things in bloomFifty springs are little room,About the woodlands I will goTo see the cherry hung with snow.A.E.HousmanSpring in my Cumbrian garden. Not cherry, but amelanchier - and in a few fleeting days the blossom will be gone; already it is littering the lawn with its confetti.And under the tree, self-seeding forget-me-nots revel in their profusion. Read more:White
An Unforgettable Day 2007-04-25 15:42:00 My elder son was married on Easter Day in the Chapel of Trinity College, Cambridge. The weather was kind to us. For the previous week it had been chilly in Cumbria, and I was concerned about the female participants in flimsy summer outfits: I needn't have worried - the sun shone all day. Here are a few photos:Guests leaving the ChapelMan and WifeYoung guests playing 'tag' around the Great Court Fountain (taken from the Hall)Entering the 17th century Great Hall for the Wedding Breakfast - presided over by Henry VIII (a copy of the Holbein original)The first dance What greater thing is there for two human souls than to feel that they are joined together to strengthen each other in all labour, to minister to each other in all sorrow,to share with each other in all gladness,to be one with each other in the silent unspoken memories?after George Eliot A lone bridesmaid wanders across twilit Great Court - the end of a wonderful day! Read more:Unforgettable
The Girlhood of Anno Domini 2007-05-22 10:47:00 A Cottage by the Sea. 3 - 'The Girlhood
of Anno Domini' Mr. Parsons was a grey-bearded dignified, but vague-looking ex-teacher. Nobody really knew him well. This was less than ten years after the war, and it was rumoured that he was ‘shell-shocked‘. We gathered that that meant mad - or 'screwy' as we would have said then. He lived alone in a bungalow at the southern end of the village. Mr. Parsons was a driver of sorts; the extensive greens that ran the length of Allonby - and beyond - provided him with a road-free route into the centre. His pre-war Austin bounced over the springy rough grass from his home all the way to the square, and the handful of shops. He had ‘L’ plates on the whole time; and so, for his whole life, all his shopping and any social life he had, were carried out without the need for him to suffer the trauma of a driving-test. One day, we met him as he was sitting in the shelter, a strange (usually deserted) open-sided building in the middle of the green
'The Girlhood of Anno Domini' 2007-05-23 11:40:00 A Cottage by the Sea. 3 - 'The Girlhood
of Anno Domini'Mr. Parsons was a grey-bearded dignified, but vague-looking ex-teacher. Nobody really knew him well. This was less than ten years after the war, and it was rumoured that he was ‘shell-shocked‘. We gathered that that meant mad - or 'screwy' as we would have said then.He lived alone in a bungalow at the southern end of the village. Mr. Parsons was a driver of sorts; the extensive greens that ran the length of Allonby - and beyond - provided him with a road-free route into the centre. His pre-war Austin bounced over the springy rough grass from his home all the way to the square, and the handful of shops. He had ‘L’ plates on the whole time; and so, for his whole life, all his shopping and any social life he had, were carried out without the need for him to suffer the trauma of a driving-test. One day, we met him as he was sitting in the shelter, a strange (usually deserted) open-sided building in the middle of the green.
Ambleside - 1 2007-06-01 14:15:00 A visit to my favourite Garden Centre, at Ambleside:View from the cafeWisteria-clad dovecoteSnarker Pike with rosa rugose in the foreground Todd Crag - with escallonia
Ambleside - 2 2007-06-04 02:31:00 Some more photos of Ambleside, taken on Wednesday.The House on the Bridge - built around 300 years ago this has been described as a Garden House, a Summer House and an apple store. It is built over the Stock Ghyll, some have said to avoid land tax. Stock Ghyll ran between the gardens of the old Ambleside Hall (no longer there) and its orchard. It is said that at one time a family with 6 children lived in the two rooms!The old mill wheelGarden alongside Stock GhyllThe Apple Pie Eating HouseOld cottages in Ambleside:cottages in Peggy Hill
The Flat-Cart 2007-06-09 02:45:00 Allonby - a Cottage by the Sea. 4The Flat-Cart ‘I’m going down to Edderside with the flat-cart.’ Mrs. Tomlinson shouted. ‘You kids want to come along?’ Mrs. Tomlinson was a Londoner who spent her summers at Allonby helping out at the riding school, booking and saddling up and taking the rides. I never once saw her wearing anything other than her rust-coloured jodhpurs, green tweed riding jacket and black velveteen riding hat. We marvelled at her exotic London accent. ‘Eow, come on,’ she’d yell when we moaned about the rain ‘It’s only gonna be a sheower’ (We imitated those London vowels gleefully.) She was always accompanied by her dog, Pindy, a black Scottie who usually rode in the basket of his owner’s ‘sit-up-and-beg’ bicycleA ride on the flat-cart! The others were not to be told twice. My sister ran to the cottage and informed out mother that we were going. I, as ever, had doubts. The flat-cart was another danger to me. It was indeed flat, but it sloped d
A garden in June 2007-06-20 15:49:00 Some pictures of my garden: Geranium 'Johnson's Blue' with the white philadelphus peeping through A bee visitsCarpet roseWeigela'Masquerade' rose Welsh PoppyThis is a self-seeding poppy. I dead-head it every other day, cutting off the stems which have finished flowering. Then it throws out more and more flowers right until the first frosts. A modest but worthwhile little plant.
Bags of Common Sense 2007-06-29 08:44:00 I have noticed all the fuss in the press about this designer bag on sale at Sainsbury's for around £5 - some stores reported that they had sold out of the bags within an hour. The bag was then reported to be selling on eBay for up to £200 How about a little common sense.This bag is supplied by our local Booths supermarket. It is made of jute and is said to be ‘climate neutral', and comes with a useful insert should you wish to use it for carrying bottles. And all for £2.49. I think it beats the designer edition hollow!Good old Booths! Read more:Common
, Sense
, Common Sense
Twelfth Night 2007-01-07 09:37:00 There is some disagreement as to whether TwelfthNight
is the 5th January - the eve of Twelfth Day, or on the 6th January - the evening of the Twelfth Day. Either way it has come and gone.So, all the Christmas decorations are down; the tree dismantled, the wreath taken from the front door, the cards read once more then placed into the recylcing box. Why is it such a mournful task?I'm relieved in one way - they all seem so irrelevant once the Day itself is over. But is it sad because perhaps Christmas once again has not quite lived up to expectations? Am I trying in vain to recapture the magic I felt as a child?Dad took this photo of my sister and I sitting in front of the fire in our basket chairs c.1952, and accidentally superimposed another picture of us singing carols. But the result was rather nice.17th Century Twelfth Night merriment. Now Christmas is past,Twelfth Night is the lastTo the Old Year adieu,Great joy to the new
'On Christmas Day in the Morning' 2007-01-02 07:17:00 The weather this Christmas
has been unseasonably mild. We still had a few brave roses nodding doubtfully, and little sprigs of campanula poscharskyana still clinging to life in the front tubs.I lit the fire on Christmas Day, not because we needed it, but just because Christmas without a fire seems all wrong. So we sat round feeling uncomfortably warm!Francis Kilvert, a young curate lodging at Ashbrook House, Clyro, during the 19th century, was not so lucky. Rev. Francis Kilvert This is his diary entry for Christmas Day 1870:'Sunday, Christmas DayAs I lay awake praying in the early morning I thought I heard a sound of distant bells. It was an intense frost.I sat down in my bath upon a sheet of thick ice which broke in the middle into large pieces whilst sharp points and jagged edges stuck all round the sides of the tub like chevaux de frise, [spiked defensive structures] not particularly comforting to the naked thighs and loins, for the keen ice cut like broken glass. The ice water stu Read more:Morning
Compare & Contrast 2007-07-02 15:35:00 I came across an old wedding photo the other day and thought that it was interesting to compare it with one from my son's recent wedding: April 2007This old photo (below) is the wedding party for the marriage of my husband’s grandparents in London, 1899. Sadly no one thought to write the names of the participants on the back, so we only know the names of the bride and groom (pictured centre left). Little did they know what lay ahead.Tragically the bride and groom were both killed, many years later in the second World War: in a particularly heavy bombing raid (16th April, 1841) during the London blitz, the family home was bombed. (My husband’s father was blinded, but husband (then aged 5) and his mother were protected by a wardrobe which tipped over and sheltered them from falling debris.)The members of the party all look rather severe - probably because of the long exposure time for photography in those days. Read more:Compare
A Tale of Two Tubs 2007-07-15 12:17:00 I bought two packs of runner beans (the labels did not indicate the variety) and planted them - 8 in the larger black tub (left) and 5 in the green tub on the right. The difference is their growth is remarkable; I think I placed new compost in the black tub and used last year's compost in the green. But I didn't think it would make this much difference! Weird?!
A walk for the Sunday Papers 2007-07-29 11:13:00 Off to get the papers -down the road, past the cottages:Along the Lane, and across the end of the Green:Enjoy the plants peeping over the high walls: Along the road to the newsagent's on the corner: and into the newsagent's shop to buy the papers: Back past the Green:Along the road that slopes down from the Green to our little fell: Through the gap in the stone walls - a type of stile known as a 'Fat Man's Agony':Down through Prickly Fell:Back down the road - admiring the campanulas en route :Home again - and the pleasing prospect of an afternoon with the Sunday
Papers:
Lads in their hundreds.... 2007-11-11 10:40:00 image: Fairground Heritage TrustThe lads in their hundreds to Ludlow come in for the fair,There's men from the barn and the forge and the mill and the fold,The lads for the girls and the lads for the liquor are there,And there with the rest are the lads that will never be old.There's chaps from the town and the field and the till and the cart,And many to count are the stalwart, and many the brave,And many the handsome of face and the handsome of heart,And few that will carry their looks or their truth to the grave.I wish one could know them, I wish there were tokens to tellThe fortunate fellows that now you can never discern;And then one could talk with them friendly and wish them farewellAnd watch them depart on the way that they will not return.But now you may stare as you like and there's nothing to scan;And brushing your elbow unguessed-at and not to be toldThey carry back bright to the coiner the mintage of manThe lads that will die in their glory and never be old.from 'A Shr
Winter in the garden 2007-12-21 10:58:00 I think that the garden is just as pretty in its frosted winter clothing as it is in the summer!At Christmas I no more desire a roseThan wish a snow in May's new-fangled mirth;But like of each thing that in season grows.- William Shakespeare ('Love's Labour's Lost')
Countdown to Christmas 2007-12-17 11:45:00 Haven't blogged much recently - been preoccupied with other things. So I've taken the easy way out and posted some photos! Christmas
at the Garden Centre: Pots with Todd Crag in the backgroundFrosted plantsThe entry to 'Winter Wonderland'Poinsettias DecorationsHere is John Betjeman's take on Christmas preparations:And how, in fact, do we prepareThe great day that waits us there -For the twenty-fifth day of December,The birth of Christ? For some it meansAn interchange of hunting scenesOn coloured cards, And I rememberLast year I sent out twenty yards,Laid end to end, of Christmas cardsTo people that I scarcely know -They'd sent a card to me, and soI had to send one back. Oh dear!Is this a form of Christmas cheer?Or is it, which is less surprising,My pride gone in for advertising?The only cards that really countAre that extremely small amountFrom real friends who keep in touchAnd are not rich but love us muchSome ways indeed are very oddBy which we hail the birth of God.We raise th Read more:Countdown
'Come; see the oxen kneel' 2007-12-22 12:16:00 O magnum mysterium et admirabile sacramentum,ut animalia viderent Dominum natum,jacentem in præsepio.Beata virgo, cujus viscera merueruntportare Dominum Christum, Alleluia!O great mystery and wondrous sacrament,that animals should see the newborn Lordlying in their manger.Blessed is the Virgin whose womb was worthyto bear the Lord Jesus Christ. Alleluia!The OxenChristmas Eve, and twelve of the clock."Now they are all on their knees,"An elder said as we sat in a flockBy the embers in hearthside ease.We pictured the meek mild creatures whereThey dwelt in their strawy pen,Nor did it occur to one of us thereTo doubt they were kneeling then.So fair a fancy few would weaveIn these years! Yet, I feel,If someone said on Christmas Eve,"Come; see the oxen kneel,"In the lonely barton by yonder coombOur childhood used to know,"I should go with him in the gloom,Hoping it might be soThomas HardyHappy Christmas!
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