the ivy league ... oh what a tangled web they'll weave

a quick dash in to burwash church to re-visit meg lawrence's millenium window

having visited lieutenant crundwell at groombridge ( see below ), i stopped to say "hullo" to the ghost of lieutenant john kipling at burwash, and found a small embroidery among the flowers at the foot of the pinnacle

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2007/nov/04/books.military

on a dusty window ledge in burwash church

( not THE ) groombridge church is small with big windows but i cannot get in today ... instead, i find an interesting new grave near the bottom of the churchyard

http://www.speldhurst.org/church/groom%20history.asp

"whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent" ... lieutenant toby crundwell, aged 25, RIP

http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/news/Soldier-Toby-hit-killed-train/article-2070012-detail/article.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tractatus_Logico-Philosophicus

if you go down in the woods today ...

the woods are a-buzzing again

THE INTRODUCTORY DISCUSSION IN A SINGLE SENTENCE FOR THIS WEEK'S SERMON ON THE HEREAFTER TRANSCRIBED FROM AN ANCIENT PAPYRUS JUST RECENTLY DISCOVERED AMONGST THE BONES OF SABRE TOOTHED TIGERS AND WOOLLY MAMMOTHS IN A CAVE CLOSE TO THE SNOWLINE IN A DENSELY FORESTED AREA OF PUTNEY HEATH.

Verily, I say unto you a Woman’s Work is never done and so, because they are innumerable, one may confidently deduce that preserving the immaculate perfection of the dazzling heavenly hosts’ gleaming pristine seamless raiment might require considerable logistical ingenuity from His Launderers in Eternity yet it can never be beyond the compass of the Almighty to organize and implement effective and practical procedures and so for this reason I feel encouraged to anticipate that the infinite ranks of heavenly choirs ascending ever upwards through the gilded clouds in to the inexpressible azureity can be discreetly re-robed by sensibly mingling in amongst their number those several blissful regiments of joyously resurrected multi-tasking housewives of all ages who will effortlessly contrive to sing their loud hosannas in matchless sweet and voluptuous harmonies whilst they too are borne aloft amidst heaven’s perpetual sunbeams unto everlasting ecstasy behind their God-given celestial ironing boards.

recommended sunday viewing ... the vatican have put an interactive view of the sistine chapel online ... do try it out ... saves a lot of neck ache ... wonderful

http://www.vatican.va/various/cappelle/sistina_vr/index.html

the renovation of room 46b at the V&A, the second castings gallery, is nearing completion and you are allowed in again

room 46b ( part 2 )

room 46b ( part 3 )

room 46b ( part 4 )

room 46b ( part 5 )

olympian social workers veto stygian bath nights

a bit of local colour at clapham junction

a flying horse at the edge of clapham common

five to four ... my working days begin here

tropic of croydon

HEROES

In the mid-afternoon heat of last summer our bus was creeping up West Hill towards home and we were passing the Wandsworth Fire Station at walking pace.



All of the windows on the bus were wide open and so it was possible to hear clearly that a telephone was ringing in the gleaming fire engine that was parked in a big puddle on the forecourt, having just been washed.



A tall and slender young fireman in ceremonial uniform appeared in the shadows of the garage wearing his shiny peaked cap and a high-waisted jacket with a double row of large silver buttons, smartly creased trousers and gleaming shoes. He’d probably just come from his graduation ceremony and must have been despatched from the rest room in some haste to check the call.  He moved forward purposefully in to the light.



A movement on the roof of the fire station caught my attention. Two grinning firemen in yellow waterproofs, surely the ones who’d just cleaned that fire-engine, were leaning forward and were already tilting their buckets, about to drench the new graduate … but just at that moment our bus turned the corner.

a disused pub, "the neville crest and gun", awaiting renovation at eridge green

the neville family was already rarther posh in the 15th century and eventually became the earls of abergavenny ... hence the capital letter A

how they'll spend your money ( chapter nine hundred and ninety-nine ) ... would you care to guess where petrol costs $400 dollars a gallon ?

http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2009/12/17/burning-borrowed-money-in-americas-wars/

passing one's local department store, one is immediately reminded of the late philip larkin ...

http://www.poetryarchive.org/poetryarchive/singlePoem.do?poemId=7108

easy when you know how

there was a fabulous free concert in the national gallery on friday evening featuring violinist joo yeon sir, cellist jean samuel jaeger, and pianist maggie ho

http://www.rcm.ac.uk/?pg=5591

the problem for the next few weeks will be choosing whether to go to the national gallery or to the victoria and albert on friday evenings

http://www.vam.ac.uk/activ_events/events/friday_evenings/index.html

brrr! its a "staying-in-and-reading-a-bloody-good-book" sort of a weekend