Today was rather unsettling; things changing and people moving on causing a tinge of sadness all round.
The funeral service of one of Mr C’s closest friends took place. I still find it difficult to take in the reality as he was so young and full of life. Rest in peace Bri I raise a glass to you.
As the evening twilight fades away the sky is filled with stars invisible by day.
Longfellow
Today also saw the departure of two of my work colleagues to pastures new due to restructuring of our organisation. One of those colleagues currently sat close to me and was a live wire inspiring everyone he came into contact with. He had only been working with us for a year and didn’t want to leave but his contract was due to expire and he had to plan for his family and future.
My other colleague is leaving on a voluntary early release scheme. She started working for the organisation the same year as I did. It seems like a lifetime ago now as I look back over all those years. I am sure we will keep in touch and I will be seeing her on the longstanding annual London trip in November.
The three goodbyes led to hugs and tears along the way…
Tags: Family, Friends, Good Friends, Journey, Life, Love
Today was my first day back to work after the bank holiday weekend. Weather-wise it can only be described as a wash out. Rain, rain and more rain. However the weekend itself was not a wash out.
The new cooker has been repaired, all that was required was a new bolt on the fan. It turned out that the one it came with was not to spec and also threadless!!
On Saturday we undertook a two hour journey to spend the day with my 90 year old aunt. This left us with Sunday and Monday free to do as we pleased.
The weather looked promising on Sunday morning so we ventured out to Ludlow for the afternoon. As soon as we set off the weather turned and it started to rain. When we arrived we visited Ludlow Castle book shop because Mr C thought there might be some books to interest him there. He came away empty handed. We walked through the bank holiday stalls and detoured into The Parish Church of St Laurence which we found to be a lovely church with interesting history and spectacular stained glass windows.
We didn’t stay very long because whilst we were there a baptism service started to be conducted near the main entrances to the church. Both Mr C and I thought it was inappropriate that visitors should still be allowed to wander round the church whilst a religious service was going on so we discreetly made our way back to the entrance and left. We will take time to visit the church when we are next in Ludlow. It was raining as we left the church so we returned home via the Ludlow food centre.
On Monday it was raining again so we spent the day at home working on the house and I had an extra day off on Tuesday when to be honest I didn’t really do anything at all… I was feeling rather tired and lethargic.
Over the weekend we were also informed that Yodel had ‘lost’ another of our wine deliveries!! On the plus side the new curtain material eventually arrived and have now been made up into curtains and are now looking rather splendid in our living room nicely framing the view to our garden 
Tags: Bank Holiday, Cooker, Curtains, Ludlow, Parish Church of St Laurence, Rain, Wine, Yodel
The Place Royal stands on the old square of a magnificent palace of the Dukes of Brabant begun in the 13th century. Embellished in 1452 by Philippe le Bon, altered and fitted out by Archduke Albert and Archduchess Isabelle, it was ruined by a fire in 1731, then rebuilt. 40 years later as a rectangular square consisting of eight XVI-style mansions linked by porticos. Saint-Jaques sur Coudnberg, the neoclassical church, dominated in the centre, since 1848, by a statue of Godefroy de Bouillon, King of Jerusalem, setting off on the First Crusade.
The medieval abbey church that originally stood on this location was demolished by command of Charles Alexander of Lorraine during his expansive urban planning projects, despite having escaped the great fire of 1731 that destroyed the nearby Coudenberg Palace. The new church was built in line with rue Montagne de la Cour/Hofberg on its present location at the Place Royale. Construction of the facade was started by architect Gilles-Barnabé Guimard after the designs of Jean-Benoît-Vincent Barré (1775). The first stone was solemnly laid by Charles Alexander of Lorraine on the 12th of February 1776. The portico was finished in 1780. The nave, transept, choir and sacristy were built under supervision of Louis Montoyer in the years 1785-1786. After the consecration of the building it was in use as abbey- and parishchurch at the same time. Moreover it was the official church of the court of the Governors of the Habsburg Netherlands. The present building was designed to serve as the Church of the Abbey of Saint-Jacques on the Coudenberg and therefore has a deep extended choir with place for choir stalls for the monks.
During the French Revolution, the abbey was suspended and the church was made into a Temple of Reason, and then later into a Temple of Law. The church was returned toCatholic control in 1802. On July 21, 1831, Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha took the oath that made him H.M. Leopold I, the first King of the Belgians, on the front steps of the church. The building lost somewhat of its typical neoclassical temple-like appearance by the addition in the 19th-century of a bell tower (after the design of Tilman-François Suys) and a coloured fresco by Jean Portaels on the pediment.
Tags: Brussels, Godefroy de Bouillon, King of Jerusalem, Saint Jacques-sur-Coudenberg, Sint-Jacob-op-Koudenberg, Vacation
The wine of life is oozing drop by drop,
The leaves of life are falling one by one.
Omar Khayyam
Tags: Arley Arboretum, Autumn, Cherie's Place Thought, Leaves
As we turn our backs to the steps that lead to the Garden of Mont des Arts we see some Art Nouveau buildings on our way to the Place Royal.
A key Art Nouveau structure, the building was erected in Brussels in 1886. Now fully restored, these former “Old England” shops have regained their full glory. The marvelous museum has an amazing collection of some 7000 instruments representing a large number of countries. The central tower welcomes visitors to a pleasant tea room with a sweeping view of the city.
If I had known about the tea room when we were there, I would have made sure that we visited and rested a while there 
Tags: Brussels, Musical Instruments, Vacation
A fountain with 9 jets of water is at the centre of the garden. The stairs that lead to the garden are decorated with reliefs of Oscar Jespers, Charles Leplae and Rik Poot. The rows of trees lead towards the statue of King Albert I on his horse below. On the right, little fountains and a small playground for children. The garden is a link between the old town and the royal library Albert I, the Royal Museums of Fine art of Belgium, the royal Film library and the museum of Cinema (Cinematek), the memorial for King Baudouin…
“May you spend many years at Maredsous in the supreme comfort of soul that is given, to natures touched by grace, by faith in God’s infinite power and confidence in His goodness.”
— from a letter written by Albert I, King of the Belgians to his former tutor, General De Grunne, after the general retired to the Benedictine monastery at Maredsous, Belgium
At the base of the monumental staircase leading to the garden of the Mont des Arts (Kunstberg in Flemish) stands an equestrian bronze of Albert I, King of the Belgians from 1909 to 1934.
Designed by Alfred Courtens (1889-1967), it was unveiled in 1951. Mont des Arts is dedicated to the memory of Albert I, known as the “soldier king,” one of Belgium’s most popular monarchs.
Tags: Belgium, King Albert the First, Leuven, The Garden of Mont des Arts, Vacation
