Just a little more canal-art because like Jill, I love it. So cheerful and easy to understand, without being garish or kitsch. Jill's comment about a possible Russian influence set me googling, but without much success. I found this :-"One of the perverse pleasure of the roses and castles tradition is its mysterious origin, for nobody really knows where it came from. There have been plenty of suggestions and speculation, but no hard evidence. And it certainly did decorate, nearly everything. The drinking water can on the cabin roof was painted and decorated, as was the wash basin, cabin stool, headlamp, bucket and the horse's feed tin. Pictures and posies adorned the walls inside the cabin, the built-in furniture and the little doors that led into it. ..."
Courtesy of the Canalcrafts and Canalware website.
Perhaps nifty-googler at Annesley might do better.
Straight into foodie matters. If anyone is a Sushi fan and has a Lidl to hand, this I can recommend. They haven't been stocking it for around 6 months and it isn't cheap at £3.49 but it is delicious. Beware of the stuff in the white, green and yellow packet in the ramekin. It's Wasabi - japanese horseradish - with a powerful kick. My first experience several years ago was wondering what that greenish paste was for and putting a match-head sized chunk on my tongue to find out. I managed to refit my nasal linings and the top of my skull without medical assistance, but only justThe beef-stew with pearly barley sounds enticing, and my inclination would be to ignore any elfand safety guff. Several hours at a chuckling simmer in a slow-cooker should deal with most problems.
Bungus.... I do envy you your embossed Brewers, and I knew nothing of his local connections. Obviously mistakenly, but I always considered him American. We all wish you well for Friday, tomorrow, and are in awe of your cussed streak that enables you to make creative use of your experiences. We look forward to wahtever 'ospital ode', ballad, sonnet, or perhaps even 'canticle' springs from your trip.
AnonymousRob...... Thanks for your comments on the 'smokey canal boat' picture. The method, can't remember where or who I cribbed it from, was simply to desaturate all colours except red. It seems effective and people always assume you have very precisely put the red into a monochrome picture. As you know, that would be almost impossible to do without 'seeing the join'.
Re the cost of my Auden Aphorisms. Yes, it was expensive, but I feel you must be mistaken over rates of pay in 1962. When I became a policeman in 1957 my pay was £8.4s a week, so it would be more in 1962. I suppose when you divvy up the cost of the book, over 45 years, it works out at 8 pence a year. And it has been well worth it.
"See how the moonlight sleeps upon this hill"
Shakespeare
That line alone, must be worth 8d. In just 8 words he tells you exactly what the night was like, what the hillside was like and more or less how he felt about it. A penny a word?
We poetry lovers have been having an unexpected treat. One of my favourite radio-stations OneWord is in trouble and may not survive. They aren't running a full schedule but are broadcasting all day - good readers, reading poetry. Yesterday we had the war poets, Wilfred Owen and Sassoon. And today we had Byron, the first cantos of Don Juan and quite a lot of John Clare, always one of my favourites because he was considered too working class for the Wordsworth and Tennyson loving middle classes. And the whole of The Ancient Mariner and, like the wedding guest, I was transfixed. No wonder I've hardly got anything done.
And then I was too done for to go to my Camera Club. It was a 'skills night' and fortunately they weren't relying on me to do anything. I shall catch up with life sometime in the next few weeks, I hope.
Debra and Co. have arrived at Tracy's (and no, I don't think her job even though wide-ranging, includes the fireworks) and health and weather permitting we are meeting at Newstead Abbey tomorrow. I might be lucky enough to have some Byronic influence rub off. Catch you tomorrow......
We poetry lovers have been having an unexpected treat. One of my favourite radio-stations OneWord is in trouble and may not survive. They aren't running a full schedule but are broadcasting all day - good readers, reading poetry. Yesterday we had the war poets, Wilfred Owen and Sassoon. And today we had Byron, the first cantos of Don Juan and quite a lot of John Clare, always one of my favourites because he was considered too working class for the Wordsworth and Tennyson loving middle classes. And the whole of The Ancient Mariner and, like the wedding guest, I was transfixed. No wonder I've hardly got anything done.
And then I was too done for to go to my Camera Club. It was a 'skills night' and fortunately they weren't relying on me to do anything. I shall catch up with life sometime in the next few weeks, I hope.
Debra and Co. have arrived at Tracy's (and no, I don't think her job even though wide-ranging, includes the fireworks) and health and weather permitting we are meeting at Newstead Abbey tomorrow. I might be lucky enough to have some Byronic influence rub off. Catch you tomorrow......<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
2 comments:
I wasn’t over impressed by yesterday’s canal boat pics but very much like this one. More context.
I’ve never tried sushi but have no aversion to raw fish (surprised the blogmeister finds it acceptable). I expect to be near a Lidl in a couple of weeks time and will look out for it. My first experience with a bowl of chillis on my first visit to an Indian restaurant was much like your wasabi episode.
I think you are quite wrong about ‘Several hours at a chuckling simmer in a slow-cooker should deal with most problems’. Certain pulses produce very dangerous toxins if not fast boiled for ten minutes. Safer to eat rhubarb or potato leaves!
Re my ability to make creative use of experiences. It is probably because I have a natural pessimism which means that things mostly turn out to be better than expected (or at the very least throw up some wry humourous quality).
In Jan 1957, aged 25, I was on £700pa and in ’63, £1,000.
In about 1950 I paid £15 (a months wages) for a second hand, pre-war, Voigtlander twin lens reflex camera (with no focusing on the viewfinder). I still have it. It has a Tessar lens which I think was their second best, but when you think of the price of cameras now! I also had a £20 Rotary watch for my 21st birthday in 1952.
ي
Sadly I cannot get much further than RG on the subject of canal art. The recognised authority seems to be Tony Lewery who published a book on the subject in 1996 entitled Flowers Afloat . Even he doesn't know what the origins really are. Follow RG's link then click on Canal Heritage then Canal Folk Art then Canal Folk Art Links then Tony Lewery page to reach information about Tony and his books. Or click on any of Flowers Afloat, Roses and Castles or Canal Art Roots.
I'm pretty certain my pay was £1.10s a week when I started work in 1967 though I couldn't swear to it on oath unless I was a police officer! I remember having something like 10/8d deducted for NI contributions and I distinctly remember taking home less than £1 a week. Mum took 10s for board and I still felt I'd got a lot of money for myself.
I can also remember, in 1976, finding out that my dad was on less than £80 a week at that time. It sticks in my memory because soon after I started working for a trade union my elder brother asked me if I could find out what the nationally negotiated wage rates were for motor mechanics. It was slightly over £80 a week and, on that basis, my dad's employers gave him a rise to the minimum amount agreed nationally.
Dad wasn't in a union so had to rely on the 'generosity' of his employers. As he had only worked for them for 30 years at that time I suppose they thought paying him the minimum was a fitting reward for his loyalty and hard work. Grrr!!
I think the reason for my (now obviously) paltry starting wage was that in South Lincs at that time wage rates were tied to those of agricultural labourers. I believe even then many were living in tied accommodation and that was considered part of the remuneration package. Not that I knew long words like remuneration at that time.
Rob
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