jingoistic
adj.
displaying
the spirit, policy, or practice of a person who professes his or her patriotism
loudly and excessively...
What a
marvellous day yesterday was for British sport.
Six Olympic Gold Medals. It has
taken our total to 14. I know we got 19
in Beijing but there’s still a few days to go so we may beat that. I wondered if that would then be a record
number of GB Gold Medals at an Olympics.
It won’t
be. Having Googled it, I found that in
the London Olympics of 1908 we got 56 Gold Medals. Duh!
Did no one else compete?? I know
the London Police Team won Gold, beating
the Liverpool Police Team, in the Tug-of-war.
Why is that no longer an Olympic sport?
Could be great fun.
In 1908 the
budget of the organising committee showed a cost of £15,000; over one-third of
which was "entertainment expenses". Donations were the major source
of revenue; only 28% of income derived from ticket sales. Total receipts of
£21,377 resulted in organisers claiming a profit. (Construction of the White
City Stadium, which cost the government about £60,000, was not counted.) The less said about the 2012 budget the better but we have certainly put on a great show and built some marvellous facilities with the theme of sustainability apparent throughout.
GMWWILSONLARGE.JPG)
With the Post Office issuing a stamp for every gold medal winner, even if
we win no more, I shall have lots of Olympic
stamps to put on my postcrossing cards.
(I’m being
side-tracked by the gorgeous smell of GB cooking bacon for our Sunday
breakfast. And scrambled egg from local
free range duck eggs. Can you smell it
too? I hope I’m making you hungry…)
I used to
collect pillar boxes. Not real pillar boxes,
you understand. Photos of pillar
boxes. My own photos. I once even had a mini-holiday touring Herefordshire
and area photographing them. Nowadays I
rarely bother because I’ve got most of them.
One I haven’t photographed before is this one. Double pillar boxes are
common enough but the Scottish ones, as I may have mentioned before, don’t have
the royal cipher on. You can’t have a
Queen Elizabeth II when you never had a Queen Elizabeth I! So they just have a crown.
This is my favourite
pillar box. It’s in Lower Bayble and
within easy walking distance of GB’s and we pass it on our way out in the car
wherever we are going. So it is where the majority of my postcards go from.
And this is
my favourite Post Office – aesthetically speaking – it just typifies the rural
post office, so many of which have now disappeared.
And to prove this is a RAMBLE in the true sense of the world, I shall totally change the subject. This was the
scene in the former Town Hall at Stornoway the other day when they had a craft
fair.
Under all
that lichen there’s some tree bark.
My friend Briagha.
One of the
things about being on holiday is I don’t feel guilty about buying books –
especially as most of them have come off the Co-op’s charity stall at 50p
each. But so far I’ve only read about a
hundred pages in the last three weeks.
I’m too ‘busy’ to read!
Underneath
every teenager there’s an adult trying to get out…
OK, time to go...
An uplifting post...glad your holidays are so full and enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteAnother interesting ramble. Loved the pic of the two bully boys at the end!
ReplyDeleteGreat stuff! Love the wee birdies at the end there!
ReplyDeleteYour rambles are delightful and I generally learn something, which is a plus. The Olympics are truly exciting this year. I was awe inspired by our Gabby, a very talented gymnast. I have never heard of a pillar box, but loved your birds and stamps!!
ReplyDeleteWe've been following the games and were pretty excited to watch the granddaughter of a friend win Bronze with her women's pursuit cycling team.
ReplyDeleteI like your ramble-type posts. They go the way my mind works. That hall in Stornoway - what an elegant setting for a craft sale.
Oh Pondside, I feel so sorry for you when you say my blogs go the way your mind works! Having a mind like mine must drive the Great Dane mad!
DeleteGreat comment on the birds! Ear scratches for Briagha.
ReplyDeleteI'll give Briagha a scratch on your behalf, Chris.
DeleteI think that rambles where the subject changes without reason make the best blogs. But they are difficult to write since our brains are trained to organize things and stick to subjects. I've been missing blogspot due to being in limbo waiting for realtors to straighten out a piece of paper somewhere. It is a joy to have brief access to Internet and see some of my friends' recent blogs -- particularly yours. I also think that tug-of-war should definitely be an Olympic sport.
ReplyDeleteDer Mark, your mind may be organised but mine has long since ceased to be, so this sort of blog posting is now the easiest for me!
DeleteHope the realtors sort things out soon and glad to have you drop by.
I love the British pillar boxes. Not sure if I ever saw a double one before! And the post office is charming. We don't have any post offices here any more, they are all integrated with grocery shops and supermarkets now. Back in the 70's when I was in England it was the other way round...
ReplyDeleteA lot of ours are integrated as well now, Monica. I don't think you can make a living as a postmaster or postmistress any more unless you also act as a newsagent or mini-supermarket.
Delete