end of august ...

... and I've managed to blog everyday.

Will have a few days break now and leave you with some images of summer.











1. at the water's edge
2. beer!
3. summertime, and the livin is easy ...
4. you're never too young for a festival
5. purple

music monday - midlake

A new discovery for me. Heard them at Latitude Festival in July and was completely blown away.

weekend

Brief visit to Suffolk to see my father-in-law, who has recovered physically from major cardiac surgery earlier this year, but sadly is becoming mentally frail.

It was typical August Bank Holiday weather. Rain, rain and more rain. With the occasional break in the clouds to remind us that the sun was hiding away up there. The photos are from Southwold, famous for its theatre, pier and beach huts. (There was one of these for sale at a mere £32,000!)



They make a wonderful place to take shelter from the English weather ...

frescos

In the mountains to the west of Lake Garda is a tiny commune, Molina di Ledro, on the shores of Lake Ledro. Having taken shelter from a rainstorm, when the skies had cleared a little we took a walk around the village.
We were delighted to find that the villagers had painted modern day frescos on their houses







I think the one with the sheep is my favourite!

flowery friday - rose

I don't know the name of this rose. It came out of my mother's garden and, we think, out of her mother's before that.
It has a lovely scent and seems to be quite happy in my garden.
Maybe one day it will find a home with one of my daughters??

theme thursday - equal

Liberté, Equalité, Fraternité





If you want to be free, there is but one way; it is to guarantee an equally full measure of liberty to all your neighbors. There is no other.
Carl Schurz 1829 - 1906




“The secret of happiness is freedom. The secret of freedom is courage.”
Thucydides 460 - 404 BC




All this talk about equality. The only thing people really have in common is that they are all going to die.
Bob Dylan 1941 -




People are pretty much alike. It's only that our differences are more susceptible to definition than our similarities.
Linda Ellerbee 1944 -




I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality... I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.
Martin Luther King, Jr 1929 - 1968




The free man must be born before freedom can be won, and the brotherly man must be born before full brotherhood can be won. It will come into being only if we build it out of our very muscle and bone - by trying to act it out.
Barbara Deming 1917 - 1984


1. pigeons in flight, paris
2. MI6 building, london
3. angel, paris
4. community, manhattan ny
5. children, brooklyn ny
6. civil rights memorial, montgomery al

wordless wednesday

tuneful tuesday - evergreen

Staying with the green theme for NaBloPoMo ...

music monday - greenslade

Back in the mid seventies I saw this band a few times at a local club. Variously described as prog-rock or prog-folk and with album art by the amazing Roger Dean, they provided a fabulous way of spending a really chilled evening.



They had a great drummer, Andy McCulloch, who also played with Manfred Mann, King Crimson & The Crazy World of Arthur Brown.

Can't find much on Youtube, but you can listen to one of their albums, Spyglass Guest, here.

Hearing it now brings back lots of happy memories - crouched in the back of my friend's boyfriend's van, bracing ourselves against the sides as he swung round corners on our way to The Greyhound in Croydon. Standing near the back of the smoke-filled venue, being briefly distracted from the music when I realised that the couple in front of me, who were lying on the floor, were actually having sex beneath the cover of an army greatcoat.

Happy Days!

holidays

salo

Well, Lettuce is in India and our oldest is in Cornwall. Other friends are in France and colleagues are heading off to sunnier climes than London.

Time to browse through some more of the photos I took when we were in Italy in June.
After the first week in Tuscany we moved on to Lake Garda.



Ice cream coloured houses decorated the lake front in Gargnano, near where we stayed.



I love the way the Italians use earth colours too.


campione

sepia saturday

Browsing through some old photos the other day, I found these.



This is my father, George. He was born at the end of 1914, so would have been 24 at the start of WW2. This picture was taken in London in 1939. He held the rank of Corporal.



George spent part of the war in India and was attached to the Indian Army. He's sitting in the front row, third from the right.

He seems to have travelled through the Middle East, parts of Africa and around the Mediterranean too. I've got loads of tiny little photos - pictures of Jerusalem, of the sea, of camels and the pyramids. I'll try and scan some more on to the computer!

By the end of the war, he'd worked his way up to Captain. My father described the war as the happiest time of his life (I'm not sure how much actual combat he was involved in) and I'm not sure he ever completely readjusted to Civilian life.

flowery friday

Iris



I caught these beauties in bloom while staying with our daughter in oxfordshire earlier this year



... and ...



(another example of my eclectic music taste!)

theme thursday - brush

My brush with fame

Spotlight
On me
Red carpet
Beneath my high heels
Dazzling smile
Dazzling flash
Cameras
On me

I step
Into the light

Your voice
Calls
‘Your dinner’s ready!’

I step
Out of your shoes
I step
Away from the mirror
Put your lipstick back
In the drawer

‘I’m coming, Mum’

And step
Out of the light

greenwich

If you want to see some really beautiful photos of Greenwich, in South East London, then visit Lettuce's Blog

A couple of weeks ago A and I spent a Sunday afternoon and evening at the Royal Naval College listening to some local bands. It was like a mini-festival, except that the loos were relatively clean (and the doors had locks on) and we didn't have to camp. Just got the bus and then the train home.
Very civilised.



There were some helpful signs ..



and some music


Peter Jobson from I Am Klute


Joel Pott from Athlete ...

... who invited friends & family to dress up as pirates and sailors (Greenwich has a strong nautical history) and sing along with the band.

tuneful tuesday - the green green grass of home

Poor quality video - but the sound's not too bad.

We saw Tom Jones perform at Latitude Festival last month. Gone were the leather trousers and the chunky jewellery. The gold medallion and chest wig, if present at all, were concealed by shirt and tweed jacket.
He was outstanding. Took maybe one song to warm up and then his powerful voice filled the arena. Not a bum note.
If you haven't already given Praise and Blame a listen, then do. It's roots music - country, blues, gospel. The best.

music monday - peter green

Back to posting about all things green ...

Brilliant blues guitarist, best known for his work with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and Fleetwood Mac and the very distinctive sound he got from a Gibson Les Paul.
However he played a Fender Stratocaster in this ...

bottled up

Currently gracing the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square is Nelson's Ship in a Bottle, by leading Anglo-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare MBE. This was unveiled in Trafalgar Square on Monday 24 May 2010.

The artwork is the first commission on the Fourth Plinth to reflect specifically on the historical symbolism of Trafalgar Square, which commemorates the Battle of Trafalgar, and will link directly with Nelson’s column. It is also the first commission by a black British artist. Read more about Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle by Yinka Shonibare MBE

summer weather

London seems to have spent most of today shrouded in grey cloud.
It's cold for August, and I'm wearing socks and a cardigan (and some other things!)

A was supposed to have a balloon flight this evening - a belated 50th birthday present - but it was postponed due to rain and wind.

At times like this you need one of these when you're outdoors

flowery friday

A few more of the flowers we saw on holiday in Italy