Spotted on Hoylake Beach today - around 21,000 Knot, 1000 Sanderling and 480 Grey Plover...tired and hungry from their flight from the Arctic, around 2250 miles away (Canada and Greenland). Here in Hoylake to relax, recover and get a good feed over the winter, before their flight back next April where they will meet a nice partner and build a nest back in the Arctic. A 5000 mile round trip to chill out in Hoylake...

Did you know... ... that today is Shakespeare's Wedding Day? In 1582, William Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway.

26th November

It was two years ago today that Mum joined the angels, I say no more.




My ex fiancee wrote a tribute on her blog and for your information if you haven't read it before can be found by clicking *"Here"* it remains the most beautiful thing ever said about Mum and again I thank you Jules. 

Facebook and the Photoblog are featuring this pic,  and on Friday Matt's flowers were thrown in to the river just up from the Maritime museum.

Musically of course, just in case you didn't know the day is sponsored by the two pieces featured throughout her wonderful life. Be surprised if you didn't already know....

The Boss

and the mighty Meatloaf.........

UPDATE

Mum never met my Grandaughter, or her Mum if it comes to that!! She would have loved Elise - despite the fact that she always said if I'd have been a girl I may not have made it past 4 years old and the same for my boys!! Far easier to show an older pic of Elise here because of severe 11 month old grumpiness!!

However I can hear her saying, "But I've always been a Great Grandma!" Of course that is true but of course she would have loved to have been a Great Grandma!! 

Mum was world famous for her hot chocolates, so today was a good day to sample the opposition!! The hot chocolate wasn't as good but the Tia Maria in it just made it a winner!! 

TODAY'S SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT IS RIGHT HERE.

Thanksgiving Day!

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.  ~John Fitzgerald Kennedy

"Thankful"

Week before Thanksgiving,

I limp around real strange.

Huddle in the corner,

As though I have the mange.

All the other turkeys,

Just gobble, gobble on.

I'm silent, and I act

As if my gobbler's gone.

Everyone is thankful

On Thanksgiving Day.

Friday it's forgotten.

You all go on your way.

I know what thankful is

So listen when I say.

"It's great to be a turkey,

After Thanksgiving Day." 

More Thanksgiving 'stuff'....here and here!!

Turkey Vulture.........

"Well the news isn't all bad Mr Turkey Vulture! It's not all good either, I have to say!!
Since there are no Turkeys on Cuba, where you are native, people that celebrate Thanksgiving on Cuba will eat you! That is of course if they can catch you, because you unlike your American Bird cousins can fly and boy do you fly!! Also you fly mainly over water which is an additional problem in catching you!
Thanksgiving since 1959 has been deemed by the Cuban government as "too American" to be openly celebrated, therefore most people settle for the Cuban Catholics harvest celebration on the third Sunday of October, which doesn't involve the eating of vast quantities of any meat at all.
For those that do celebrate Thanksgiving as a turkey eating competition will therefore be able to afford to go to the large hotels where at a considerable cost 'real' turkey can be brought in special!!"

"From a photographers view point, this pic was the result of nearly an hour of watching you and your friends and family flying seemingly aimlessly around the harbour, never landing for a second!! Thank you for getting maybe just a tad tired or for landing briefly to let me take my pic so I would go and stop bothering you!"

Thanksgiving Week

Welcome to Thanksgiving Week across all three of my blogs.

Here, there and of course here!

So here it’s everybody else’s art as well as my own but obviously on the other two it’s only my own pics….. but you know that already don’t you……..

So to Tuesday and there I was looking through Google, say it like it's a library and you don't feel so guilty, for Thanksgiving inspiration and found mention of a film called, 'Thanksgiving'. 

Yay - success. 

Strange  that I hadn't heard of it though? Well it is only a 13 minute short!!

It is 'HERE"!

Does just go to show though doesn't it? There hasn't been a movie made about any other fourth Thursday of a month!!

Tuesday over here too!!

Hell in Texas.

So because of the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix the world is looking towards Austin, Texas but it's not the first time that Texas has been in the spotlight, so to speak! 

Every dreamer knows that it is possible to be homesick for a place you've never been to.

Puppy Text

Aww this is brilliant!! Puppy Text!!

Look at this closely.... yes they are all puppies!! Chocolate Labrador puppies at that!!

Recipe time....

Once again this year ive had request for my Tequila Christmas Cake recipe here you go, follow carefully!!!-
1 cup sugar, 1tsp baking powder, 1 cup water, 1tsp salt, 1cup brown sugar, butter, lemon juice, 4 large eggs, nuts, 1 bottle of Tequila, 2 cups dried fruit. Sample a cup of Tequila to check quality. Take a large bowl, check Tequila again to be sure it is of the highest quality then repeat. Turn on electric mixer. Beat one cup of butter in a large fluffy bowl. Add sugar, beat again At this point try the Tequila again just to make sure its still ok, a cup of it. Turn of mixerer thingy. break 2 eegs and udd to the bowl and chuck in cup of dried fruit...Pick fruit up off floor, wash it, put it in the bowl a piece at a time. Mix on the turnerer. If the fried druit getsa stuck in the beaterers just pry it loose with a drewscriver. sample tequila to test tonsisticity. Next, sift 2 cups of salt, or something. Check Tequila. Shift Lemon juice and strain ya nuts. Add one table and a spoon or whatever it is. Grease the oven. Dont forget to beat off the turner. Finally, throw the bowl in the window,finish tequila and wipe counter with the cat......And Hey Pesto!!!

"THE INQUISITIVE MIND OF A CHILD"

Why are they selling poppies, Mummy?
The poppies, child, are flowers of love.
For the men who marched away.
But why have they chosen a poppy, Mummy?
Why not a beautiful rose?
Because my child, men fought and died in the fields where the poppies grow.

But why are the poppies so red, Mummy?Red is the colour of blood, my child.
The blood that our soldiers shed.
The heart of the poppy is black, Mummy.
Why does it have to be black?
Black, my child, is the symbol of grief.

For the men who never came back.
But why, Mummy are you crying so?
Your tears are giving you pain.
My tears are my fears for you my child.
For the world is forgetting again.

A history lesson of sorts.

I really didn't like history at school and for a long time after. Until maybe when I was in my thirties and very strangely enough it may have taken a trip to North America to start really appreciating it. That is so ironic and I can't believe I just wrote it!! North America and history in the same sentence!!
Political involvement, going back to school and working in a museum over the years has obviously changed all that!! I love history, especially local history but in one way it's a bit late.
Today I went and took pictures of the first house I lived in and the first church I ever went in to and was in fact christened in. It was great I love creating an adventure! With photography you have to be historically, geographically and culturally aware so it was great to take pictures of the house on St. Matthew's block of Queens Drive, Liverpool's busy ring road. A house I lived with my Mum and Dad and Grandma for four years. I don't remember anything because it was the first four years of my life.
Thereby lies a problem. I am the last surviving member of the family that had any history in that house, at that church. I have no one I can ask questions of and get answers from and that is the essence of social history, enquiring and getting answers.
Did I get pushed to the local shops in my pram or did I get a bus or even a tram? Where my first toddling footsteps down towards the church? How often did we go to church? What was on the other end of the block, before Macdonalds?
Oh this isn't about poor pitiful me!
This is about asking questions, if you can, of your folks while they are around and while you can remember the answers, whether you like history or not!! The answers that you get are invaluable especially when you yourself are on the older side!!
For your information there are a couple of pics here and more over here. No questions!!

Did you know.......

...that today is Rolling Stone Magazine's birthday?

In 1967 the first issue of the magazine featured John Lennon on its cover.

The person who has been on the cover most in all time is Rolling Stone himself, Mick Jagger who has been on the cover of the magazine 27 times.

Aren't the movies just wonderful?!!

15 things we wouldn’t know if it wasn’t for the movies

1. The ventilation system of any building is the perfect hiding place. No one will ever think of looking for you in there, and you can travel to any other part of the building you want without difficulty.

2. You're very likely to survive any battle in any war unless you make the mistake of showing someone a picture of your sweetheart back home.

3. Should you wish to pass yourself off as a German officer, it is not necessary to speak the language. A German accent will do.

4. A man will show no pain while taking the most ferocious beating but will wince when a woman tries to clean his wounds.

5. If staying in a haunted house, women must investigate any strange noises in their most diaphanous underwear, which is just what they happened to be carrying with them at the time the car broke down.

6. If a large pane of glass is visible, someone will be thrown through it before long.

7. If someone says, "I'll be right back", they won't.

8. Computer monitors never display a cursor on screen but always say: Enter Password Now.

9. It is not necessary to say hello or goodbye when beginning or ending phone conversations. And none of your friends have to knock when they come for a visit.

10. Even when driving down a perfectly straight road, it is necessary to turn the steering wheel vigorously from left to right every few moments.

11. All bombs are fitted with electronic timing devices with large red readouts so you know exactly when they're going to go off.

12. A detective can only solve a case once he has been suspended from duty.

13. If you decide to start dancing in the street everyone around you will automatically be able to mirror all the steps you come up with and hear the music in your head.

14. Police departments give their officers personality tests to make sure they are deliberately assigned a partner who is their total opposite.

And last but not least -

15. When they are alone, all foreigners prefer to speak English to each other.

To the citizens of the United States of America from Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

A MESSAGE FROM THE QUEEN 

In light of your failure in recent years to nominate competent candidates for President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective immediately. (You should look up 'revocation' in the Oxford English Dictio

nary.)

Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths, and territories (except North Dakota, which she does not fancy).

Your new Prime Minister, David Cameron, will appoint a Governor for America without the need for further elections.

Congress and the Senate will be disbanded. A questionnaire may be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed.

To aid in the transition to a British Crown dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:

-----------------------

1. The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'colour,' 'favour,' 'labour' and 'neighbour.' Likewise, you will learn to spell 'doughnut' without skipping half the letters, and the suffix '-ize' will be replaced by the suffix '-ise.' Generally, you will be expected to raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels. (look up 'vocabulary').

------------------------

2. Using the same twenty-seven words interspersed with filler noises such as ''like' and 'you know' is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication. There is no such thing as U.S. English. We will let Microsoft know on your behalf. The Microsoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take into account the reinstated letter 'u'' and the elimination of '-ize.'

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3. July 4th will no longer be celebrated as a holiday.

-----------------

4. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers, or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows that you're not quite ready to be independent. Guns should only be used for shooting grouse. If you can't sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist, then you're not ready to shoot grouse.

----------------------

5. Therefore, you will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangerous than a vegetable peeler. Although a permit will be required if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.

----------------------

6. All intersections will be replaced with roundabouts, and you will start driving on the left side with immediate effect. At the same time, you will go metric with immediate effect and without the benefit of conversion tables. Both roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British sense of humour.

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7. The former USA will adopt UK prices on petrol (which you have been calling gasoline) of roughly $10/US gallon. Get used to it.

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8. You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call French fries are not real chips, and those things you insist on calling potato chips are properly called crisps. Real chips are thick cut, fried in animal fat, and dressed not with catsup but with vinegar.

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9. The cold, tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not actually beer at all. Henceforth, only proper British Bitter will be referred to as beer, and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be referred to as Lager. South African beer is also acceptable, as they are pound for pound the greatest sporting nation on earth and it can only be due to the beer. They are also part of the British Commonwealth - see what it did for them. American brands will be referred to as Near-Frozen Gnat's Urine, so that all can be sold without risk of further confusion.

---------------------

10. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as good guys. Hollywood will also be required to cast English actors to play English characters. Watching Andie Macdowell attempt English dialect in Four Weddings and a Funeral was an experience akin to having one's ears removed with a cheese grater.

---------------------

11. You will cease playing American football. There is only one kind of proper football; you call it soccer. Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which has some similarities to American football, but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body armour like a bunch of nancies).

---------------------

12. Further, you will stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to host an event called the World Series for a game which is not played outside of America. Since only 2.1% of you are aware there is a world beyond your borders, your error is understandable. You will learn cricket, and we will let you face the South Africans first to take the sting out of their deliveries.

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13.. You must tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us mad.

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14. An internal revenue agent (i.e. tax collector) from Her Majesty's Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all monies due (backdated to 1776).

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15. Daily Tea Time begins promptly at 4 p.m. with proper cups, with saucers, and never mugs, with high quality biscuits (cookies) and cakes; plus strawberries (with cream) when in season.

God Save the Queen!

NO sun--no moon!
No morn--no noon!
No dawn--no dusk--no proper time of day--
No sky--no earthly view--
No distance looking blue--
No road--no street--no "t'other side this way"--
No end to any Row--
No indications where the Crescents go--
No top to any steeple--
No recognitions of familiar people--
No courtesies for showing 'em--
No knowing 'em!
No traveling at all--no locomotion--
No inkling of the way--no notion--
"No go" by land or ocean--
No mail--no post--
No news from any foreign coast--
No Park, no Ring, no afternoon gentility--
No company--no nobility--
No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease,
No comfortable feel in any member--
No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees,
No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds--
November!

Thomas Hood