Bits and pieces

Ring removal

My ring finger has swollen over the 26 years since my wedding ring was put on.  Not long ago I pointed out to Partner-who-loves-tea that if it needed to come off it would have to be cut.  But perhaps not!  Here is a sneaky medical trick that just might work.

Question

Question - If a tiger attacks your mother-in-law and your wife at the same time, whom would you save?  (Answer below)

The morning commute to work

Drivers in Ethiopia don't need traffic lights…..  Watch this short video and you’ll never complain about your morning commute again.

Rodney Street area, Liverpool

Partner-who-loves-tea had to go over to the office in Rodney Street on Thursday morning to let someone in and give them a key.  While she was meeting him I had a little wander around in the sunshine.

Opposite P-w-l-t’s office is number 62, the house in which William Gladstone, four times Prime Minister, was born on 29^th December 1809.

The sets in Falkner Street show where the tramlines were before Liverpool’s trams were dispensed with in the 1950s. Just think what an additional tourist attraction they would be if still on the road.

 

A modern black cab.

This is a sculpture by John King called ‘A Case History’.  Many of the cases have plaques on them honouring local celebrities.

Once back in the car, we pass the new Everyman Theatre which has just opened its doors with Twelfth Night which I think was the first play it put on when the original Everyman opened amid much controversy over its modernistic approach in the 1960s.

The Roman Catholic Cathedral.   

Then it’s back to the Wirral through the tunnel.

On the way home we stopped at the Williamson Art Gallery and Museum in Birkenhead.  

It was P-w-l-t’s first visit and there will be more about it in another post.  When we got there I had a quick check around the corner before going in to make sure my Victorian post box was still there.  It was.

 Answer

 Question - If a tiger attacks your mother-in-law and your wife at the same time, whom would you save?

 Answer -  The tiger, óf course.... there are very few left..!!!!

Distance

How far will your love be travelling today?

11th April – Spring Arrived

The British weather makes no allowance for Spring beginning at the equinox on 20^th March.  This year, on The Wirral Peninsula, it began on 11^th April so far as I’m concerned.  My test of Spring is the day on which one can set one’s foot on seven Daisies.   

I can’t recall who told me it was seven but that was definitely the number I have known for many years.  Upon checking it seems twelve was a more common number in the old calendars but perhaps Daisies were more common on those days.  As it happens I could just about have managed twelve and I do have small feet!

We can now plant our ‘foot upon nine daisies’ and not until that can be done do the old-fashioned country people believe that spring is really come.

    [1863 R. Chambers Book of Days i. 312]

    ‘It ain't spring until you can plant your foot upon twelve daisies,’ is a proverb still very prevalent.

    [1878 T. F. Thiselton-dyer English Folk-Lore i.]

    Spring is here when you can tread on nine daisies at once on the village green; so goes one of the country proverbs.

    [1910 Spectator 26 Mar. 499]

    When you can step on six daisies at once, summer has come.

    [1972 Casson & Grenfell Nanny Says 52]

The weather was truly Spring-like and I had a little walk down the Wirral Way at West Kirby.  On the lake the birds were enjoying the sunshine.

 

The coots were building a nest.

A Small Tortoiseshell was flitting about.  When I think how common they were in my youth I find it very sad that they are now worthy of remark.  We never get them in our garden.

 

On a happier note, I saw my first Bluebells in flower.

Bits and Pieces

Today is

I have mentioned before Messymimi’s great blog which combines peeks into her personal life (mainly her children and pets) and a daily list of Festivals, International Days, etc.  Today, for example, amongst lots of other things, is...

D.E.A.R. Day (a/k/a Drop Everything And Read) -- sponsored by the American Library Association, on Bevery Cleary's birth anniversary.   Beverly Cleary is an American author of more than 30 books for young adults and children. One of America's most successful writers of children's literature, she has sold 91 million copies of her books worldwide.  She was born in 1916 and is 98 years old.

It is also Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day.

And, interestingly, it is Big Wind Day – the anniversary of the strongest natural wind ever recorded on the earth's surface, at Mount Washington, NH, US; the wind gusts reached 231 mph.

The Everlasting Orchid

At the beginning of October Partner-who-loves-tea bought an orchid.   It has been in flower every day since then.

 So this week I bought another.  I wonder if it will also just keep on flowering.

The Ugly Volvo

If you are on Facebook I can thoroughly recommend The Ugly Volvo in which a stand-up comic tackles motherhood.  The link is to a recent post about having a tattoo. This is for anyone who has ever had a child; anyone who has ever contemplated having a child; anyone who has never been fortunate enough to have a child; and anyone who has been fortunate enough to never have had a child. 

Julia Louis-Dreyfus

And talking of tattoos (only it’s a photo-shopped one) Julia Louis-Dreyfus looks fabulous at the age of 53 on the cover of Rolling Stone.

But John Hancock didn't sign the Constitution.  He signed the Declaration of Independence.   Oopsies!  The American actress, comedian and producer demonstrated her sense of humour  by defending Rolling Stone -- "John Hancock not part of tattoo. It is a birthmark.1962 photo is proof. Apologies 2 @RollingStone #crackexcuse."

 My world

So what is happening in my world?  Partner-who-loves-tea and I have both had bad backs and a couple of trips to an osteopath have largely fixed mine and helped hers a bit.   PWLT has also had a birthday – I won’t mention which one.  One of her presents was a mirror which she used to good effect to hide from the camera as she usually does.

The sun shone on her birthday and we took a trip to Brimstage Hall craft centre for coffee, a look around and then some lunch.   

Although the exact date of construction is unknown, Brimstage Hall is believed to have been built between the 12th century and 14th century, making it one of the oldest buildings on Merseyside. 

Originally the site was enclosed by a moat and high embankment. The building's first known occupants were Sir Hugh Hulse and his wife, who were granted the right to construct a chapel in 1398.

The Ladies and Gents…

I must mention that on the way there the local rape fields were gloriously in flower.

 

On the way home we passed a house in Heswall with a telephone box and a fire pump in its front garden. I wonder if there is a pillar box in the back garden.