Archives for April 2009

Fotheringhay is too beautiful for the dead…

April 30, 2009 By Cari

One of the lions from Fotheringhay Castle

While I was in Aldeburgh last Saturday I found a book called The Haunted South, by Joan Forman. In it the author drives around the South of England through all sorts of little villages and notes any documented cases of ghostly encounters. In the book the author mentioned in passing the church at Fotheringhay, Northhamptonshire and that it “…carries echoes of the fourteenth century in the sound of drums and trumpets from within the building.” Fotheringhay isn’t very far from where I live. I visited the village last year with my sister, though we didn’t go into the church. It started to snow as we crawled into the car to thaw out and neither of us felt like getting out again to see a freezing church. My desire to visit was renewed!

I mentioned to the Goblin that the church was supposedly haunted with ghostly music and hinted we could go take pictures and see the church. [Read more…] about Fotheringhay is too beautiful for the dead…

The splendour of rapeseed…

April 25, 2009 By Cari

The Goblin wanted to go to the beach today so we ended up at Aldeburgh in Suffolk. I love Aldeburgh. It’s a pebble beach lined with cute old houses painted mainly in pastel colours. And then there’s the main street with lots of cute shops. I’d hoped to take the camera with me into town, but the Goblin was starving when we arrived so he rushed me away from the car with protests that we could come back for it later after he’d eaten (he knew I’d want to stop and take photos on the way), but of course by the time we ended up back at the car he’d had enough sun and wind and wanted to head home.

Weaving through the Suffolk countryside I stared out the window as we drove past endless possible pictures…the light was gorgeous and the colours like jewels. I asked him if he came across a good place to stop if he could pull over so I could take some photos. He said he’d try. He ended up driving into Otley and down a country lane where we found a field of rapeseed and a place to park. I got out of the car and was hit by this amazing smell and this sheet of bright yellow next to a bright blue sky. I’d never actually been near a field of rapeseed before, let alone stood in one. It was quite amazing. It’s not a native plant and you can tell from a distance because it looks like an evil giant has come along and painted weird shapes of acid-yellow over green fields, but with just the rapeseed and the blue sky it was lovely. I thought I’d just share a few favorite pictures from my stop. [Read more…] about The splendour of rapeseed…

King John slept through the visit…

April 21, 2009 By Cari

The Goblin had the day off. When I asked him yesterday what he planned to do today he said he wanted to drive over to Coventry and Birmingham to look at several cars he’d found on the internet. Our present car is rusting badly so it’s time to replace it. I had to go with him to test drive the passenger seat and on hearing he wanted to go as far as Birmingham my eyes lit up as I asked, “Isn’t Worcester near Birmingham?” Sort of, he said. “Well, if we have to spend the money on petrol (gas) to drive all that way can’t we stop off at Worcester on the way back so I can see the Cathedral…where King John is buried?” I’ve been reminding him regularly that I wanted to visit King John so he knew what I wanted to see in Worcester, but I mentioned it just incase he’d forgotten on purpose. [Read more…] about King John slept through the visit…

Book review: Doctor of Love James Graham and His Celestial Bed

April 17, 2009 By Cari

“Originality is not achieved by striving for it.” This is one of my favorite quotes. To me this means that the only way we can be original is to simply be ourselves. The moment we strive to be original our efforts end up morphing into a mess because we’re trying to be something we’re not. We lose the plot and our efforts (whatever they might be) end up…unoriginial. James Graham, an 18th century medical doctor who specialised in sexual health, was not only original but ahead of his time in many respects. Given the finite knowledge any good doctor actually had about the human body in the 1780’s a lot of medical care was either down to medical customs (sometimes more deadly than the ailment) or unfounded, untested quackery. Bascially, anyone who could afford to attend medical classes and make himself sound like a doctor…could set himself up as a doctor. [Read more…] about Book review: Doctor of Love James Graham and His Celestial Bed

Memories bloom like flowers in a lush green lawn…

April 8, 2009 By Cari

On Monday afternoon memories collided with the present. When I learned a friend from highschool would be passing through Stamford with her daughter to see Burghley House I offered to put them up and I’m so glad they stopped over. It was lovely to see her, meet her daughter and talk about the past and the present. We talked about memories, writing, books and people we used to know. Yesterday morning we went up to Burghley House and I took 235 pictures. With the clouds passing quickly over bright sunshine it was one of those days where pictures seem to appear and disappear as fast as you can raise your camera, but I kept snapping [Read more…] about Memories bloom like flowers in a lush green lawn…

Memories collide at The 24 hour Church of Elvis…

April 6, 2009 By Cari

After leaving High School I moved to Portland, Oregon to study fashion design. I actually graduated (I understand only about six of us did), but I haven’t yet used my degree unless you count my time in a costume shop where after three Halloweens my love of dressing up was savaged into oblivion. I never expected to start my fashion design company until I was in my 40’s so techincally you could say I’m still on target…unless I fall on my head and forget I’m a designer or I die before I can prove to the world I’m as good as I think I am. Yes, my teachers loved me! Can you feel the sarcasm? During my second year we had to find and serve a short internship with an actual fashion design company. I dreaded the whole idea of finding a place so I put it off until one day I turned down this small lane I’d never walked down before [Read more…] about Memories collide at The 24 hour Church of Elvis…