UK 2012 ISSUE 7

 Just made it back from a walk around the neighbourhood.  It's nearly 9:00 in the evening and the sun has not yet made it to the horizon; it is no where near getting dark.  As if getting dark late were not enough 5:00 a.m. doesn't exactly look like the middle of the night. Ain't it amazing what going further north does for the number of hours of daylight. Just for grins and giggles checked latitude and sunset times for San Francisco: L 37.775, sunset is at 8:22 p.m., Ashland: L 42.194, sunset is at 8:37, Leicester: L 52.635, sunset is at 9:12 and Anchorage L 61.1919, sunset is at 11:09.

Corrections (thank you Mick): the river running through Lincoln is the Trent not the Severn. There were 100 foot spires on the towers of Lincoln Cathedral which made it the tallest building in the world at the time. Rape is not a verb, but a noun and is a plant with a bright yellow flower, that looks much like wild mustard.  At home it may be "amber waves of grain", in the Midlands it is definitely "sunshine fields of rape".  Don't believe I have shared a picture of the fields, it is really difficult to capture the rolling landscape with the patchwork field system.  Farming is not on such a grand scale as we are accustomed to in the West.  The fields are generally small, often not more than a couple of acres.  As often as not they are separated by hedges of wild hawthorn and brambles or walls of un-reinforced stones gathered from the fields.  On grey days the vibrant yellow of the rape makes a sharp contrast with the skies and when the sun comes out they simply light up, lifting your spirits with their colour.    

Borrowed from the Web

Donation Urinal

So where have we been and what have we done that I have not shared? Not all that much really. There was an outing to the Abbey Pumping Station in Leicester. I was thinking water pump but no, in fact it was an old sewage pumping station. Power, water, sewer, these are all things which we pretty much take for granted, they have become just a part of what we call normal.  It is somewhat comforting to know there are people who look after these very necessary components of  every day life.  Perhaps our sophistication and technology have changed but the infrastructure has been around a long while.  Even Roman Britain had baths, and plumbing and steam rooms.  Come to find out the reason Beaumont Leys (where our local Tesco is located) has such a poor reputation is because it was the terminus for the Victorian era sewage disposal system. The station itself was in a rather graceful red brick building (what else would they build with around here) and the old pump machinery, which had been in operation until 1964, was intact. It had a wonderful little museum which explored the art and science of eliminating those substances which we in the course of a day eliminate. Loved the container for the collection of donations.  When you walk in the door you almost immediately see a urinal hung on the wall with the word "Donations" and arrow pointing in to its' porcelain bowl.  There was all sorts of “potty” trivia,  words pictures and descriptions which to some would be considered “potty mouth”. Shit and piss, as words describing elimination, have been in common usage in the English language since the 1300's, while Samuel Pepys referred to a “turd” and “taking a leak” in his diaries of the 1690's.  So fear not, were you to use the word shit, at least in reference to the act of going to the toilet, you are in good company.

Abbey Pump Station

Victorian Industrial Chic

There was a wonderful example of why you may hear the phrase “pull the chain” as a euphemism for flushing the toilet. There were displays about chamber pots and multi-hole pit toilets. Much like rural America lots of people had sheds at the bottom of the garden to do their business and even if all the conveniences were readily available it didn't mean they had the water source or the means to remove said water from inside the house. As I pointed out previously, remodelling or adding to a brick structure is not always a simple task. One of my favourite stories: During the 1930's there was a program to replace wooden toilet seats with ones made of Bakelite, as it was thought to be more hygienic. One family got there new seat but had ideas of there own. . . the bath was used for storing coal, the flushing toilet, with seat removed, was used for rinsing dishes. The missing toilet seat? That was hanging on the wall framing a picture of King George V.

Warwick Peacock

We made a trip to Warwick castle for a day out with some of Mick's cousins. If you want to know the history, etc try Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warwick_Castle. I didn't learn much on this adventure.  Must say, though, it was a great day out, laughing and joking with people our age, rather than the senior set. Yes, I know, to some of you we are a part of the senior set but there's senior and then there is SENIOR and I don't believe I will lay claim to either of those designations. At any rate the grounds were lovely, well manicured but, somewhat sterile and definitely lacking in the history and reader boards one comes to expect in buildings of its ilk. Come to find out it is owned by Merlin Entertainment, second only to Disney in size of amusement park operators. That may explain why there was so little history and it felt just a little too well maintained.  The one thing in their favour, at least the building and environs are being maintained, which is more than the previous landed gentry were able to do.  

Rooftops from Warwick Castle

Boat House on the River Avon Warwick Castle

Belton House - A Stately Pile

Belton House

Fields of golden Daffodils

Next week promises to be a bit more exciting, booked a get-away to the Peak District through Living Social. Not the classiest lodging but serviceable and cheap (I hope). Hopefully tomorrow we will take possession of a 2000 Fiat Punto. We felt we couldn't leave Dad without wheels for a prolonged period, even if doesn't do more than drive to the village for Church on Sunday. Hiring a vehicle can get expensive quite quickly. So, we bought ourselves a “beater”. We gave Stefan, the owner, a check which should clear by tomorrow. In the meantime he will get the leaky radiator replaced and have the oil and filters changed. Started out looking at Craig's List but found only four cars listed.  This seemed rather curious so had a general sort of look around.  Craig's List certainly has not taken off in Leicester, perhaps a more sophisticated Londoner would find it more to their taste. There were any number of categories that had no entries at all.  Makes you wonder how the site got established and why it remains given the lack of use. 

Lacking anything of interest on the net we went to the Leicester Mercury, the local paper, where we found plenty of classified ads. The newspaper seems to alive in well in the UK unlike its American counterpart.  Went with the Fiat on a gut feeling that the dude selling it was on the up and up. Found a leaky radiator, maybe it's just a hose, when we went to pay him. So for the original price he has agreed to take it to his wife's uncle who is a mechanic for a replacement radiator and to have the oil changed etc.  He, the uncle, has done all the work on the beast since they have owned it, which is either a very good thing or a very bad thing.  Only time will tell and since it only needs to last until September, we're good. The thing that most recommended it was that its MOT is good until next March and the tax, ie.,  license, is paid until October.

 The MOT is the big thing. After a car is three years old there is an annual test and inspection by the Ministry of Transport. I really wanted to write the Ministry of Funny Walks, thank you John Cleese. They look at everything, seat belts, windshield wipers, exhaust systems, tires, brakes, etc. If you don't pass you don't get your sticker, if you don't get your sticker you better not be driving the vehicle.  It is far more comprehensive than anything I have seen in the states.  As I understand it either you get all the bits in compliance or the certificate will not be issued.  No maximum expenditure, no appeals, just fix it or junk it.  This probably explains why you see so few really beat up cars in the UK. 

 Will begin sharing some pictures with you, this is easier than trying to put them up on Flickr, unless I want to buy a membership.  Blogger purports to have a slideshow that will run at the bottom of the post but I have had no success in setting it up.  If there is anyone out there who has done it please share the how to with me.  As to the pictures, most of them are nothing special so you it's a matter of wysiwyg (what you see is what you get), but they will give you a bigger sense of what it is like over here. 

Warwick Castle Ramparts

Warwick Castle

Castle Garden

Down the Lane

It must be time to call it quits, these pictures are not always ending up where I expect them to be.  So will leave you with "Down the Lane" taken from the backseat while driving down the road.