THIS IS THE OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE WITH OTHER MEMBERS HOW YOU HAVE BEEN USING THIS ENFORCED LEISURE TIME.
ALL CONTRIBUTIONS ARE WELCOME: STORIES,PHOTOS (ESPECIALLY OF WHAT NOW MUST BE IMMACULATE GARDENS)! PHOTOS FROM ANY WALKS YOU’VE DONE,SHORT VIDEO CLIPS,OR ANYTHING OF GENERAL INTEREST.
THIS PAGE CAN BE AS LONG AS YOU WANT TO MAKE IT!
The main index is after the last cartoon.
KEEP UP WITH THE LATEST TOPICAL CARTOONS.
Fred Maryon’s friend Trevor has been keeping us amused with a steady stream of topical cartoons during this difficult period.
I have rearranged them into chronological order and moved them to the top of this page.
Now Trevor has started supplying us from his collection of watercolour paintings.I will put them at the top of the page to start with.
Click on them (twice) for a higher quality image.
Brazilian market scene.This is ‘contra jour’ (looking into the light).
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Cornish harbour scene.
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Throughout my 40 years at Farnborough and RAF Service before
that, l have been involved with and flown in many different types
of aircraft, but it never occurred to me to paint them until l’d been
retired nearly 10 years when l joined the Guild of Aviation Artists.
So, you will inevitably be getting a few aviation related pictures
in your ‘Wednesday Watercolours’.
Today’s picture is of a Cessna Floatplane on Lake Dora in Florida.
In the foreground are the pilot with Mark and Nancy (Hilary’s son
and favourite daughter-in-law Nancy) about to have their flight.
I have painted this from a photo taken in 2015.
Regards, Trevor
SOPWITH CAMEL (Brooklands Museum)
My grandmother had a ‘kitchen’ a bit like this.
Sorry about the reflections in the glass.
Tx
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The main index is after the last cartoon.
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I saw this 1850 ‘Punch’ cartoon in this month’s BBC ‘History’ magazine
and that triggered this week’s cartoon. Trevor
Caption reads:
1850 version: Punch cartoon praising the PM’s repeal of the Corn Law that made bread affordable for the poor.
2020 version: ‘No bread but we have still got toilet rolls!’
“ I’m working on my latest version of The Last Supper”
SUBTLE VARIATION OF PREVIOUS CARTOON
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Hi ALL, Today’s cartoon. l hope people know this painting by Jan Van Eyck.
It is of an Italian merchant Giovanni di Armolfini and his wife in their
residence in Bruges (1434) and it hangs in the National Gallery.
Regards, Trevor
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Now will you wear a mask Donald?
I painted this cartoon back in April but have been keeping until approaching the end of ‘self isolation’. Trevor
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THE ART CLASS SORTED!
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I heard the exact quote – Hilary talking to a neighbour
walking past…!!
Trevor
…..I’m sending this today when it is MOST topical instead
of the Wednesday Watercolour which l will send this Friday.
Mars was at less than 36 million miles away yesterday and will
not be this close again until September 2035 and can be as
distant as 250 million miles. (Educational as well as amusing).
Regards, Trevor
Very strange,as a friend I spoke to earlier today, assured me he sat up to watch his radio controlled clocks change the hour at 2 am.
He assures me that they go forward 23 hours!
Trevor
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INDEX: (The latest addition is at the top of this list)
13. THIS COULD BE YOU!
12. Heather Cotton
11. David Tookey
10. Liz Kuzminski
9. Kim Dewdney (Our London Walks Guide)
8. Barry Brown
7. Cheryl Gibbings
6. Barry & Ruth Brown
5. Fred Maryon
4. Peter & Carole Rose
3. Ken & Diane Porter
2. Pete Howard (Website editor)
1. Fred Maryon & Cyril Savage (Wednesday Walkers)
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1. Fred Maryon & Cyril Savage (Wednesday Walkers)
I went for my exercise today a walk in Whomerley Woods , thought I would share the beautiful Bluebells with you, Very early I think.I was able to see them as it is about 2 miles from home.
(Note: A 91 year Stevenage Old Town friend told me that Whomerley is pronounced ‘Humley’). Ed.
Following my recent mail showing Bluebells in Whomerley Wood, I received pictures from Cyril & Janet Savage that they took in Margaret Woods near their home in Todd’s Green.
Stay safe,
Fred
WHOMERLEY WOOD
MARGARET WOOD,TODDS GREEN
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2. Pete Howard (Website editor)
We have just done a jigsaw puzzle that has been in the cupboard for several years.A very interesting and nostalgic picture.I could happily sit and munch my way through all the items illustrated!
This is an unusual one.It is centred on our postcode.There is no picture on the box.You have to complete it using local knowledge (and not cribbing off O.S.sheet 147)!
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Echium pininiana (blue steeple).
I’ve been fascinated by these plants since seeing them in bloom in Guernsey.They need a lot of attention but the result is worth it.
From seedling to flowering is 3 years.The growing tip needs protecting from frosts but otherwise left uncovered .Once the trunk is thick enough it is self-supporting.
First year
Second year
3rd year
The result in year 3 is a plant that will reach gutter level on the house and is covered in thousands of tiny blue/mauve flowers that bees absolutely love.
When it finishes flowering and goes to seed the plant dies.The microscopic seeds self-set all over the place.My present plant is a self-set (the 3rd one that I have nurtured over the last few years).
This year’s plant.
Flower head showing unopened buds.
Pete
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3. Ken & Diane Porter
Another interesting jigsaw
I started this painting before Christmas and completed it during first couple of weeks of lockdown.Ken
The Antirrhinums are coming along nicely.
May 10th photos
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4. Peter & Carole Rose
Just to say that I am missing the swimming group; to me it was a discipline each fortnight and it gave me the upper body exercise that I need. So what am I doing? Well, I am still doing quite a bit of walking, normally I try to walk about 12 miles a week, I am not always managing quite that but still doing about 9 -10 miles a week. Fortunately where I live on the edge of Letchworth I have easy access to the Greenway. May even get involved with the CF walking group when everything is back to normal.
My volunteering at the Hospice and National Trust at Wimpole have both had to stop.
So, the garden fences have been painted, the shed cleared out and painted, the decking areas painted, the patio power washed and the planting areas made tidy, so that’s the outside done.
The garage has been cleared out and cleaned, rubbish remains round the side of the house to go to the tip when it opens!
I have a few pastimes that I indulge in, I have two motor scooters, both Vespas, one a 1967 SS 180, the other a 2011 PX 150. I have been doing work on both of them, I just love getting in the garage and doing the oily jobs.
1967 SS 180 2011 PX 150
I also enjoy photography so have been taking my camera on my walks.
Scenes from the Willian area.
I have a fascination with old buses, being a lad of the 60’s, so I have been working on my model collection of Luton Corporation Buses. I am also quite involved in my Church so have a few Zoom meetings with other members of the congregation.
Then of course there is friends & family; like many others I am restricted to What’s App and Zoom meetings, but thank goodness for technology so that we can at least see our grandchildren.
Not being able to get on a regular list for deliveries with any supermarket I generally spend a little time trying to get an upcoming Click & Collect slot somewhere if I am lucky.
Finally we have emptied the loft apart from half a dozen plastic boxes. I am now engaged on going through all the photo albums that we have that take up a good deal of room and filing the photos in boxes by year, this will make the storage a lot smaller and tidier, well that’s me!
What will I do if this lockdown continues?
Regards to all,
Peter Rose
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5. Fred Maryon
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I think that the librarian was having a slack day, mind you we can all identify with that! (Double click for maximum magnification). Read titles from top left to bottom right.
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6. Barry & Ruth Brown
Strawberry planter designed and built by me.
12 ex- milk containers either side of a wooden frame that has castor wheels allowing it to be moved around the garden.
Containers mounted upside down with bottoms cut off and drainage holes drilled in the caps.
Filled with compost and planted with strawberry plants.
Fed by our garden watering system.Already have small fruits on some.Should give us a decent crop come June/July. Barry.
One of my many jigsaw puzzles that helps to preserve my sanity!
House of Puzzles (HOP),where the main picture differs from that on the box, basically spot the 15 differences. 1,000 pieces. Barry.
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Cross stitch decorations – I have been sewing four x-stitch Christmas tree decorations initially for a competition before giving them away to my 4 grandchildren, I think the competition will be cancelled so the children will be getting them in any case! Ruth.
The handbag was a kit purchased quite a few years ago! The written instructions were not very good so half-way through had to use my initiative. Ruth.
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7. Cheryl Gibbings
Quilt– started but not finished – now a family heirloom!
Candles – made from old ones and wax crayons – idea from Kirsty Alsop’s TV programme Keep Crafting and Carry on. Cheryl.
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8. Barry Brown
A short excursion into the realm of collecting military buttons.
Many years ago, whilst on a short holiday in Norwich, we happened upon a lovely little antique shop situated opposite the cathedral, and as Ruth was an avid collector of the Jasperware made by Wedgwood, in we went for a browse.
It was not long before an attractive tea set in the favoured blue and white design caught her eye, and so the horse trading with the proprietor began, leaving me to await the outcome by the front door.
Whilst standing waiting I became aware of a display board of buttons and observed them with growing interest. I was instantly fascinated by them: little brass and gilt emblems of military history and only about an inch in diameter and a couple of quid each.
Here I thought, was an item I could collect, that didn’t take up much space and would not cost an arm and a leg to accomplish.
Oh! If only I knew!!!!!
I had spent 37 years in the Royal Air Force and no matter what Station, Squadron or Department you were posted to, everyone wore the same RAF button – the ubiquitous crown over an eagle. Was I a little naïve to assume that other members of the armed services had their own single button?
The buttons I had seen in that antique shop in Norwich were merely a small handful of the present day buttons worn by some of the British regiments, and it soon became glaringly obvious that not only were there considerably more than I had ever imagined, they were also not confined to the “couple of pounds each!”
As you examine the history of the British military, you will find that there were 110 Regiments of Foot, dating from the mid 1700s to 1881, when major changes brought in by the Cardwell reforms, reduced that to about half the number and denoted them “County” Regiments, so for example the 32nd (Cornwall) and 46th (South Devon) Regiments of Foot became the 1st and 2nd battalions “The Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry.” Similar amalgamations were reflected across the country.
Furthermore, military organisations have changed over time, are changing now and no doubt will continue to suffer change in the future, so the scope for collecting their buttons is assured.
I am proud to own a collection that has grown to some 1,800 examples, and clearly there is no end in sight. I have over time realized that there were county militias that go far back into history; there were also local militias and volunteers corps that were formed to act as a deterrent against invasion when Napoleon Bonaparte was on the rampage (some 1500 units so far recorded, and more being discovered every day); some 450 Rifle and Artillery Volunteers units were formed when the French revolution threatened, and of course as army uniforms changed, so the buttons that were worn with them also changed.
They also changed when a new monarch took the throne, or when new battle honours were won and awarded and when these were added to the regimental buttons.
When the Cardwell reforms ravaged the military in 1881, volunteer battalions of line regiments were formed, their buttons being in silver or white metal as compared with the gilt or brass of the line battalions, and they obviously wore buttons without battle honours.
In my 30+ years of collecting buttons I have learnt much of the histories of army regiments, and have gathered a wealth of information and reference material to assist my research.
My collection is stored on “cardex” filing cabinet trays, 60 to a tray and are accompanied by a legend of identification, very much like you would find in a museum. I include a picture of one of those trays as an example.
I have been asked many times what I pay for buttons, which I usually source from military fairs or from the internet, and the answer is difficult to answer. Some regiments are more sought after than others and their prices reflect their rarity. For some reason, Light Infantry regiments are hard to come by as are Irish regiments, particularly so with Irish Militia Regiments.
I have seen buttons sell for a few pounds, and seen some that go for several hundreds, depending on their condition and rarity.
My own star item is a button to the “Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry” which is as rare as “hen’s teeth” and I was extremely lucky to buy it from eBay one Christmas Day for nearly £200. I have only ever seen 3 of these in over 30 years of collecting, including the one I own, and I think the reason I was successful, was that I think every other potential buyer was involved in enjoying their Christmas dinner, whilst I was intent on its purchase. I have to admit that I bid much more than the £200, but was extremely fortunate to get it at that price.
I enclose a couple of photos below to explain its rarity.
This Picture shows the usual officers’ button for The Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry in gilt and showing the correct Duke of Cornwall’s coronet above the strung bugle horn.
This picture shows an officers’ button for The Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry in gilt but has the Queen Victoria Crown above the strung bugle. This is a manufacturer’s error and I can only surmise the manufacturer having his knuckles rapped for such an oversight. Exceptionally rare as I imagine most of them were ordered to be destroyed
Incidentally, if anyone might be interested in whether Ruth managed to obtain her Wedgwood tea set, the answer is a resounding yes! It sits among its fellow collection pieces atop one of our display cabinets.
Barry
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9. Kim Dewdney (Our London Walks Guide)
Hi Peter
I think I am by now an “honorary member” of Cardiac Friends as I’ve been leading the London Walks group for so many years.I’ve just been alerted to your Sharing Page on the website by Ruth Brown and thought I’d add a small piece that may be of interest. I’d be delighted if you could see fit to include it.
“A big hello to all my Cardiac Friends who are no longer able to enjoy our London Walks together.I am home with family and getting on with lots of jobs that have been put aside with the phrase “I’ll get round to it when I have time”. At no point did I realise that day would come so soon and unexpectedly.
One of the jobs, however, was to rehang a lot of pictures which had been taken down when we had builders in the house. I lost one picture pretty quickly when the new bath was delivered – smashed frame and broken glass everywhere – so the others were removed and stashed away. Now we’ve had time to not only put them back but choose better places for some of them.
The reason this is relevant to Cardiac Friends is that one of the pictures is by Peter Elmer who used to run the painting group. I always loved looking at the displays of work at the Christmas parties and I bought a couple of paintings – one as a present for my mother and the other for myself. It’s a lovely picture of the Houses of Parliament painted from across the River Thames. It’s obviously winter as there are no leaves on the trees and there is snow on the ground. The light is perfect and it’s a lovely crisp cold evening scene with nobody about. The perfect time to experience London without the crowds.The picture now has pride of place in my living room and I’m looking at it as I type this piece. It’s a great reminder that even when some of our Friends are no longer with us they are never forgotten but leave a lasting impression.
I’m not sure when I’ll see you all again but my list of jobs to do never seems to get smaller so I’ll stay busy and hopefully stay in touch.
Stay safe and healthy all of you.
Best wishes
Kim
PS. Here’s the picture
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10. Liz Kuzminski
” They are not observing social distancing but they are related and from the same household.
They were all born within the last week with the help of my knitting needles and will probably end up decorating a tree towards the end of the year.”
Liz
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11.David Tookey
Do you remember?
I was born and lived with my parents in Hitchin for thirty year before getting married and moving to Stevenage. Last week I was sitting in the Hitchin Waitrose car park whilst my wife was shopping in the store. As looked around what used to be The Lairage I tried to recall what was there before the supermarket. I could recall the North Herts Hospital where I had my tonsils out in 1949 and where our children were born in the late 1970s. I also remember the poultry part of the cattle market but the rest is a mystery.
I should be very grateful to hear the memories of CF members of the Paynes Park, Lairage and Old Park Road area.
David Tookey.
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12. Heather Cotton.
It has been a great year for butterflies, and garden birds. I’ve been counting butterflies on Norton Common, Letchworth for the Butterfly Survey and here are some pictures. if you can catch them before they warm up, they sit still in the sun, and if you don’t cast a shadow on them, photos are possible.
Ringlet
Gatekeeper
Comma
Comma
Brimstone
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However, can you look out for this fellow?
He looks like a butterfly in size, mine had yellow legs. (No camera with me, this is from https://butterfly-conservation.org/moths/box-tree-moth.) They turned up/were released in Kent in 2007 and are spreading, known to be in our area.
“Where larval numbers are high it can disfigure ornamental Box hedgerows and topiary and can defoliate plants completely. The Box-tree Moth is also considered to be a serious pest in parts of Europe on various species of box. In late 2018 Butterfly Conservation updated its advice note on this species.”
They suggest you pick off caterpillars, or use nemotodes.
Heather
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