And here on Paradise Island it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.
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| http://www.flickr.com/photos/lindabowman/ |
Miggy's busy in the kitchen. We all want some figgy pudding and we want it right now.
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We want chestnuts roasting on an open fire.
Unfortunately, the men of Fribble and Drizzly seem to be having a difficult time bringing in the yule log.
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| http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Defense.gov |
How hard can it be? In Victorian times, the children did it.
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| http://www.flickr.com/photos/nsarchives/11222221966/ |
Yet in the dark streets shineth the garland guerillas.
They're bringing glad tidings of comfort and joy, whether we want them or not.
Our little Fribble-under-Par may lie still but it looks like Tinsel Town.
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| http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikecogh/ |
The stockings are hung on the benches with care.
Whether St. Nicholas will soon be there or not, I don't know. At the moment he seems to be benched.
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| www.asianreplicas.com |
My dog Sit has a very shiny nose. He doesn't look much like Rudolph though, does he?
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| http://www.flickr.com/photos/mujitra/ |
My imaginary husband Mungo is trying to put up the lights on Miggy's house.
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| http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Christmas_decoration |
We have one or two decorations on our house too. To the earth we give great light.
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| http://www.flickr.com/photos/kurtz433/ |
We're trying to bring joy to the world. But Elf and Safety is a nightmare.
Nevertheless, I'm dreaming of a white Christmas with every Christmas card I write.
And sure enough, it looks like all our Christmases may be white.
Outside the snow is falling and friends are calling yoo-hoo! I can't imagine why.
Snow has fallen, snow on snow. Snow on snow on snow.
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| http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ryde_Esplanade by Lucy Boynton |
I was going to run and have some fun before the snowpersons melted away.
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| www.etsy.com/shop/phiferart |
But so it's been said many times, many ways: there's just too bloody much to do.
If we can just get everything done, it looks like we'll have ourselves a merry little Christmas.
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| www.etsy.com/shop/mamamare |
But first, we're gone a-wassailing all over town.
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| www.etsy.com/shop/curiousartlab |
Some of the drinks are very good value this time of year.
Then, sleighbells ring. Are you listening?
On the Lego benches snow is glistening.
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It's a beautiful site.
No, it isn't.
Yes it is!
Oh, it's lovely weather for a sleighride together with . . . well, I'm not sure who.
My real husband, His Excellency, doesn't like the cold. He's not a jolly, happy soul. In fact, he's a grinch when it comes to Christmas.
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| www.etsy.com/shop/runningwithscissors |
He was going to go away for Christmas but I stopped him. I said I'd have a blue, blue Christmas without him.
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| http://www.flickr.com/photos/kurtz433/ |
And now I have to find him a present. Yet what can I give him, poor as I am?
Oh no, not the Christmas shopping thing again. I've already covered that. Started on Black Bench Friday this year.
The gifts are wrapped and under the tree. If we had any children they would be gazing open-mouthed, taken by surprise.
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| www.etsy.com/shop/animalhairstuff |
Yes, I have wrapped up our cats Rosie and Melissa. That's not them in this package though.
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| http://www.flickr.com/photos/whimsicalwoodland/ |
As for Mungo, I've got him an unusual gift this year: myhrr.
But now Miggy's saying it's not a suitable gift. Apparently its bitter perfume breathes a life of gathering gloom; it's a gift that leaves you cold.
What about an icicle bench then? It comes complete with its own goblin.
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| The Goblins' Christmas at http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/readfile?fk_files=1525623 |
In the dark streets of Fribble-under-Par, we hear the angels sing. And there's everlasting light shining upon the benches.
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| http://www.flickr.com/photos/jodax/ |
In fact, if you look-ed up, you'd see a star.
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| http://www.flickr.com/photos/25802865@N08/ |
And come Bench Monday-before-Christmas it's a candy cane Christmas bench, as sweet as can be.
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| http://www.flickr.com/photos/rovinggirlnotes/ |
Our cheeks are nice and rosy and comfy and cozy are we.
We're binge-watching Christmas specials, snuggled up together on our benches.
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| www.etsy.com/shop/leddyslack |
We're walking in the air. We're dancing on the bench-back sky.
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Not everyone is decking the halls though. For some people, Christmas is just another day.
Lord Brassica, Fifth Earl of Drizzly, is a gentleman farmer so of course his work goes on year round. His cattle benches are lowing.
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| http://www.popartdecoration.com/ |
The shepherds watch his flocks by night, though why they are all seated on the ground I don't know; there are plenty of sheep benches around.
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| http://www.philart.net |
Lady Jessica is Lord Brassica's most highly favoured lady. Here she is on a bench some years ago, when their son Root was a baby.
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No, sorry. I have confused Lady B with Madonna here.
No, not THAT Madonna. The one who isn't Like a Virgin. The one who actually is a virgin.
After all these years it's good to see Mary and Joseph in a stable relationship. But I digress.
This is Lady B with Root's wife Innocent. The Holly and the Ivy. As you can see, they're both fully grown.
That's Lady Brassica on the right. She's the holly. And although this Christmas portrait might suggest a loving mother and daughter-in-law, you should know that the Holly bears a prickle as sharp as any thorn. Hmmmm.
Meanwhile, designer Joop has made Innocent a shiny ribbon dress for Christmas Eve.
As Lord Brassica would say, ding dong merrily on high.
This year Lady Jessica Brassica is missing Troy, who has been her constant companion since the summer. But now he has gone back to Dry Heaves, Minnesota and the other night Miggy saw Lady Jess kissing Santa Claus.
He got on his mobile and told quite a few people about it.
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But as this is the time for peace on earth and good tidings towards all men and Ladies, we'll say no more. Silent night and all that.
Hey, I hear the jingling of bells! Here comes Santa Claus, big fat Santa Claus, right down Fribble Lane! In fact, there are four of them.
Golly, Santa gets younger every year.
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| http://www.flickr.com/photos/emusing-emma/ |
Even so, he still knows who's been naughty and nice.
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| www.etsy.com/shop/littlechameleons |
Santa traverses afar bearing benches. It's exhausting work.
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| https://www.flickr.com/photos/ma1974/300288639 |
At least he's left us a commemorative bench to remember him by.
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| http://www.flickr.com/photos/legup2p/ |
So here we are, Merry Christmas, everybody's having fun.
Here's Tamsin and The Octopus Girl having a girly night out with some angels they heard on high down at the Dustpan and ipod.
All in all, we're walking in a winter wonderland. Occasionally we stop to sit on a beautifully decorated bench.
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| http://www.flickr.com/photos/abbyrowed/ |
It only remains to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
So, from all of us on Paradise Island . . .
A very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Credits
Linda Bowman picked up photography while going through chemotherapy eight years ago. It is now a part of her everyday life and reflects how she sees the beauty of the world. I am delighted to see that this includes benches in some very beautiful settings.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lindabowman/
You've probably guessed that it's not a yule log being bench-pressed. This is a photo of pararescueman applicants bench pressing a wooden log in a mud pit during a screening process held by the Air Force 306th Rescue Squadron in Tucson, Ariz. In this test the applicants do a timed 3-mile run, 1500- meter swim, calisthenics, and other various tasks. The photo was taken by Airman 1st Class Veronica Pierce, U.S. Air Force on April 21, 2006. This image is a work of a U.S. military or Department of Defense employee, taken or made as part of that person's official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image is in the public domain.
If you're fond of yule logs there's a special log bench post at http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/log-benches-just-logs-and-cake.html Warning: this post also contains cake.
The Victorian Christmas card is from the Nova Scotia archives on Flickr Commons at http://www.flickr.com/photos/nsarchives/11222221966/ It's so great to see all these local archives coming into the Commons. Already I've used Florida, Newcastle and Tyne, Missouri, and some of the Northern Ireland, Canadian and Australian archives. What a treasure trove of stuff there will be from all over the world!
Mike Cogh lives in Adelaide and photographed the Tinsel Bench in December 2011. It's included in Benches of the World Group. Mike has an extensive set of Humble Bench photographs at http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikecogh/
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| http://www.flickr.com/photos/nationalarchives/5263978078/ |
The benched Santa is from Asian Replicas, who make a huge variety of lifesize statues and furniture in the Philippines www.asianreplicas.com Elsewhere on Benchsite you will find their edible benches such as tacos and ice creams. Youll also see their Siberian tiger on Noah's Ark at http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/noahs-ark-benches-for-world-animal-day.html
Ryde Esplanade in Snow was taken by Lucy Boynton in December 2010. If you've ever had a ticket to Ryde, you'll know this is on the Isle of Wight where, usually, there isn't much snow. Lucy loves taking pictures and there are lots of great ones on her photostream at http://www.flickr.com/photos/boynton/ I found the Ryde Esplanade snow benches at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ryde_Esplanade_during_snow_December_2010.jpg
Ryde Esplanade in Snow was taken by Lucy Boynton in December 2010. If you've ever had a ticket to Ryde, you'll know this is on the Isle of Wight where, usually, there isn't much snow. Lucy loves taking pictures and there are lots of great ones on her photostream at http://www.flickr.com/photos/boynton/ I found the Ryde Esplanade snow benches at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ryde_Esplanade_during_snow_December_2010.jpg
You might have guessed that the prettily decorated little gingerbread house was too small to be Miggy's house. It's a Christmas decoration at a shopping mall in Porto Alegre in Brazil. I saw it at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Christmas_decoration_(DSC04820).jpg?uselang=en-gb
If you ever need a brilliant card for a gay or lesbian wedding, you can find one at Mamamare. They have a whole range of gay wedding, love and romance cards and also this lovely Christmas card of domestic bliss round the Christmas tree. Luckily, there happens to be a little red sofa in the picture, so it's just right for Benchsite. www.etsy.com/shop/Mamamare
The dog in the Santa hat is a Merry Christmas dog, photographed by Miki Yoshihito, who lives in Sapporo City in Japan. Miki obviously likes dogs as there are a lot on his photostream, along with many interesting pictures of life in Japan. http://www.flickr.com/photos/mujitra/ If you like dogs you might like to see some dog benches.
If you ever need a brilliant card for a gay or lesbian wedding, you can find one at Mamamare. They have a whole range of gay wedding, love and romance cards and also this lovely Christmas card of domestic bliss round the Christmas tree. Luckily, there happens to be a little red sofa in the picture, so it's just right for Benchsite. www.etsy.com/shop/Mamamare
The dog in the Santa hat is a Merry Christmas dog, photographed by Miki Yoshihito, who lives in Sapporo City in Japan. Miki obviously likes dogs as there are a lot on his photostream, along with many interesting pictures of life in Japan. http://www.flickr.com/photos/mujitra/ If you like dogs you might like to see some dog benches.
Stacy Scissors in Tucson has the best name of all Etsy shops: Running with Scissors. She describes her shop as emo, scene, rockabilly, kitsch, rocker, and hardcore bling, in other words, stuff for the sweet and evil side of every girl. There is all kinds of jewelry, including razorblade necklaces and the bright and blingy Bah Humbug necklace. If you have a look at her shop, you're in for a treat. www.etsy.com/shop/runningwithscissors
Christmas shopping already has a post of its own. I put it up when there were just 19 benches left til Christmas. It contains lots of great shopping ideas for the bench-centrics among us. http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/just-x-shopping-benches-til-christmas.html This year shopping was pretty much centred on Black Friday. Do we have Black Friday benches here on Benchsite? We certainly do!
The little winter scene with sleigh ride is apparently not an official Winter village set, in case you need to know that. It's a 109 piece set that was available as a limited-edition for the 2012 holiday season. It was apparently free with the purchase of $100 worth of other Lego sets, or $15 as a stand-alone. So now you know. I saw it on Wikicommons at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lego_2012_Holiday_Set_-_3300014_(8310672569).jpg
Anna Mulhearn in Liverpool likes to relish the ridiculous and highlight the hilarious. Her shop is Animal Hair Stuff, which sells, well, stuff, especially prints and greeting cards. This includes a set of greeting cards for Christmas featuring a cat wrapped up in green ribbon. No, it's not my cat, but I love the cards. www.etsy.com/shop/animalhairstuff And by the way, here on Benchsite we've got cat benches aplenty.
R. Kurtz lives in Oakland, California and photographed the blue tree lights in December 2011. This Garden of Delights is presented every Christmas season at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens. He also photographed the house lit up with lights, which is not my house but a house in Chesapeake, seen at http://www.flickr.com/photos/kurtz433/ If you like blue, you might like to see some blue benches for a Blue Monday.
Roving Girl loves light and all things that glow. And she has a secret: she loves candy canes so much that she conjured up a magic candy cane vine and now she can have candy canes all year round. Good idea! Roving Girl does a lot of Bench Mondays so there are some great bench pictures on her photostream, as well as many others. http://www.flickr.com/photos/rovinggirlnotes/
Pop Art Decoration is a young company specialising in decoration and visual design for homes and businesses. They have a whole range of themed products, including life-size animal furniture like the cow sofa. http://www.popartdecoration.com/store/furniture/sofas/cow-bench/ And speaking of cows, Lord Brassica is something of an expert. Let him show you the cream of bovine benches.
The sheep bench is one of several bench sculptures called Eastwick Park Farm, made by Rosalie Sherman in 1983 as part of the ongoing Philadelphia Public Art project. It includes a vast array of public art: 846 sculptures, fountains, mosaics, memorials and, of course, benches, scattered all around Philadelphia. There are driving site tours and maps for locating the art. The scale of the Philart project is really quite something and it's being added to all the time. http://www.philart.net/ Here on Benchsite there are some really baaaaaad sheep benches at http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/baaaaad-sheep-benches.html
Anna Mulhearn in Liverpool likes to relish the ridiculous and highlight the hilarious. Her shop is Animal Hair Stuff, which sells, well, stuff, especially prints and greeting cards. This includes a set of greeting cards for Christmas featuring a cat wrapped up in green ribbon. No, it's not my cat, but I love the cards. www.etsy.com/shop/animalhairstuff And by the way, here on Benchsite we've got cat benches aplenty.
Back in September when my husbands were slugging it out over the Workbench post, I was lucky enough to find this beautiful Wassail workbench. It's from CuriousArtLab, which is described by its creator, Leah Palmer Preiss, as a wunderkammer of art, oddments and curiosities. There I found what Leah describes as a pair of Santa's elves, toasting each other for a job well done, at the end of a long day of woodworking on a tight deadline ... Their workbench is still scattered with the tools of their trade (inspired by Joseph's tools in Campin's Mérode Altarpiece), along with a generous bowl of wassail. Odd, curious, arty - what a shop! www.etsy.com/shop/CuriousArtLab
R. Kurtz lives in Oakland, California and photographed the blue tree lights in December 2011. This Garden of Delights is presented every Christmas season at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens. He also photographed the house lit up with lights, which is not my house but a house in Chesapeake, seen at http://www.flickr.com/photos/kurtz433/ If you like blue, you might like to see some blue benches for a Blue Monday.
Roving Girl loves light and all things that glow. And she has a secret: she loves candy canes so much that she conjured up a magic candy cane vine and now she can have candy canes all year round. Good idea! Roving Girl does a lot of Bench Mondays so there are some great bench pictures on her photostream, as well as many others. http://www.flickr.com/photos/rovinggirlnotes/
Pop Art Decoration is a young company specialising in decoration and visual design for homes and businesses. They have a whole range of themed products, including life-size animal furniture like the cow sofa. http://www.popartdecoration.com/store/furniture/sofas/cow-bench/ And speaking of cows, Lord Brassica is something of an expert. Let him show you the cream of bovine benches.
The sheep bench is one of several bench sculptures called Eastwick Park Farm, made by Rosalie Sherman in 1983 as part of the ongoing Philadelphia Public Art project. It includes a vast array of public art: 846 sculptures, fountains, mosaics, memorials and, of course, benches, scattered all around Philadelphia. There are driving site tours and maps for locating the art. The scale of the Philart project is really quite something and it's being added to all the time. http://www.philart.net/ Here on Benchsite there are some really baaaaaad sheep benches at http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/baaaaad-sheep-benches.html
Madonna and Child on a Grass Bench is a painting from about 1470. I am not sure who the painter was but Dieric Bouts is referred to and he lived from 1450-1499 so you get the basic idea - this painting is old. It is oil and tempera on an oak panel and was acquired in 1928 by the Rijksmuseum Twenthe in Enschede. It's still there so should you find yourself in the eastern Netherlands, you could pop in and see it. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Madonna_and_Child_-_Follower_of_Dieric_Bouts.jpg And while you're there, why not see some other Dutch benches? You don't even need to travel; there's a whole alphabet of Dutch benches here on Benchsite.
Santa on a bench making a mobile phone call is not something you see every day. Papa Noel was in Distrito C in Madrid when this photo was taken by M. Peinado in 2009. I found it on Wikimedia at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Madrid_-_217.JPG
The Four Little Santas on a bench were at the Great Santa Run in Edinburgh in 2009. They were photographed by emusing Emma, who saw, among many others, fat Santa, skinny Santa, running Santa, walking Santa, limping Santa, Santa on crutches, happy Santa, sad Santa, waving Santa, photographer Santa, green Santa, real Santa, Santa paws, Mrs Claus, little elf, little reindeer, sniffly Santa, yawning Santa, eating Santa, drinking Santa, baby Santa, fast Santa, slow Santa, naughty but nice Santas, romantic Santa, solitary Santa, twin Santas, old Santa, young Santa, runaway Santa, drumming Santa, and my cousin Santa! Some of them are on Emma's photostream at http://www.flickr.com/photos/emusing-emma/
Mandy Parsons took the photo of the lovely white Christmas bench with a wrapped package, which is definitely not my cats. Mandy photographs lots of holidays, concerts, places, and stuff she's made. Her photo sets are at http://www.flickr.com/photos/whimsicalwoodland/
The Four Little Santas on a bench were at the Great Santa Run in Edinburgh in 2009. They were photographed by emusing Emma, who saw, among many others, fat Santa, skinny Santa, running Santa, walking Santa, limping Santa, Santa on crutches, happy Santa, sad Santa, waving Santa, photographer Santa, green Santa, real Santa, Santa paws, Mrs Claus, little elf, little reindeer, sniffly Santa, yawning Santa, eating Santa, drinking Santa, baby Santa, fast Santa, slow Santa, naughty but nice Santas, romantic Santa, solitary Santa, twin Santas, old Santa, young Santa, runaway Santa, drumming Santa, and my cousin Santa! Some of them are on Emma's photostream at http://www.flickr.com/photos/emusing-emma/
Mandy Parsons took the photo of the lovely white Christmas bench with a wrapped package, which is definitely not my cats. Mandy photographs lots of holidays, concerts, places, and stuff she's made. Her photo sets are at http://www.flickr.com/photos/whimsicalwoodland/
On the 'icicle bench' two goblins peek over the top of a decorative line. This image is from M.E. (Elizabeth) Anderson's The Goblins' Christmas, published in 1908. Illustrations are by Alexander Sharp. From the Project Gutenberg e-books. This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook at www.gutenberg.org
Jodakila Galang (Jodax) took the photo of the coloured lights in 2008. It was part of a Garden d'Lights in Bellevue Botanical Gardens near Seattle. That's all I know about Jodax but I really enjoyed his photo sets at http://www.flickr.com/photos/jodax/
Choo Yut Shing from Singapore took the photo of the bench under a red star. It was in the pedestrian mall, Orchard Road, during the festive season in 2010. Choo likes benches and there are some brilliant ones in his photostream at http://www.flickr.com/photos/25802865@N08/
Balancing Act is a person who appears to be walking on top of a bench in Colwick Country Park . It was photographed by Alan Murray-Rust for Geograph in February 2009. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Balancing_act_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1163787.jpg Walking along the back of a bench is just one of the 31 things you can do on a bench. See them all at http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/31-things-to-do-on-bench.htm
Little Chameleons in Bishop Stortford make handmade personalised children's toy boxes and furniture. This includes the little blue Naughty Bench. SuperNanny would surely approve. www.etsy.com/shop/littlechameleons
Christopher Rotter in New York makes lovely little people of all kinds,including the couple on the bench. They might be part of a Christmas Village, or they may be someone I know here in Fribble. To see all these lovely little people go to Christopher's shop Leddy Slack at www.etsy.com/shop/leddyslack
The Santa lying down on the bench is called Bænkebidder and it's by Ma1974 in Naestved, Sjaelland in Denmark. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ma1974/300288639/ Ma1974 understands Danish and English and some Swedish and Norwegian. She understands very little German and a few words of French and Dutch. About this picture the photographer poses the question Julemanden laver hvad på bænken? Which, according to my limited Danish, means What is Santa Claus doing on the bench? A question I have already asked myself.
Little Chameleons in Bishop Stortford make handmade personalised children's toy boxes and furniture. This includes the little blue Naughty Bench. SuperNanny would surely approve. www.etsy.com/shop/littlechameleons
Christopher Rotter in New York makes lovely little people of all kinds,including the couple on the bench. They might be part of a Christmas Village, or they may be someone I know here in Fribble. To see all these lovely little people go to Christopher's shop Leddy Slack at www.etsy.com/shop/leddyslack
The Santa lying down on the bench is called Bænkebidder and it's by Ma1974 in Naestved, Sjaelland in Denmark. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ma1974/300288639/ Ma1974 understands Danish and English and some Swedish and Norwegian. She understands very little German and a few words of French and Dutch. About this picture the photographer poses the question Julemanden laver hvad på bænken? Which, according to my limited Danish, means What is Santa Claus doing on the bench? A question I have already asked myself.
Abigail Noonan is a graphic designer in Washington DC. She photographs her friends and activities, including the beautiful Christmas bench with a red bow, on her photostream at http://www.flickr.com/photos/abbyrowed/
Lady Jessica Brassica is a fashionista and
former model with Studio Joop from Overbearing in Holland County Offhand in Ireland where she designs woolly warm fashions for autumn. Troy
Innocent is the daughter-in-law of Lord and Lady Brassica. Since her wedding to their numpty son Root, Innocent has emerged from her convent nursing dress into something of
a fashion icon. Now Lady B and Innocent are what you
might call competitive in the fashion stakes. Warning: there was nothing sparkly about the silver/gold fashion debacle at new year's eve.
Many of the Fribble and Drizzly folk have turned out to wish you a merry Christmas. In the photo below, right to left in the back row is Police Constable Willie Wyme, best known for his illegal smile benches. Mikey the Mariner knows all about ocean benches, and boat benches too. Root (future Sixth Earl of Drizzly) is a bit of a waster, but still he can tell you about bus stop benches, party benches and, in his own weird way, sleeping on benches. Tamsin has an
In the middle are Lord Brassica, Lord Brassica's dog Pru, Tamsin's baby Isambard (origin unknown), and, of course, Hello Kitty. Each of these has a story to tell on other Benchsite posts. If you're meeting them for the first time, go to Who's Who in Fribble and that will tell you all you need to know.
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