In my line of work I travel a lot and often get to stay in fabulous, centuries old houses in quirky villages, many of which are mentioned in the 1086 Domesday Book.
I’m currently working and staying in this fabulous 16th century, listed house. The main part of the house is in this image; a quintessential English house. The rest of the house which leads off to the right is added onto and a converted barn.
A pretty little house
It’s a twisty, winding type of house with long passages and rooms leading off; the exterior replicates the original house. It’s just gorgeous
The village nearby is indeed a Domesday Book village with a fantastic old church that retains vestiges of the original medieval wall paintings/decorations.
The village of Stanford Dingley is a good walk through fields of long grass awash with buttercups, and along shady woodland lanes. The village is ever so pretty under normal circumstances, but look so gay and colourful with the Platinum Jubilee bunting and flags.
I love the plaque that’s been installed near the pub
I’ve been unexpectedly stuck at the B&B since last Friday and bored with TV and reading, my daughter suggested I download Netflix and watch a couple of movies.
I first watched a remake of ‘Rebecca’ – a classic that seldom disappoints.
Then I spotted ‘The Two Popes’. I’d so wanted to see this when it was first released and it didn’t disappoint.
It’s an intimate portrayal of two men; one the Pope and the other a Cardinal, and a supposed conversation they had at a momentous time in history.
Based on true events, although the conversation is imagined, it is incredibly feasible. Since no-one, besides the two real life characters themselves know what was said during their brief time together, we can but only imagine.
The ‘conversation’ is beautifully written and the characters sensitively portrayed by Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce – both exceptional character actors who were totally convincing as the people they portrayed.
I’m not at all religious and believe in evolution, but I found myself drawn into the drama of the situation and their story. It was so very poignant and I found myself sobbing during some of the scenes.
A most enjoyable film, the story of which has lingered well past the last scene….
I love a film that leaves you thinking about it for days and raises questions like: if no-one is to blame, is everyone to blame….
A very deep and thought-provoking film. I’m definitely going to watch it again. I’m also going to do more research on the current Pope; Francis ( Jorge Mario Bergoglio). I’ve always liked him and think he’s a breath of fresh air.
The question he raised at his speech in Lampedusa is going to haunt me ….
African Renaissance: When Art Meets Power. Starts Monday 9pm BBC4 – just reading this article and 2 things stand out
1. ‘Centuries-old murals depict images of a (black) baby Jesus…ergo centuries old murals and before he became Anglicised and changed colour to white (?)
2. …the author of the programme goes on to say : “I went to a university at which the regis professor of modern history had said “Perhaps in the future there will be some African history to teach. But at present there is none; only the history of Europeans in Africa. The rest is darkness ” – if that is not ignorance personified, I don’t know what is? And how unbelievably racist is that.
Africa has a history that far supersedes, and was superior to European history at the time in ways that whites (on the whole) are still unable to comprehend. Too many Europeans (incl British) are still completely ignorant of African history, make no effort to find out more, and yet the first humans to emerge were from Africa. It always amuses me to wonder what the blatantly racist whites, who are largely ignorant, would feel about that.
I’m used to this type of situation, it’s my job and for 2-3 weeks of every month I spend my days in ‘lockdown’. But even I’m being to feel squashed. I still get my 2 hour break between 2-4pm and the occasional shopping trip, but it’s the worry…..
Worry that I may inadvertently touch an item or object that’s infected. I’ve never washed my hands so much in my entire life. You have to think twice before picking anything up, opening a door or a gate…
Plastic and metal have become the enemy, and its just bloody bizarre having to avoid people all the time. I mean I know we’re all being awfully polite about it, but it feels odd.
Going into the store is like Noah’s ark….we go in 2 x 2.
Of course there are a lot of positives…the air is clearer, there’s less pollution and less noise, and animals are beginning to roam the streets in the absence of humans. And humans on the whole are just being bloody amazing….every day you read about how people are stepping up and helping others…..just incredible.
I pushed myself out the door at 3pm…having caved in to flopping on the bed initially and feeling quite lethargic. I decided to explore the town more fully; strolled up the main street and diverted into each close and street as I walked. I discovered a pathway and following that it brought me to a delightful secluded glade with a stream bubbling on its busy way.
It was at this point that my phone rang and suddenly my day got brighter….it was my daughter and my grandson. Such a gorgeous smile for Granny 🥰👶🏻💙 My daughter had bought him a full length swim costume and he was running about barefoot playing with his toys in a tub of water and the little sandpit they got for him. He was ever so busy back and forth, babbling away in his little squeaky vocabulary. I miss him so much.
A pretty little glade
Certainly brightened up my day. The rest of my walk was uneventful and I continued rambling here and there and eventually found myself at the back of the mound, so climbed to the top and did a couple of circuits of the castle, collecting sheeps wool as I went. I’m gathering quite a decent amount.
Then it was back to the house. Even though I’m really really used to being indoors for much of my life I’m beginning to find it a tiny bit claustrophobic. There’s bugger all on TV unless you enjoy repeats of everything from cooking shows, to those endless property programmes. Seriously, what do we pay our TV licence for…mind you having said that I don’t pay for a TV license…the client does 🤔🤔🤔 but you know what I mean.
However, on the bright side, I did find a ‘repeat’ of Robson Green on his travels around the coast. No hardship watching that…he is serious eye-candy 🤗🤗🤗😃 That smile….
The news on the otherhand is just grim. I’ve been rationing my viewing time to lessen the depressing effects of the spread and results of this virus. I worry about my friend who is still in hospital and wonder when or who will be next. The stats are shocking.
But my son-in-law sent me a lovely video earlier, playing the tune ‘Over the Rainbow’ that reminded me we are living through history….my grandson will learn about this time in school one day and we’ll be able to tell him about it firsthand. Not sure that’s of any comfort to those who have lost loved ones….
There’s meant to be a pink full moon tonight….but guess what??? After 5 days of clear skies at night…..yup, its overcast. Typical 😂😂😂😂 You can always depend on the UK weather….if there’s an eclipse or a special moon, its sure to be overcast. 🙄🙄🙄
We may not be able to see the moon…but look at those tulips
Its wonderfully quiet outside and I can hear some cows mooing in the distance. Talking of cows, how absolutely tragic that so much milk is being wasted and thrown out. Most assuredly they can do something better than that? Freeze it? Make cheese. Give it to care homes or food banks? Surely???
I was wondering what to blog about today…since I have not yet finished the one about my London walk-about on Saturday (not sure why I have to say so much…)
So anyways, a friend of mine recently set herself a challenge to write a post everyday….it did not have to deal with world-affairs or have to say anything of major importance….but just to write about what she felt about a particular issue, a reflection or about something that was happening in her life….and she has been very successful….her posts are great.
So last night I was lying in bed and thinking about how I always say ‘ohhhh, I am so going to blog about that….and then I get busy with other stuff and time goes by….see my previous post, and then I forget what it was I wanted to say….that’s called age!!! Senior moments and all that……. (no blasphemy please), keep it clean. 🙂
So today I decided that without fail I was going to blog about something, even if I just say “goodmorning world…it’s a gorgeous day”…which it is 🙂 and then without any effort on my part, the subject matter presented itself…so without further ado…..
I work as a Carer for the elderly (that’s my day job…not my dream job), and this morning after I had assisted my lady out of bed and settled her into her chair with a cup of tea…..I said to her “I am going to leave your bed to air for a bit”…..she replied that her mother always got mad at her when she was a lass, when she made her bed immediately and did not leave it to ‘air’. So I asked her if she remembered why that was….and she said she had no idea. And as she spoke, I suddenly had a memory jump out of the recesses of my mind (there is still a bit there)…..when we were kids (a long, long time ago….sorry dear sister but it’s true!)…we slept on horrible coir (or horse-hair) mattresses…. (thank g*d for progress) we are now past that….
So anyhow ….the memory I had was of these really horrible, horrible hard lumpy, prickly and sometimes smelly mattresses. I especially remember them from when we used to sleep over at my grandmother’s house, me, my sister, my brother and my two cousins….all bundled together in one room, top and tail with 3 beds between us (that was fun) and when we woke in the mornings we were told by my grandmother to leave the beds open to air. I recall asking her why we had to do that and she told me that it was coz of the ‘bed-bugs’….they did not like the light or the fresh air and leaving the mattresses exposed chased them away….or so she said. Looking back now…I sincerely doubt they did, but anyway, that was the theory.
So then I remembered how when we were wee kiddies, my mother used to tuck us up into bed, and before putting the lights out she used to say “night, night sleep tight, don’t let the bed-bugs bite”……and we used to reply…”and if they bite, bite them back” ewwww! hahaha! And I remembered that when my daughter was a wee lass growing up…. I used to say the same thing to her…..even though we had by then progressed to foam…halleluyah. (mind you I sometimes still do say it, only now it’s via text).
So there you have it….’Night, night, don’t let the bed-bugs bite’ came about coz we slept on beds that really did have bed-bugs!!! I wonder what today’s fanatical, cleanliness, anti-bacterial, germ-free brigade would have to say about that!!!!
p.s. I will leave it to your imagine to as to what my lady had to say about me telling her they probably had bed-bugs in their mattresses! LOL LOL LOL…… oh! and just in case you were wondering…. this is what a bed-bug looks like:
imagine sharing your bed with that!!! 🙂
I tried to find the most unbelievably yucky picture I could 🙂
If there is one date that nearly everyone in England knows, it is 1066 when the Normas invaded England. William the Conqueror became King when he invaded the country after Edward the Confessor died.
Edward was King of England but he wasn’t like most rulers of the time; he was a peace-loving man of God who put all of his energies into building churches. His most famous church was Westminster Abbey.
It was built on marshy land by the River Thames in London, and it was Edward’s chief delight to watch the building grow. When he died he was buried in his new church – as lots of kings and queens and famous people have been in the centuries which followed.
Lots of rulers have nick-names: Edward 1 was the Hammer of the Scots; Richard 1 was the Lion-Heart; all very warlike. But Edward was called the Confessor because of the way he lived his life witnessing to his belief in Christ.
So each year on 13th October we remember the King who was a saint.
Nicknames or not?
All of these are nicknames of real rulers from the past:
Charles the Bald; Eric Bloodaxe; Ivailo the Cabbage; Boleslaw the Curly; Pippin the Short; Niall of the Nine Hostages; Ragnar Hairy Britches; Louis the Stammerer and there was a Viking king of Dublin called Glun the Iron Knee – but I don’t think he was into recycling!
sourced from Coleman’s Hatch cronicle for October.
Not Just a Granny 
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