Monday 19 July 2021

Addenda to Great Wave, the Picnic, Rills, Tennis and Victoria Falls Bridge …

 

Quick notes on things I’ve subsequently found, realised or just plain forgot!

 

The Downs as it is now - hot and dry
(our picnic day was just plain damp!)

 The Picnic was held ‘athome’ … there’s plenty of space and we were outside for most of the time … it was a damp day ... 

 



Home-made pasties
The menu … what you’d expect from the Cornish … veggie with hummus and drinks, pasties (sadly bought!), strawbugs, meringue and Cornish cream, various cheeses … and a taxi home!

 

The image c/o British Museum for promoting
Hokusai's exhibition later in 2021

During the picnic I mentioned the Great Wave and someone mentioned their grand-children had been taught about tsunamis … 




... which apparently saved some friends’ grand-children from one – the boy-child recognised the signs and they ran up the hill (away from the beach); their parents were playing golf … and were so grateful to find their kids realised what was happening and were safe …

 

Something else that popped up this morning – the British Museum is having another Hokusai exhibition– ‘The Great Picture Book of Everything’ … some interesting back-story and images included – if you’d like to look …

 


Wimbledon grass court
My brother also confirmed that swimming across the Hayle estuary, St Ives Bay, as very dangerous … he also mentioned he’d had his first 2021 tennis game on a grass court – he was thrilled!  The Lawn Tennis Association manage our courts down here, where one of the pre-Wimbledon tournaments is held … so he played there …

 

 

Eram Gardens, Shiraz, Iran
Rills came from the wonderful Persian Gardens, or Paradise Gardens, which have influenced the design of gardens from India to Andalusia …



 

this photo is of thearchitect’s home – one of them who designed part of the Palace of Alhambra in the 14th century  …

 

 

An image of the Zambezi river
is channelled into the Victoria
Falls and gorge
… and finally more information on the Victoria Falls Bridge and earlier settlement … so much to learn – but I’m enjoying this life …

 

 

The History of the Falls
Bridge - not Paul Theroux'
book!

… I’m also reading Paul Theroux’s book ‘Dark Star Safari’ … his travels from Egypt to Cairo – I’ll get to ‘The Smoke That Thunders’: Victoria Falls at some stage … so it will be interesting to read his thoughts – the book was published 20 years ago …

 



My next post will be the #WATWB … an interesting one …

 

Well now I've got a bit of a problem ... as I think I inadvertently deleted this post ... but suddenly Hels' comment (the 3rd one has appeared) ... and so am not sure what's happening.


Yam - I've included some links in this updated version of the post.  This book on the Falls' bridge is one I found just published last year ... so I will be writing a lot more about the structure etc ...

Alex - thank you ... Andy did play at Wimbledon ... but was pushed by a Canadian youngster ... decision re his future to be made anon ... 

Hels - thank you re your thoughts on ancient rills and Persian Gardens ... they are sublime ... 


Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

29 comments:

Yamini MacLean said...

Hari OM
...I confess I was a bit adrift on this post Hilary - did I miss news about a picnic? (looked back, can't see.) What architect is being referenced? (Rills are the garden channels - I think I missed another connection.) And you say "more info on VFB" - but leave us hanging! I did enjoy the Hokusai link. Hope you are enjoying the summer while it's here - even the Hutch is bathed in sunshine at the moment. Glorious! YAM xx

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Glad the kids were safe.
Did he ever play at Wimbledon?

Hels said...

The photo of the architect’s home shows a long channel of water between the two wings of the building. Surrounded by hedges and small trees, it would be a source of light, fresh air and greenery for the full length of the block. Sublime!

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Yam, Alex and Hels ... things went a little haywire here ... but I hope the notes in the post at the end answer your comments here ...

I hope it's the summer heat storm that's brewing in the local atmosphere ...

Take care - and thanks for the comments - Hilary

Liz A. said...

That is why you tell kids about things like that, so they understand when it's happening around them. Great story.

Yamini MacLean said...

Hari OM
YAAAAYYYY - links helped a lot!!! (I didn't look back far enough). Don't worry - blame heatstroke or summat.. Yxx

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Thanks Liz - the trouble was in my days at school ... the tsunami information wasn't available or taught ... hence the fact I find it interesting that so much more is known today ...

@ Yam - I hope that's solved the problems ... I thought I'd lost the post ... just glad all's well!!

Cheers to one and all - looks like our storms are disappearing! But no doubt the rains are somewhere ... all the best - Hilary

Elephant's Child said...

How I would LOVE to see the Hokusai exhibition. And the Paradise Gardens. Huge thanks for the links - rabbit holes I may disappear down for some time...

Janie Junebug said...

Thank you for the links. Without them I would have been confused. I Googled pasties, which I had seen before but never bothered to look up, and found 2 definitions. I'm positive you didn't mean pasties as in nipple covers.

Love,
Janie

Botanist said...

I have memories of eating pasties sitting on the sea wall of a Cornish harbour, and a seagull swooping down and making off with half of Ali's pasty! Right out of her hand!

Reminds me, she does a mean home-made pasty. Have to add that to the menu next week.

Keith's Ramblings said...

An interesting collection of snippets, updates and links! I now need a pasty!

David M. Gascoigne, said...

Good morning Hilary: There used to be a shop in nearby Cambridge that made Cornish pasties that were quite delicious. The proprietors were British and claimed that the recipe had long historical roots in Cornwall, and was "the real thing". Of that I can't be the judge, but I can tell you that I enjoyed the results on several occasions. The store is no longer operating, the people having retired three or four years ago, before COVID actually, which was fortuitous for them. It has been replaced by a "Scottish bakery" which is about as Scottish as me wearing a kilt! Hugs from Ontario. David

Natalie Aguirre said...

Your picnic sounds yummy. I need a pasty too.

Jemima Pett said...

I could just murder a pasty.

I checked out the exhibition - and don't panic if you do and see it's May to September 21; lower down they've changed it to Sept 21 to Jan 22.

I'm tempted to book a ticket.

Jemima

Annalisa Crawford said...

Kids have a lot more common sense than we give them credit for sometimes - how great they escaped unharmed. My grandmother always made pasties when we visited - nothing quite like homemade!

Computer Tutor said...

I had started to giggle at the picture of the tsunami warning sign--and then read your story about it. Now, I'm thankful it was there!

bazza said...

If you enjoy Paul Theroux, I really recommend The Old Patagonia Express - a wonderful travel book.
By the way, we were invited to lunch at The Grand Hotel, Eastbourne a few Saturdays ago but the weather was stormy and a two-and-a-quarter hour drive each way was a bit much in poor weather!
CLICK HERE for Bazza’s hopelessly habit-forming Blog ‘To Discover Ice’

Jo-Anne's Ramblings said...

Haven't been on a picnic in years your photos are wonderful.

retirementreflections said...

Hi, Hilary - I'm glad that you were able to recover this post. So interesting. And the links were very helpful. Thank you for including them.

Sue Bursztynski said...

That menu sounds mouthwatering! And how wonderful that learning about tsunamis at school saved a family from one!

mail4rosey said...

That's awesome that the kids knew the signs of a tsunami and alerted their parents! Glad you had a nice picnic, even if the pastries were store bought. :)

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

@ Sue – they’d all be lovely to see … but we’re so lucky we can see things via the ‘net … not the same – but at least we can get an idea … and yes lots of rabbit holes … and I too do disappear down them …

@ Janie – yes ordinary picnic food … and am glad you appreciated the links …

@ Ian – oh yes … Minack Theatre – sitting with pasties before the evening show … I love home-made pasties. We usually just ate at home –or in the garden, straight from the oven. Seagulls are just such a nuisance – they’re enjoying the tourists coming back …
Oh good – I hope Ali will make you pasties soon … enjoy it/them …

@ Keith – enjoy your hot holiday time away … and hope you can find a pasty, while you’re off, up, up and away in Britain’s hinterland!

@ David – Good Morning indeed – another hot one too! Oh what a pity about your local shop – and its subsequent retirement and closure. I’m glad you enjoyed the ones you were able to.
I now hope the new owners survive through these times … wearing kilts or not … some hot hugs from here!!

@ Natalie – it was always easy to enjoy and with good company …

@ Jemima – when food is mentioned … my brain ticks forward to that time of day …
Oh great is it on until January next year … I hope you enjoy it … having been to the earlier one I think I’ll hold off …

@ Annalisa – yes … but my point was – it wasn’t something I found out about when I was at school – but now things have changed; equally, it’s great those kids had the sense to run inland. Wonderful you have those memories with your grandmother … eating her homemade pasties …

@ Bazza – thanks for the tip about another of Theroux’s books … I’ll look in due course.
Oh that’s a pity you couldn’t get down … it is a long way – especially in this heat. If you get down – give me an email and perhaps we can briefly meet up … I’ve never been inside the Grand – strange but true!

@ Jo-Anne – thank you …

@ Donna – yes I’m not quite sure what happened … I was flapping anyway! Glad you enjoyed the links …

@ Sue – I love picnics … easy-going in the fresh air. Yes I was interested to find that the kids knew what to do when the water receded … certainly I was never taught that …

@ Rosey – their parents didn’t realise as they were playing golf … but thank goodness the kids did. Sadly bought pasties – nothing like home-made ones!

Thanks everyone for visiting and commenting … it’s been incredibly hot here (for us!) … and I’ve wilted quietly – but a cousin has come down to do some supervising at the county championships held here in Eastbourne – so I’m out and about with her a bit … she swims at night – me I just go down to the sea! Cheers Hilary

Marja said...

Oh you are leading quite an interesting live Lots of activities. The picnic food sounds and looks delicious
What a relieve the kids knew what to do. Our friends here in chch also had to go uphill after a Tsunami warning. Quite scary.
The exhibition looks quite interesting. I especially loved the drawings of the birds and the cats
The book sounds interesting too. I always love travel stories

Deniz Bevan said...

So many great tit bits! I just picked up a different Theroux book at the library book sale, I'll move it up the To Read pile!

DMS said...

Lots of interesting info here today. So glad that child had learned about tsunamis and the kids got to safety. Phew!

Thanks for sharing and providing links! :)
~Jess

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

@ Marja - finally we're able to get out a bit more ... and just being away from E/b made a change. Yes - it's interesting that the kids knew what to do when a tsunami happened - I would not have done all those years ago.

In British Columbia - there were regular tsunami warning trials ... reminding everyone to be prepared if there happened to be one the tsunami zones.

The last British Museum exhibition was very interesting ... but so crowded - but I'm always pleased to see his works.

I'm going to be reading the book on how the Victoria Falls' bridge came about ... it'll be interesting reading ...

@ Deniz - thank you ... oh excellent that you recently got a Theroux book ... in this Africa one - he makes some very pertinent comments about government agencies and aid etc ... thought provoking. Good - I'm sure you'll learn a lot from your book ...

@ Jess - thank you ... I know - if I'd been in a place where tsunamis occurred as a kid - I'm sure I wouldn't have known ... so thank goodness it's being taught now.

Glad you enjoyed the links etc ...

Thanks so much to you three - have good weeks - cheers Hilary

cleemckenzie said...

You have everything in this post I love. From hummus to history! And you've thrown in an interesting book suggestion. Thanks, Hilary.

Pradeep Nair said...

Interesting updates, Hilary. Amazing architecture of those days!

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

@ Lee - thanks so much ... it's an interesting mix - while the books are interesting and great reads ...

@ Pradeep - thank you ... I just sometimes need to update posts ... and yes, the architecture of previous eras - quite beautiful ...

Cheers to you both - Hilary