Newcastle under Lyme borough began in 1173 and this year is it’s 850th anniversary. They hold an Artisans market on the “stones” in Newcastle and we had been invited to take part.
Not all the members of Loud Mouth Women like their images being published so I have adjusted this.
Loud Mouth Women performed, we did a lovely set of songs for the 850th anniversary of Newcastle under Lyme. We were singing at the market cross and sang Greensleeves, Scarborough fair, Cockles and Mussels, La Para Deux, Fair and Tender Ladies among other songs, then we processed around the town centre with a children’s recorder group called the knights templars, a mediaeval minstrel band, freemen of the town and at the head Nello as the King.
Luckily the rain kept off until about half an hour after we finished x
At my age I prefer security. I used to like adventure, but I’ve grown out of it!
When I was young we used to cycle all over the country, riding a bike or a tandem for miles. We would go out and ride at weekends to different destinations. We would also catch the train and then cycle from there to campsites or a place to visit like a castle or a forest. One of my favourite places was Grizedale Sculpture park. On that occasion we had got a car and the bikes were tied to the top of it. We parked at the campsite and used that as a base to cycle all around the lake district.
One day I was cycling home from a friends houss and was hit by a car. I ended up with a fractured skull. From that day I became nervous of cycling. After a couple of more years of riding the bike suddenly collapsed underneath me. It had been damaged in the accident and the brazing had broken on the bike headset. It took months to get my bike repaired by which time I had started to drive more frequently. My health got worse and I was not able to ride my bike any distance.
I think it was about then that I became more risk averse. I still liked to go and do adventurous things but I was more careful. Nowadays I am even more concerned with safety. Covid and the pandemic has made me more aware of my situation and my security. I guess that I realise my life has changed, and I can not do things I would have happily done in the past.
I just watched a compilation programme of Peter Ustinov being interviewed by Michael Parkinson. It was fascinating to see him after so many years. He was a writer, actor, mimic, humorist. He was of Russian and descent but also had ancestors from other countries. He acted in Spartacus and Quo Vardis amongst other films.
Hearing his tales of his time in the army, film, school life, and theatre among other things was hilarious. He was charming and debonair.
I had forgotten how funny he was. He made Parkinson laugh and chuckle as he told tall stories. This was in the 1970’s or 1980’s. I can’t remember much about the programme when it was first shown, but this was wonderful. If you can get the BBC Iplayer I would suggest trying to see it…. Or if not look him up and try and find some of the films he was in.
St. Swithin’s Day, also called St. Swithun’s Day, (July 15), a day on which, according to folklore, the weather for a subsequent period is dictated. In popular belief, if it rains on St. Swithin’s Day, it will rain for 40 days, but if it is fair, 40 days of fair weather will follow. St. Swithin was bishop of Winchester from 852 to 862. At his request he was buried in the churchyard, where rain and the steps of passersby might fall on his grave. According to legend, after his body was moved inside the cathedral on July 15, 971, a great storm ensued. The first textual evidence for the weather prophecy appears to have come from a 13th- or 14th-century entry in a manuscript at Emmanuel College, Cambridge.
Well it’s raining and blowing a gale, and the local weather forecast is for some rain all next week, so St Swithens might be right. In the meantime Europe is sweltering so I hope some gentle cooling rain gets down to the south of us and rinses the heat dome over southern Europe out of the way.
For all the climate deniers the world has been it’s hottest since records began over the last seven days. Maybe it’s not too late to do something about it, but big business doesn’t want to lose profits.
Artrage drawing with metallic and non metallic textures. Duplicated because I was thinking of the song ‘Daisy daisy, give me your answer do…’, I remember at the end of the film ‘2001 a space oddessy’, the computer Hal2000 starts to sing the song as its memory is being deleted by Dave Bowman, the sole surviving astronaut.
If you’ve never seen the film, or read the book (by Arthur C Clarke), I’m sorry for the spoiler. The book goes into a lot more detail, and several of the main parts of the story were changed in the film. Clarke went on to write sequels to the story from different protagonists perspectives. I can’t remember them all but they were good reads too. When you think how old the original book is you can forgive some of the odd, old fashioned ideas, and the film seems slow in comparison to films in today’s times, but it’s a beautiful piece of work. No massive cgi special effects or green screen, just well painted images merging in with the live action. Worth a read or a watch….. I won’t reveal the rest of the story….
Belly rub? Yes please, I tickle his tum. He purrs. Friends with each other, he is content to lie on his back. No sharp claws, quiet paws. Ten minutes, twenty… Then up he gets and toddles off to his food bowl. Next out into the night, the wind is blowing and the stars aren’t bright, in fact it’s blowing a hooley out there… But he’s happy and replete, out on his nightly patrol, come rain or shine….
If you could host a dinner and anyone you invite was sure to come, who would you invite?
I would invite all my artist friends from over the years. Plus all my family. I would go to the Leopard Hotel in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent. It would be fully restored (it was destroyed in a fire) and all my murals would still be there.
We would chat about the old days, and what they had been doing. Find out about where they had lived after I lost touch with them. I would lay on a good meal for them depending on what food they liked. I don’t remember what they used to eat? How could I after 40 years or more in some cases… But to know their life has gone well and hopefully they have been successful.
Who wouldn’t I invite? Famous people. I would be in awe and unable to talk. Can it be possible to meet someone who is important and speak with them at their level? I just don’t know.
Questions like this trouble my imagination. It’s wonderful to think of great people, but I would be too nervous and shy!
I’m singing at the weekend and I needed a mediaeval type dress for a pageant. I found this in the local store. It’s very “flaggy” or like a patchwork. I’m going to wear it because it’s long enough to cover my legs and that means I can wear warm leggings underneath. I hope the weather is better than it has been all week. It’s been raining and cold.
It’s a wrap around dress and I had to move the button inside to slacken it off a bit. Anyway, wish our choir luck, we are going to need it if we aren’t going to get very wet!
Mallaband-Brown 