Thursday 31 March 2016

A - Z Withdrawal ... Number 27 on the sign up list ..




Not something I thought I'd be writing ... but unfortunately I need to opt out of the 2016 Challenge ... I was looking forward to meeting new friends, finding old ones ... and just enjoying the fun of the fair!
The A - Z budding Magnolias



Nothing serious and I'm healthy ... I just need to do something else that can't be put off ... so take care - enjoy yourselves ... and I'll see you in May once frenetic April is over ... 



mid A - Z ... Magnolias in full flow


One advantage - I'm ready for 2017 - anyone else ready?!





Magnolias leafing ... ready for the full greening
of Spring and then Summertime ... 
No need to comment ... I'm around ... and I'll be back early May and post a post A-Z post ... if you get my meaning ... 



Take care, have fun ... and congratulations to all taking part ... 

Hilary Melton-Butcher
Positive Letters Inspirational Stories


Sunday 27 March 2016

Jacob’s Ladder … “Descent” ...




This is an art work by my cousin’s daughter – Anna Freeman Bentley – who is extremely talented and recognised as one of Britain’s brightest emerging painters of her generation.


 
The lower third of
Anna's "Descent"
I had heard Anna’s work Descent was on show in Chichester Cathedral … which I can get to relatively easily … and I had some friends in central Chichester to visit…


I need to return to the Cathedral at some stage … time was limited … but I’ll show you Anna’s exhibit here … she’s always been interested in architecture and structure … but studied art, literature and drama at school.


Moreau's staircase which
inspired Anna 
She’s won various awards and took up a studio residency with the Florence Trust, London – housed in a deconsecrated Victorian Church in Highbury.


It was for the final exhibition at the Trust, she decided to make a work that related specifically to the architecture there … refining that thought process after a visit to the Musee Gustave Moreau in Paris where .. she saw Moreau’s Staircase …


The work was set up in the North Transept
of Chichester Cathedral


Jacob’s Ladder ‘Descent’ being set in a Victorian Church then  exhibited at the Cathedral … was very appropriate as it referenced the image of a staircase reaching down to earth from heaven, a vision that came to Jacob in a dream.


Descent (2011) is an oil on 8 panels with tulipwood subframes, 110o x 182 (base) tapering to 91.5cm (top).  [36 feet x 6 feet tapering to 3 feet].




The book that highlights Anna's career



Anna, no doubt, will continue to experiment with colour, design … while engaging with the environment, architecture and interiors, exploring and showing us the world as she sees it …







Gustave Moreau Museum ... with the
staircase at the end.

… the Gustave Moreau Museum in Paris, where Anna was inspired, is an amazing looking museum … and the link below gives you an idea of why … and why we should add it to our list of museums to visit at some stage.




Anna is following Moreau’s idea of process to make her own views and process known to the wider world …


Pasque Flower

Wishing you all a peaceful and blessed Easter … and this thought goes to the wider world in general … let’s be gentler, kinder, more understanding and more thoughtful in the years ahead …




An article on Gustave Moreau's Museum, Paris ... it will tempt you to visit ... 

Hilary Melton-Butcher
Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Monday 21 March 2016

Theme Reveal … Aspects of British County Rare Breeds …



Well a slight change of direction this year … for someone with not a lot of knowledge re animals of any description – be they critters as per Lenny, or real life animools as per me!

Theme Reveals from 21 March 2016
The Challenge starts April Fool's Day! - it really does?!


The story line will cover … as you’d expect … whatever I feel like posting – but I’ll stick to the theme (vaguely!) ...



An English Long Horn - the horns grow round
the face, while the Texas Long Horn's horns grow
up and straight out ... like raised arms
 … having finally got round to actually writing this introductory post – I find I have a lot of information, which is a little disturbing, as I’ll have to be arbitrary in my decisions … 




A Herdwick Lamb - they are born black


So we’ll go with history, art, poetry, literature, stories, genetics etc … and whatever else I come across …






Rare Breeds at Pheasants Hill Farm, Ireland
see at site here

… the advantage is – that IF these posts are short, and I intend them to be, then I can elaborate on them later on, when I get to publish them …






So lean in (isn’t that what we’re meant to be doing?) – and enjoy my take on Rare Breeds … they could well be rarer by the time I’ve finished … but I know I’ll be much wiser on their hold in what we know as Britain and their loss over the ice age epoch …



Dartmoor horse riding - perhaps
changing into a Centaur?
… inevitably – there will be links across to Europe … but I will try and stick to Britain … though Ice Age Art shows early animals walking the planet …


That’s it folk for now … I’d better get to letter A … and I will see you all around …


I am certain these genes have been
bred out?!


Here’s to a very successful and happy 2016 A-Z Challenge … and to meeting lots of new friends …








Oh yes – one thing that’s been happening to me recently on blogger blogs … suddenly the captcha thingy is ‘working’ (not the word I’d use!!) and it’s a right pain – so be warned .. check your comment has posted …

Hilary Melton-Butcher
Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Thursday 17 March 2016

Flora Abunda ... remembering, to survive, we depend on these ...



Plants play such an important role in our lives … those early roamers worked out which plants were edible … probably by watching the animals and birds forage them. 



Flora Plant Diversity
Over geological epochs plant life has evolved into this amazing array of choice we have today, plants surviving in the various zones on earth – plants co-evolved with organisms to assist with the transfer of pollen for fertilisation …



… from 290 million years ago when plants first produced seed, having customised themselves to the titanic forces that had created earth in the 4.25 billennia of years before.




World Map with Temperate zones highlighted in green
By 140 million years ago the first flowering plants were evolving and in a relatively short geological time after this (60 – 70 million years) they had evolved so much that flowering plants became dominant.




As the continental plates gloopily moved, jerked, or exploded into the positions we find our continents in today - about 65 million years ago … we know some of this through the plant species left on various lands, which are unique today.



Flora Fern in Devonian geologic period  (420 to
360 million years ago) found in disturbed volcanic land
We have been around perhaps 3 million years, after the recent discovery in South Africa; but as we continued to evolve into the homo-sapiens we know today … we wandered the continents as we could or were able to …



Plants and animals set us on our way … gave us some route maps to follow … and if we couldn’t follow the wind, we eventually went by sea – homo sapiens copying the flora and fauna …


Plant Evolution Timeline


About 12,000 years ago after the last ice age retreated homo-sapiens started to settle for periods … and over the millennia became more domesticated tending to crops, as well as taming animals … leading to the farming we know today. 



Aristotle divided all living things between plants (which generally do not move) and animals (which are often mobile to catch their food). 



In Linnaeus’ system, these became the Kingdoms Vegetabilia and Animalia … since then we have become more knowledgeable …






Bee covered in pollen

Ralph Waldo Emerson understood that     “ … a weed is a plant whose virtues have not been discovered” … or as we became modern farmers/ gardeners a plant that simply wants to grow where people want something else:  such is life! 





Flora Abunda Blue Egyptian Lily -
from the Temple of Flora 1807

In blaming nature, people mistake the culprit?!  Weeds are people’s idea, not nature’s.  Bees love weeds … they provide a variety of nectars … similar to our need to have a balanced diet – bees cannot live productively on one plant source – nor could we.



We need plants more and we need to appreciate them more … they are our lungs, they feed us, we do not stress so much if they are in abundance – we have food, and we can find solace in their world – they let us have some peaceful co-existence with them. 


Flora Abunda Tulips -
from The Temple of Flora 1807

Those long walks … wherever we go – plants, the kingdom Plantae, are with us … they can survive living happily in deserts, jungles, sea-shores, disaster areas – plants return first – before humans in due time settle or re-settle.



Their colours inspire us, their scent entices us, their form give us ideas for design … while each part gives something … perhaps a herb or a medicine, a seed for a bird, a mulch for a new seedling … a new concept …



The book: Remarkable Plants That
Shape Our World
We have come to appreciate plants, yet seem not to understand that their destruction, each unique organism, is a “Passing-Bell” to others and ultimately the "Death Knell" to our way of life.  They will survive … we may well not.



The post was inspired by an article in The Lady I found in a waiting room … which advertised a new book: Remarkable Plants That Shape OurWorld, by Helen and William Bynum.



I also found an article from September 2014 in the Guardian – Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari – review … the article is worth a read or scan … 


Happy St Patrick's Day ... and may we all live a carefree life of ease, comfort and prosperity ... as denoted by living in clover.



Hilary Melton-Butcher
Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Saturday 12 March 2016

Knickerbocker Glories … and Rhubarb, Rhubarb, Rhubarb …



Knickerbocker Glories … what are they and where did they start … so many of you have asked or commented on Jenny’s Knickerbocker Glories … 


Jenny concentrating  on her caramel style
KGB - at The Starter Bar, Ilfracombe -
part 13 of our West Country Tour
I thought I’d better make sure your visit sends you away, after you’ve commented of course, salivating happily ….



Essentially it is a layered cream sundae that is served in a tall conical glass to be eaten with a distinctive long spoon … a speciality of 1920s Britain.




It can be made with ice-cream, meringue, cream … and flavoured appropriately … with jelly, fruit and fruit purees, or chocolate ice-cream topped with chocolate sauce, or nuts and topped with a honey sauce, or caramel sauce …


Chocolate or fruit

You name it – and a variety will be created specifically for you … especially today when we have so many flavours of ice-cream available.



A Sundae dish ... here a banana, icecream,
fruits and ... 



Their generic term seems to be Sundae … but certainly as kids we’d occasionally have a Knickerbocker Glory – to get the big chunky glass with the long spoon … or then the banana split-sundae glass …






Wiki link here


However this Wisconsin historical marker declares that the Ice Cream Sundae was invented here at Two Rivers … and who am I to disagree … but I’ll keep the Knickerbocker Glory here in little ol’ England …




Early season rhubarb ... so pink and pretty
- grown indoors in the dark!

The rhubarb season seemed to have come early this year … wonderful pink stems with light green leaves – they’re poisonous!  So only lightly cook the chopped stems with some dark sugar … serve with custard or cream …


Rhubarb is one of those very English plants – quite often found in gardens … and it provides stems for use all through the Spring, Summer and early autumn … a free food too …


A crown of rhubarb - growing outside

… then preserve it, or freeze it (once poached or cooked), ready for use in tarts, pies, pudding, crumbles (oh so delicious) – spice it up with mixed spice, or add some glacé ginger … it can be made into wine, chutney, jam, jelly, marmalade … and so on …



Mrs Beeton confirms some of these ideas! … she features in Wiki today … and advises that it is one of the most useful of all garden plants … I wish someone had told Mr TCP (my uncle) – when I asked if he’d got a rhubarb crown … back came the answer … oh no! – I buried it under the compost heap – I can’t stand the stuff … presumably my aunt concurred!  I looked longingly at the compost heap every time I passed!


Rhubarb and custard tart
Rhubarb is one of those plants that perhaps is synomous with school dinners – we had it at home … so were well used to having it for pudding (as we called it) … rhubarb fool a delicious mix of rhubarb with custard …


I have a few cookbooks as many of you will know ... and so searched for an interesting recipe – the Persian cookbook had one … “Rhubarb Stew” …



The book I used ... there was no picture of
Khoresht-e Reevâs
According to Margaret Shaida the Zoroastrian religion of ancient Iran, the human race was born of the rhubarb plant … this I can see will cause a few problems and questions … so I’ll move on … to other notes she gives us …


…. From ancient times rhubarb has been considered good for cleansing the blood and purifying the system.  When it arrived in England its medicinal properties were also highly valued … but only the last 100 years or so has it been consumed for pleasure ... when it was welcomed as the first fruit of summer – even though technically it is a vegetable.


... no photo - so I give you Rhubarb Crumble
So here the Persian dish “Khoresht-e Reevâs" is a pretty dish, the pink and red rhubarb affording a lovely contrast to the dark-green herbs.  Traditionally it is served in Iran to aid digestion - it is reassuring to know it is good for you!


I love Persian recipes … where there’s a hint of fruit in a meat stew as here … the dish consists of boned leg of lamb, chopped up, chopped onions, fresh parsley, fresh mint, some rhubarb and seasoning, which are added near the end – so the fruit doesn’t disintegrate …


Another KBG ... 


So here’s to a very pretty pink vegetable usually used as a dessert … and the ubiquitous Knickerbocker Glory or Sundae – depending on the style of dish … KBGs can be pink, white and creamy, chocolatey, toffee, caramel coloured … so many flavours now.




One always needs Cornish Clotted Cream with any dessert,
even with Knickerbocker Glories - this is a postcard

Well I shall at some stage try the rhubarb stew … I like the piquancy of the tart flavour with a rich lamb stew … 


... or how about oatmeal- coated mackerel with rhubarb sticks ... see link below ... 


... but for now I shall leave you drooling, or revolted at the thought of rhubarb per Mr TCP …



A very early post ... when I wrote about asparagus and rhubarb

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's new season rhubarb recipes ... per The Guardian


Hilary Melton-Butcher
Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Monday 7 March 2016

Plume of Feathers ...




I got to wondering about a Plume of Feathers and its history as an item of regalia, which I’d connoted to the Royal Family, from the pub/hotel we’d encountered in Minehead towards the end of my West Country tour.

The Queen wears a Plume of Feathers
on her velvet hat - the standard
heraldic wear for the Order
of the Garter ceremony


How do these things come about … and why?  I am always intrigued ... which ties in nicely to my interview over at Karen Lange’s blog … so please pop by to say hello to Karen … and perhaps to learn a little more about me and my inquiring mind.





Back to feathering our brains … The Prince of Wales’s feathers is the heraldic badge of the Prince … consisting of three white ostrich feathers emerging from a gold coronet.  The ribbon below bears the motto Ich Dien (German for “I serve”) – why?  I ask!


The Prince of Wales's Feathers


This emblem dates back to Edward, the Black Prince (1330 – 1376) … and it is likely that the Black Prince inherited the badge from his mother, Philippa of Hainault … from where the Bohemian (German) Ich Dien would have come from.





Heraldry is quite another matter … and one I don’t think I will ever understand … though I’d love to have a better knowledge about it … learning the colours of heraldry is tricky enough …


Henry of Grosmont, Earl of Lancaster
wearing his Garter robes as depicted
in the Bruges Garter Book: here
you can see some of the early
heraldic coats of arms


But from the Monarchy’s website I glean that the rules of heraldry (told you it wasn’t easy!) allow limited variations in the depiction of the badge …


… the spines or quills of the feathers can be gold, instead of white or silver, and the coronet usually studied with emeralds and rubies, can also feature small sapphires … and so it goes …




The pub sign ...

But the pub I can understand!  The Plume of Feathers at Greenwich has a very interesting historical write up …





The Plume of Feathers pub - with an
interesting history

One pub
13 Monarchs
23 Known Landlords
Built in the year 1691, with a timeline of known landlords …





Now that’s simple … but add in a servant to the landlord in 1911 and we see how the governance of England helps – the Census throws us this gem.




Looking north from
Greenwich Observatory
In 1691 the pub, at that stage an inn – with livestock probably: cows and sheep - sat on the busy Dover Road as travellers left Greenwich – a toll would have been paid at the Gate House of the Queen’s House – now part of historical Greenwich.



Due to an increase in traffic the Park Ranger, Lord Romney, decided this Dover coach road was not big enough and in 1699 built a new one about 100 metres nearer the river.  So today the pub has the advantage to the locals of being nicely tucked away in the park.


Spring Flower borders
From the pub website you can read through the history it has encountered from William III and Mary II being on the throne in 1689 at the time when the pub was first built a couple of years later.




Orchards at Queen Anne's house - heritage site


History always returns … here we have Greenwich, an impoverished fishing village, about to turn itself slowly into the suburb it is today … firstly " with higgledy-piggledy timber-fronted houses tumbling into mean streets and around odd little inlets and courts” …



… to today when the pub sits on the edge of the UNESCO Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site …


Steak at the Plume of Feathers ... that would defeat me!

I now need to sit down … before I venture out to Karen’s blog to reply to your comments there and here … a Sunday Roast sounds good – still it’s six days away …






… perhaps some Cajun Whitebait and with lemon and lime aioli to start with …. then a roasted fillet of Salmon, butterbean mash, French beans and pink pepper corn sauce – they sound good to me …


This looks good enough to eat - the
biscuit Plume of Feathers graces the dessert
 … but there’s plenty of choice on the drop down menu – starters/sharing platters, mains … meat, fish or vegetarian … and no doubt a very good dessert – but I couldn’t find a menu … to tempt you sweet-toothers … I’ve no idea what it is – but the plume biscuit stands out … looks chocolatey and gooey too …


Plume of Feathers Hotel in
Minehead, before demolition in 1965

So that’s my history of the Plume of Feathers … there’s more … and this building is still standing, not like the Minehead ‘Plume of Feathers’ pub … demolished with its history in 1965. 



Daniel Defoe (1659 - 1731)


Daniel Defoe who stayed at this coaching inn in Minehead – looks like he should have had a plume of feathers in his periwig …



A big thank you to Karen at her Write Now blog for having me over and bearing with my interviewing skills … not always easy – I slip out of line too often …


Links:  British Monarchy, the Prince of Wales and his Emblems

The Plume of Feathers in Greenwich - the pub's history

Greenwich - more of its history, and some incredible Olympic food ... one of my 2012 posts ...

St Alfege Church, Greenwich ... I explain here how the manor of Greenwich changed from being ruled from Flanders, to being handed to Edward III (1312 - 1377), the Black Prince's father, ... on persuasion by the people.


Hilary Melton-Butcher
Positive Letters Inspirational Stories