Today I am spending the day in Nottingham with my brother to celebrate his birthday and tomorrow is the long awaited Shutterchance meet up at Cosford Museum. As a non shutterchancer I will be gatecrashing the meetup again 
12 Comments CherryPie on May 10th 2014
…and lockhouse
Both buildings are the remains of a complex which at the end of the fifteenth century comprised seven water mills. Most were demolished after the water supply was cut off in 1907. The fulling of woolen cloth i.e. cleaning and thickening process, were carried out at the fulling mill.*
*Information from a sign board beside the mill
8 Comments CherryPie on May 9th 2014
When in Belgium some things just have to be done
16 Comments CherryPie on May 8th 2014
In the shadow of St Rumbold’s Tower is a unique historical monument. ‘De Cellekens’ was originally a charitable institution which took in needy women without a family to care for them. The three wings form a U-shape around the magnificent enclosed garden. The convent building in the middle and left and right are little houses with round arched doors built in 1854. Originally each door provided access to two small rooms with bed, cupboard, chair and table. The institution derives its name from these little ‘cells’. ‘De Cellekens’ was empty for a long time until the new owners, artist Mariette Teugels and her photographer husband Herman Smet, restored the building.*
Margaret specialises in busts, sculptures of animals and the human figure and some of her work can be seen in the garden. The Cells are not open to the public.
*From Hotelmagazine 2014-2015 Welcome in Mechelen
14 Comments CherryPie on May 7th 2014
We have recently started to tackle our back garden and get it back under control. Last bank holiday Sunday we picked up some plants for the patio pots to give us a bit of colour in the summer months.
Whilst planting up the pots I heard the rather distinctive throaty humming of a petrol engine plane in the skies above. Shortly afterwards a Hawker Hurricane with D day landing markings came into view. It circled around and then did a few aerobatic maneuvers before flying off into the distance. We were left wondering why it was flying in our sleepy bit of the world.
It was only later when driving to my mum’s house for dinner, that I realised it must have been part of the ‘Help for Heroes’ charity event that was taking place that day. It was organised by the landlord and lady of a pub (The Plough Inn) which is near to where my mum lives. As we drove past the vicinity of the pub there was a crowd of people and there were crowd control barriers to stop anybody spilling out onto the road. A marquee had been erected outside the pub and there was a handy fish and chip van nearby for those in need of a bite to eat.
Lined up in front of the pub, which was adorned with camouflage netting, were four armored vehicles; a Spartan, Sultan, Ferret and Scimitar. I recalled recently seeing a fire engine outside the pub and after briefly wondering if there was a problem I noticed several firemen on ladders putting up the cam netting.
We could hear the revelry carrying on into the evening whilst we sat in mum’s conservatory after dinner.
Well done the Plough Inn for arranging this community event that generates donations of money for such a worthy cause.
14 Comments CherryPie on May 6th 2014
No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.
Buddha
12 Comments CherryPie on May 5th 2014
Whilst I was in the office today I was busily getting on with some work when I heard someone say ‘there is a teddy bear walking past the building’. I thought this was a rather odd thing to say and carried on working. Then someone started to laugh and I looked up to see several people standing and staring out of the windows behind me. I turned round to see what they were looking at. I couldn’t see anything so I stood up for a better look. Just at that moment a life sized teddy bear appeared in front of the nearest window and waved at me!!
The bear then proceeded past the window and in through the main entrance to our building. A few minutes later he walked into the office accompanied by a human carrying a bucket to collect money for the charity ‘Help for Heroes’. It was only after the arrival of the bear that we received an email advising us to expect his presence in the building.
14 Comments CherryPie on May 2nd 2014
