shiny objects on the station at horsted keynes

light at the end of the tunnel

first class, non-smoking, yes please !

carriage restoration at horsted keynes ... its easy when you know how

oatmeal stout ... only two and six a dozen !

save yourself a lifetime of scholarship and bathe yourself in the reflected warmth of jenny uglow's brilliance

a little slice of ashdown forest

possibly the smartest doggie on the common

i wear my classical scholarship lightly

the child that books built

i felt myself drawn to the open door of a charity shop which usually fails to entice ... i spotted this book immediately and remembered the author's name being favourably reviewed elsewhere in recent years ... it is deeply engaging and occasionally challenging ... what's more ... the bbc have archived the author's reflections on the writing of it in five very short talks totalling about twenty minutes

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/speechanddrama/workinprogress/spufford.shtml

a tinge of frost

paint it black

paint it red

i've always imagined these interiors had erotic possibilities

but for a purer kind of nostalgia, listen instead to flanders and swann ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6OHD2uCpfU

little known chicago photographer re-discovered ... my thanks to metafilter

http://vivianmaier.blogspot.com/

inside the oranges and lemons church, saint clement danes

rootin' around

i've been plodding through the internet thingy, trying to discover the name of a girl, or girls, who sang a reggae version of the cliff richard hit "the young ones" back in the early eighties

no luck so far

but i did stumble upon a theological critique of popular singing that shouldn't have taken me by surprise, but quite startled me

http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?HD=1&ID=1786&CATE=142

'ow vexatious !

i'm still perplexed by this painting, a multiple portrait of the saltonstall family

second wife is sitting at the right holding the new baby, detached, expressionless

first wife, deceased, lays on the bed with eyes open holding out her hand

the tate gallery say she is gesturing towards her children

but every time i look at the painting, i think he is about to drop that glove into the palm of her hand

and if he was, then what did the glove or the action signify ?

the artist, thought to have been david des granges, left no explanation

the tate gallery website carries two descriptions of the work ...

http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ViewWork?cgroupid=999999968&workid=3821&searchid=15051

https://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ViewWork?cgroupid=999999961&workid=3821&searchid=10739&roomid=false&tabview=text&texttype=9

Maybe this item on the symbolism of gloves in Freemasonry offers a clue:

http://www.sacred-texts.com/mas/sof/sof22.htm

... and this one by a glovemaker ...

http://www.glove.org/gallery/mirianna.php

Etc., etc.

So I've reached a point where I'm prepared to believe that both ladies are dressed in white to show their innocence before their "Maker", and that the glove itself may possibly symbolize the honest and legal transfer of their property when the ownership of various estates was changed by marriage.

Much, much later ... THINKS: possibly, the dead lady is gesturing a request that he continue to care for their children after his second marriage, and maybe  the white glove signifies his honourable assent.

librarianette's corner, chez micawber

old father tempus fugit at cranbrook in kent