Welcome Flaming June!
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| http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Summer_Solstice_Sunrise |
My dear imaginary friend Miggy is going to help me out with some classy calendar benches for June.
Miggy: Some of these benches in this first image look a bit wonky.
Those aren't benches, Migs - that's Stonehenge. This is the Summer Solstice - it's a midsummer night's dream!
Miggy: I thought we were doing a calendar.
We are. The June calendar is packed with exciting events.
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| photo courtesy of US Army |
There are loads of things to celebrate. For a start, it's Men's Health Month. You know how much men like to keep healthy on benches.
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Miggy: Who wants to see some sweaty men benching?
I can see you're a bench sceptic, Migs. The best thing is to work our way through the June calendar. Here we go.
June 1
June 1st is Children's Day. And there's nothing like a group of happy children on a bench.
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| https://www.flickr.com/photos/mishmish/351667602 |
Miggy: I wonder if the ice cream has anything to do with it.
And speaking of ice cream, June 1st is also World Milk Day. Here on Paradise Island, farmer Lord Brassica, Fifth Earl of Drizzly, has a
Miggy: I'd go so far as to say that Lord Brassica's benches are the creme de la creme of cow benches.
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| http://www.julialohmann.co.uk/ |
Another memorable event for the first day of June is Go Barefoot Day.
Miggy: I know someone who never wears shoes.
Yes. Our friend Troy is a pilgrim from Dry Heaves, Minnesota.
He goes barefoot summer and winter.
Here he is at the Bench Oscars last year, tuxed out, but still with bare feet.
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He was a whirling dervish in Istanbul.
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Which reminds me, June is National Turkey Lovers Month.
Is that turkey as in Thanksgiving or Turkey as in Istanbul?
You're right to ask, Migs. We've had some confusion about this in the past.
So if we were turkey lovers, how would we celebrate?
Well, here's a happy turkey bench.
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| www.etsy.com/shop/outbackinthebarn |
Actually I'm not keen on turkey. I'd rather have spaghetti.
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| http://www.pabloreinoso.com/en/Art-8-spaghetti-bench.html |
June 2
You're in luck then. June 2nd is Republic Day in Italy.
Excellent! We just happen to have some bella bella Italian benches from our trip to Italy last summer.
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We can't mention Italy without food, so here's a pizza bench that looks good enough to eat.
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| https://www.flickr.com/photos/lirena/ |
I'll have a cappuccino with it.
June 3
The 3rd of June is Repeat Day.
What on earth is this about?
The 3rd of June is Repeat Day.
So you said. But what are we supposed to repeat?
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| https://www.flickr.com/photos/khowaga/4129100906/ |
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| Andy Beecroft @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/-_geograph.org.uk_ |
Stop will you!
June 4
An important day in the calendar. For one thing, it's Engineers Day and here on Paradise Island we are lucky enough to have our very own engineer. That's Emily, who won the Spanner of the Year award for her work on toilet benches.
Thanks to Emily, our community is now flush with elegant toilet benches.
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Emily also knows a lot about bridge benches and she showed us some brilliant bridge benches from all over the world.
Speaking of bridges, do you know what happened on the 3rd of June?
Was it another sleepy, dusty delta day?
It was.
And was there some news that morning from Choctaw Ridge?
There was.
The words Tallahatchie and Bridge come to mind.
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| http://www.flickr.com/photos/deshaunicus/ |
Yes, Billie Joe McAllister (no relation of mine) jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge.
This looks like the Brooklyn Bridge but never mind.
June 4th is also Hug Your Cat Day.
Of course. Cats had to come into it somehow.
We have all kinds of animal benches here on Benchsite, not least the ones edited by Meredith from animal editors dot com.
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Meredith shows us cat benches in all their feline purrfection.
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| http://www.flickr.com/photos/lehcar1477 |
Let's move on swiftly so we don't get caught up in another catastrophe of cat benches.
June 5
It's World Environment Day! Fortunately, Benchsite features many environmentally friendly benches.
Yes, we're very, very green.
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| https://www.flickr.com/photos/immagina/227638786/ |
For example, here is a very large bench made from recycled tyres.
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| https://www.flickr.com/photos/glamhag/1937794256 |
These don't look very green to me.
They are though. They're at the Eden Project biodome in Cornwall.
Even cars can be recycled into useful benches.
Yes, but recycling is dodging the issue.
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| https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/TailgateGuy |
June 5th is also Doughnut Day.
There would be a hole in the story if we didn't have a doughnut bench.
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| www.asianreplicas.com |
June 6
Since 1944, June 6th has been known as D-Day. Lest we forget the sacrifice made by so many, we have some very nice remembrance benches, commemorating all sorts of people and events. Here's one for those killed in Flanders fields.
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| http://www.flickr.com/photos/tinhutjohn/ |
And here is our very own Benchsite peace message:
After all the benches about war, we say Give peace benches a chance.
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| http://www.flickr.com/photos/snurri/ |
June 7
Is there anything happening on June 7th?
I'll check the calendar.
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| https://www.flickr.com/photos/redstamp/4656252793/ |
That'll be the day that I move my house down to the beach for the summer.
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OK, but keep back from the waterline. The oceans are rising.
Which reminds me . . .
June 8th is World Oceans Day
The variety of sea benches on Benchsite is as wide as the ocean.
Back in 2013 Mikey the Mariner showed us a brilliant array of benches with fish, waves, water . . .
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| www.straightlinedesigns.com |
and, of course, mermaids.
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You've got to watch it with him. He's a salty little sailor, is Mikey. Remember the whale tail?
The less said about that, the better.
June 9
Did you know that June 9th is Donald Duck Day?
Duck benches - we'd be quackers not to have 'em.
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| http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bench,_Ward_Park.jpg |
Just by chance, I found Donald on a bench in Helsinki.
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| https://www.flickr.com/photos/skrubu/5537103496/ |
He looks a bit miserable. Maybe nobody sent him a card?
June 11
It's National Corn on the Cob Day and for a genuine corn bench, Colonel Maize is your man. He's a sweet
Yes, every October he gets his cobs out.
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June 14
Oh say, what can you see by the dawn's early light?
Nothing much.
In the US it's Flag Day.
I think I can just make out a star spangled banner bench.
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| https://www.flickr.com/groups/bushlibrary/ |
Yes, there's a bit of a sparkle. Or a rocket's red glare or something.
June 15
It's Smile Power Day so we need some smiley benches.
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| http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Smiley_Face_bench.jpg |
In a previous Smile Bench story I asked Willy Wyme, our local police constable, to help out. He's a smiley kind of guy but prone to getting into trouble.
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The Smile story was a shambles so I'm not sure who had the last laugh.
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| https://www.flickr.com/photos/lirena/4745255801/in/set-72157624122779453 |
June 17
I wonder how many people are going to eat vegetables on June 17th.
Why should they?
It's Eat Your Vegetables Day.
Unfortunately for me, actual vegetable benches are hard to find but vegetables on a bench: no problem.
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Oh dear, it's Colonel Maize again. He has fallen in love with the Deviant Carrot girl.
Bad idea.
Yes, she's already got a boyfriend.
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June 18
It's International Picnic Day. Lord Brassica is the man for picnics.
As the Fifth Earl of Drizzly, Lord B can arrange a picnic faster than you can ring for a hamper from Harrods.
He's fond of picnic benches too.
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| www.etsy.com/shop/abasketof |
It's a good idea to cut the grass before you have your picnic though.
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| http://hairkocornelissen.com |
The 18th is also International Sushi Day. We know all about sushi here on Paradise Island because our Japanese friends visit every spring, bringing with them their culture and customs . . .
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. . . and a lot of Japanese benches too. This one is made from chopsticks.
You could eat a lot of sushi with those.
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| http://www.yuyavsdesign.com |
Golly, June is certainly a month for celebrating food.
June 20
It's Ice Cream Soda Day!
July is Ice Cream month so in a few weeks I'll be showing you some delicious ice cream benches.
You scream, I scream, we all scream for ice cream.
If you stop screaming I'll show you an ice cream sundae bench.
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| http://www.ardt.biz/ARDTCatalog2013/ARDT_Catalog_2013.zip |
And a banana split bench.
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| https://www.flickr.com/photos/91607162@N04/8387734091/ |
Nothing like an ice cream soda. Not even in the same kind of dish.
OK, why don't we just wait til July.
June 21
The busiest day of the month.
First off, in the northern hemisphere, June 21st is Summer Solstice. It's that time of year when the sunny summer benches start shining.
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| https://www.flickr.com/photos/salinaspoet/1143285677 |
Here in the UK it is seldom brightly sunny though.
Quite often it's cloudy grey, with just a bit of sun smiling through.
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| http://www.flickr.com/photos/17903031 |
I love summer. The only downside to summer is the dandelion benches. They pop up all over the garden.
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| www.sallybridgemetal.com |
Don't worry if you're Down South on the planet. We'll spare a thought for you on your frozen winter benches.
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| https://www.flickr.com/photos/rofflcopterr/398552083 |
International Yoga Day is also on the 21st. Benches and yoga go together like . . . well, no, they don't go together very well actually but here's a cracking yoga position on a bench.
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| http://www.whyoga.com/the-splits |
Don't try this at home.
As if that's not enough, June 21st is also World Music Day. We're very musical here on Benchsite, oh yes we are.
There is a whole chorus of tuneful piano benches . . .
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| https://www.flickr.com/photos/europealacarte/13971744213 |
. . . and some grand pianos too.
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| https://www.flickr.com/photos/29482098@N04/11520150865/ |
Drowning Prevention Week is June 21-29.
Is this relevant to benches?
Of course it is. There are lots of swimming benches here on Benchsite and a tribute to wild swimmers too.
In any weather you will find some of us keen swimmers out there in the water.
Is this June on Paradise Island?
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| https://www.flickr.com/photos/andrey_747/6776208229 |
No, it's Murmansk in Russia. Possibly in summer.
The words brass and monkeys come to mind. I'm going to stay ashore.
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| https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/SmadarPaperMacheArt |
Here's my own swimming bench down at The Plunge in Fribble-under-Par.
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And here I am at five fathoms, swimming for the starfish bench.
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Good luck with that.
Finally, in the US, UK and Canada, June 21st is Father's Day.
That's the day when you take your poor old padre out to dinner, or buy him some socks, or a voucher for a dead plant at the garden centre.
Better still, why not get him a bench?
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| https://www.flickr.com/photos/jojakeman/2803264633/ |
June 22
The third week of June will be a hive of activity. Insect Week begins!
No, it doesn't. That was last year. Insect Week is biennial.
Well, I like Insect Week so there'll be lots of creepy crawlies here on Benchsite later this month.
I'll buzz on over when the time comes.
June 23
June 23rd is Fifty Shades of Pink.
Oh no, not that Fifty Shades thing again.
Yes, it's Pink Day. It just so happens that we already have a lot of pink benches here on Benchsite.
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| www.boex.co.uk |
We have some grey ones too.
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| https://www.flickr.com/photos/mathias764/9590484988 |
June 24
This date is significent for two reasons.
One, it's Take Your Dog to Work Day.
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| http://www.dogmt.com/ |
I can think of some reasons NOT to take your dog to work though.
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| www.straightlinedesigns.com |
We've had cat benches so it's only fair that we have a dog bench.
Secondly, June 24th is the start of World Breastfeeding Week.
Is this relevant?
Yes, because a bench is an excellent place to breastfeed a baby.
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| http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Generationen.jpg |
This baby is bottle fed though. Just saying.
You're being unhelpful, Miggy. Please let me get on with the calendar.
June 25
The Day of the Seafarer. You can't get more sea-faring than Mikey the Mariner.
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He really rocks the boat with his maritime benches.
Which - let's face it - are mainly mermaids.
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| https://www.flickr.com/photos/43067379@N00/357077960/ |
Ahoy there, Matey! Any chance of a boat bench?
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Well, Mikey says this will have to do until Maritime Day rolls around in September. In the meantime, he's off to sea on the HMS Peculiar.
Let's wave him off.
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| https://www.flickr.com/photos/djimison/125942216/ |
June 27
To be honest I'm getting a bit tired of all these days now.
Only three more to go. Thirty days hath September . . .
So what's next? Let me guess. National Sunglasses Day?
You're right, Migs!
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| https://www.flickr.com/photos/oldpatterns/3886241380/ |
There's something shady about all these National Days.
No, there isn't. It's just a bit of fun.
June 28
What's this?
It's someone's birthday!
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| http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bench_in_Paris |
Whose?
Doesn't matter. We'll just say Happy Birthday to everyone born on June 28th.
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| https://www.flickr.com/photos/virginiamosaics/5809290878/ |
Fine. This is a good place to end.
Well, there's still National Camera Day . . .
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| https://www.flickr.com/photos/lotterymonkey/861790343/ |
. . . and National Waffle Iron Day and
Please make it stop. It's only June 1st and it's been a long month already.
Credits
This June calendar follows the Gregorian calendar, which has been used in most of the world since 1752. But come September, I chose to organise September events using the old Julian calendar. Benches on fire, iguanas, cross-dressing pirates - what a month!
The Summer Solstice Sunrise over Stonehenge was photographed on June 21, 2005 by Andrew Dunn, who watched with 19,000 other people. Andrew's gorgeous photos are at http://www.andrewdunnphoto.com/ and this image is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Summer_Solstice_Sunrise_over_Stonehenge_2005.jpg which is where I found it.
The bright events-filled June 2015 calendar is the US Army Medicine Health Calendar, published on May 29th, just in time for me to find it for this story. It highlights Men's Health Month and lots of other aspects of health, plus some of the June events featured in this story. The photo is courtesy of the U.S. Army and is cleared for release in the public domain.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/armymedicine/18233276595/
The bench-pressing men here in Fribble-under-Par are being coached by our local personal trainer, Rawlings Benchleigh-Press. One of them, Root, is not actually pressing, he's just resting after a night of partying at the Dustpan and ipod. Rawl used to be a barrister so he can lay down the law about legal and illegal benches.
Emma and Her Cousins (2009) are the four happy kids eating ice cream in a small town. The photographer is Mish Mish, an Egyptian-American, born and raised in Texas. She's a wife, mother, sister, aunt, friend, MBA, financial analyst, blogger, dog-lover, brunette, and photographer. https://www.flickr.com/photos/mishmish/3516676025
On a Sunday morning photowalk David Ingram saw a pair of high heel shoes and a pair of glasses on a bench. His fantasy was that their owners had a good time Saturday night and that the loss of the shoes and glasses was worth it. https://www.flickr.com/photos/dingatx/4299836786/ David is from Omaha, currently living in Austin, Texas.
The strikingly beautiful headless leather cows are by designer Julia Lohmann (born in Germany 1977) and now based in London and Hamburg. http://www.julialohmann.co.uk/ The Cow Benches (2004) have appeared in design shows all over the world and are much photographed wherever they are exhibited. The designer describes them as a bovine momento mori. She explores the contradictions in our use of animals, using offal, offcuts of leather, and meat industry waste products in her work. On Benchsite they are the creme de la creme of bovine benches.
Troy is a very nice guy and showed us some terrific Turkey benches at Thanksgiving. He breezed into our town this summer. He's normcore and his occupation is Pilgrim. Apart from that, all we know about him is this: 1) he comes from Dry Heaves, Minnesota, where he learned to read poetry in a particularly alluring voice 2) he never wears shoes 3) he is extremely polite and calls ladies Ma'm 4) he speaks a lot of languages fluently 5) he carries a manbag filled with books, a violin and a ladder in case anyone needs to be rescued.
Cindy Oppel is Out Back in the Barn and she sure knows how to celebrate the American holidays. For Thanksgiving alone she's got a handpainted pilgrim boy and girl, a handpainted turkey, and this lovely turkey bench to rest your feathers. Handpainted wood crafts, shop home items, homemade jam - she's got it all for every holiday. www.etsy.com/shop/outbackinthebarn
Miggy, Mungo and I went to Italy last summer looking for tasty benches. Pasta, coffee, arguments - mama mia - we've got it all.
The Spaghetti Bench is one of a series by Pablo Reinoso, a French-Argentinean artist and designer. Starting in 2006, Reinoso used public benches, which are anonymously designed and travel across cultures with an out-of-time, old-fashioned quality, as a starting point for his reflections . . . These new creations have multiplied and found homes in very diverse places. The fabulous benches can be seen on his website at http://www.pabloreinoso.com/en/Art-8-spaghetti-bench.html or at his postings on Wikimedia.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Double_Spaghetti.jpg?uselang=en-gb and http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Huge_Sudeley_Bench.jpg?uselang=en-gb
The pizza bench is by Liren Chen at https://www.flickr.com/photos/lirena/ Liren Chan, from New York, is a prolific photographer of benches, incuding the Parade of Benches in Rochester, New York. She also photographed the Chuckles smile bench at the Rundell Library in Rochester in 2010. Sponsored by Kodak, the artists are Chris Palace and Kevin Serwacki https://www.flickr.com/photos/lirena/4745255801/in/set-72157624122779453
Repetitive rows of benches are very popular on Flickr. The first image was photographed by Christopher S. Rose, who has a good eye for patterns and repetition. The benches were at Copley Square, Back Bay, Boston in 2009. https://www.flickr.com/photos/khowaga/4129100906/ Christopher is an Austin, Texas-based amateur photographer who enjoys taking photos of architecture and landscapes, and stealth portrait photography. His work has appeared in a variety of domestic and foreign publications. He describes himself as an overeducated cog in the machine.
Andy Beecroft is a keen walker, cyclist and photographer for GEOGRAPH. The long row of benches are in a small seafront park in North Yorkshire. Andy photographed them in late in October at the end of the holiday season in 2009. The chrysanthemums were looking a bit worse for wear.https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:It%27s_the_end_of_the_Season_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1544778.jpg?uselang=en-gb
The rows of log benches were photographed by me at Longleat Safari Park in 2014. I knew it would come in handy one day. There are some great log benches here on Benchsite. Also cake. http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/log-benches-just-logs-and-cake.html
Emily Hardhat went to school with my husband His Excellency. She was very clever at school and was fortunate enough to be absent from chemistry class on the day His Excellency blew up the school. Emily has been our Engineer-in-Residence since last year, when she won the Spanner of the Year award for engineering achievement. Inspired by my History of Toilet Benches, one of her achievements is these attractive toilet benches made from recycled shampoo and shower gel lids. The other is her guide to the well-engineered benches of the world.
In 1967 Bobbie Gentry wrote the haunting song Ode to Billie Joe. On the 3rd of June, for whatever reason, Billie Joe went up to Choctaw Ridge and jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge. This sparked a wave of interest in jumping off the bridge, which is in Money, Mississippi. Fortunately, the bridge is only 20 feet (6 metres) high so no one died but the local Money council had to ban jumping. As for me, I spend a lot of time picking flowers up on Choctaw Ridge and tossing them into the muddy waters off the Wallahatchie Bridge.
The brilliant Brooklyn Bridge bench was photographed in Brooklyn Heights by DeShaun Craddock in 2011. A self-taught Brooklyn photographer, De Shaun shoots mostly urban landscapes. New York landmarks, music gigs, Brooklyn street life, no pants subway rides - his photostream has it all. He also creates prints of the images for his shop. http://www.flickr.com/photos/deshaunicus/
Meredith is modelled by my own cat Melissa. She helped me with a post about the benches of St. Helier and, of course, benches for World Cat Day. Melissa, like Naomi Campbell, is not prepared to get out of bed for less than ten thousand dollars a day. That puts her out of my price range so I used the same pictures as before. If you like Meredith's style of editing and you don't mind cats, see what she did to my post about piano benches.
The Don Drumm bench was made by sculptor Don Drumm, who, in conjunction with Cricket Forge, makes a variety of sculptural pieces for galleries, gifts, and gardens. The cat bench shown here was photographed by Rachel at Ravenwood Curio Shoppe in Jackson, New Hampshire. Jackson is one of those rare places which has its own covered bridge. Rachel has a photostream full of gorgeous images. She loves autumn and there are a lot of beautiful pictures of New Hampshire and pumpkins and Halloween. There are beaches and beach house and surfing and all manner of interesting things at http://www.flickr.com/photos/lehcar1477
Quietly is the name of the photo where an elderly couple relax on a bench in a flowery field in Ortisei, Val Gardena, Italy. This lovely photo comes from Gianluca Ruggiero, who is a chief operating officer living in Rome. He has a glorious Dolomites album, as well as Naples, Paris, Budapest and summer in Umbria. 2006 Dolomites album
https://www.flickr.com/photos/immagina/227638786/
The very large bench made up entirely of tyres is at the Rainforest biome at Eden Project in Cornwall. It was photographed in 2007 by Glamhag, who is a member of the wonderful Bench Whores group on Flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/glamhag/1937794256
Todd in Oshkosh, Wisconsin is The Tailgate Guy. He has built 25 benches from tailgates of various kinds and they're sold on etsy https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/TailgateGuy The International Scout, the Dodge and all sorts of others are on his Facebook page, where you can see the whole process from tailgate to bench www.facebook.com/tailgateguy For more recycled, upcycled and repurposed benches see http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/recycled-upcycled-repurposed-benches.html
The doughnut stools and the delicious ice cream bench are among a huge variety of food furniture from www.asianreplicas.com in the Philippines. Their extensive catalog is at http://www.ardt.biz/ARDTCatalog2013/ARDT_Catalog_2013.zip For more edible benches and an incredible story about a chef from France, see
In November we remembered by looking at commemorative benches. The Delaware Legion cenotaph bench was photographed by TinhutJohn, otherwise known as John P Sargeant. It is one of thousands of cenotaph photos taken for his photostream at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tinhutjohn/ The bench is inscribed with John McCrae's famous poem In Flanders Fields. The poem is a rondeau, written during the World War I by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, a physician from Guelph, Ontario. He wrote the poem on May 3, 1915, after his friend and fellow soldier died in the Second Battle of Ypres. First published in London in December 1915, it is one of the most popular and most quoted war poems. McCrae survived the WWI battles but died of pnemonia in a military hospital in Flanders in January 1918.
The Let There Be Peace bench was photographed in 2010 by David Schwartz. It's on his photostream at http://www.flickr.com/photos/snurri/ and he also made it available at Creative Commons where I was delighted to find it for our collection of peace benches for World Peace Day.
Mikey the Mariner started his quest for love during World Oceans Day in 2013. If you'd like to see what happened next, have a look at the Three Scottish Weddings in July 2013. (Yes, Mikey was one of the three). And you can check up on Mikey again on Valentine's Day, 2014. But then why is he still going on about mermaids? Mariner Mikey has proven to be a less-than-reliable narrator here on Benchsite. I regret to say I cannot take responsibility for inconsistencies in his story. Please address any complaints directly to Mariner Mikey at thelustylittlesailor@seamail.com
There are two flabbergasting designs made by Judson Beaumont at Straight Line Designs Inc. in Vancouver. None of these designs are straight lines; each one throws a wobbly in an entirely different way www.straightlinedesigns.com The first one is the ocean bench. The other is the lifted leg dog bench, which is actually a table: it's called Bad Table. This amazing work has already appeared on Benchsite when the dogs on Noah's Ark didn't behave themselves.
Red Stamp is in Minneapolis and I found their June 2010 calendar on Flickr. Unless you've got a very keen eye, you wouldn't know it's from 2010. Red Stamp is a free app that makes moments into occasions with personalized digital + paper cards. Email, share online or have them print + mail. I like their colourful computer desktop calendars. https://www.flickr.com/photos/redstamp/4656252793/
The yellow duck bench is one of the only genuine duck benches I have found. By that I mean it is actually a duck bench, rather than a bench having ducks on, under, or around it. It's a park bench at Ward Park, Bangor, in County Down, Northern Ireland, photographed by Ross for Geograph. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bench,_Ward_Park_-_geograph.org.uk_-_732306.jpg If you prefer chickens, we've got that too:
Pekka Nikrus from Helsinki has an eclectic photostream, including benches and Donald Duck on a bench https://www.flickr.com/photos/skrubu/5537103496/ He also has a very interesting photo blog at http://snapshots.skrubu.net/
If Kernel Maize really has fallen for the Deviant Carrot Girl he's in bad luck because she already has a boyfriend. The anatomically correct pair are from my Deviant Carrot collection, autumn 2014.
Stars and Pipes is the American flag bench, photographed by Moon Man Mike outside the George Bush Sr. Presidential Library in Dallas, Texas in 2012. - https://www.flickr.com/photos/22875869@N02/7468970906 There is a Flickr group for this at https://www.flickr.com/groups/bushlibrary/
You can only smile for so long. After that it's just teeth. This is a quotation from Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk.The sunny yellow and orange Smiley Face bench is apparently in Coventry Village in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. (There is another Coventry in England, but that's not the one.) The author is THD3 and the image is available from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Smiley_Face_bench.jpg
Police Constable Willie Wyme just about keeps the peace here on Paradise Island, though on one occasion Willie himself was jailed for an illegal smile. In his defence, there were a lot of interesting smile benches for World Smile Day; it's just the one that was illegal.
Lord Brassica, Fifth Earl of Drizzly, is something of an expert on picnic benches. From Harrods hampers to sandwiches in the park, he provides a full guide to an excellent array of picnics and picnic benches at http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/lord-brassicas-guide-to-picnic-benches.html
The beach picnic miniature is from Lucy and Gillian in Tunbridge Wells. At www.etsy.com/shop/abasketof they have exquisite miniatures of dolls house food and table settings. Any one of them would make a terrific picnic.
The picNYC grass table is by architect Haiko Cornelissen in New York. It was a 2012 New York Design Week favourite. Not surprising. You can have a picnic anytime you want. http://hairkocornelissen.com
The three lovely Japanese girls visit us in Fribble every spring. In 2013 they brought with them some very exciting designer benches from Japan. If you're not familiar with Japan, don't waste your time searching for Kajagoogoo Prefecture on Google Earth. Kajagoogoo are a 1980s band from Leighton Buzzard in the UK (yes, Leighton Buzzard is a real place.)
The Chopstick Sofa-XXXX is by Yuya Ushida, who was born in 1975 in Nagoya Japan. He studied mechanical engineering and before graduating realized that he was more interested in making practical things that would contribute to people’s daily lives, rather than just machine parts, and therefore he decided to turn to the world of industrial design. Yuya says, Becoming a designer does not only require the attention to aesthetics, but also an understanding of materials, techniques and usability aspects of the product. The goal is to create products that make people happy. http://www.yuyavsdesign.com
As the photographer asks, who doesn't want to eat ice cream while sitting on this banana split bench? We have lots of delicious ice cream benches here on Benchsite. The Royal Seat is a commissioned artwork by Northside artist Mary Kwakenat located at the
Camden DQ. I'm not sure which Camden this is - London or elsewhere? https://www.flickr.com/photos/91607162@N04/8387734091/
There are lots of sunny benches for Benchsite summers. The brilliantly bright sun bench is by Craig, the Salinas poet. He's originally from New York but currently lives in Maryland. Before that he lived in California. He was working but then retired and now is working again. I think. Anyway, he photographed the bright and sunny bench in downtown SLO. Sorry, I don't know where SLO is. But I love the benches in Craig's photostream at https://www.flickr.com/photos/salinaspoet/1143285677
The smiling suns Happy Bench is a photograph from Bruce Aleksander and Dennis Milam's Flickr photostream, which contains photos from all over the world and rather a lot of nice benches. The Happy Bench is in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Bruce and Dennis's photos are at http://www.flickr.com/photos/17903031
The beautiful Dandelion Bench is a metal work by Sally Bridge in Wakefield, Rhode Island. Previously a fashion designer, Sally makes amazing furniture from metal. Her Rustic Modern Living collection is inspired by her home in Umbria in Italy, where she lives and works part of the year. She uses reclaimed, recycled and new metal for her pieces and works with local craftsmen. Sally describes her style as a culmination of the following elements: edge (which is undefininable), a sculptural aspect, graphic detail and boldness, a little 50′s, and a well travelled mind.
Her website is at www.sallybridgemetal.com
The Brrrrrrrilliant Brrrr bench was photographed in Decatur, Illinois in December 2006. The photographer is Tim O'Bryan, who now lives in Chicago. https://www.flickr.com/photos/rofflcopterr/398552083 For some very Frozen benches see what happened last winter with the boys from Snowvenia.
Doing the splits on a bench is not most people's idea of yoga, but it's certainly impressive. This photo comes from Vicky Oliver, a yoga teacher, trainer and practioner at whYoga in Greater London. Apparently this is Hanumasana, the Monkey Pose, and Vicky says it's beneficial for depression. She also says she can teach people to do the splits on a bench whilst reading a book. Vicky says Most of us believe The Splits to be one of those poses that only really flexible people can do, like celebrity yogis, Olympic gymnasts, seven year old girls and those lucky enough to have two parents who were rubber bands . . . Not so. It’s all about preparation. http://www.whyoga.com/the-splits
We've got lots of lovely music benches here on Benchsite. Tune into our piano benches or some of the festive festival benches we found last summer.
The full piano/bench was photographed in Andrassy Avenue, Budapest, in 2014. The photographer is Karen Bryan, who I saw on Flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/europealacarte/13971744213. Here is the link to the Europealalcarte blog www.europealacarte.co.uk/blog
The beautifully creative garden piano and bench were at the Allan garden in Toronto in December 2013. It was photographed by Judy Meikle, aka Trinimusic, who was born in Trinidad and Tobago but has mostly lived in Canada. Inspired by the creativity of Flickr people and their photographs, she took up photography in 2008. Her photostream includes lots of lovely pictures of Canada and quite a few benches too. https://www.flickr.com/photos/29482098@N04/11520150865/
Andrey Papko is from Murmansk in Russia. He's an Extreme Winter Swimmer. On the day this photo was taken the air temperature was -15°C and the water was a balmy 2°C https://www.flickr.com/photos/andrey_747/6776208229
My Swimming Bench is well documented on Benchsite. There's a post specifically about it called, not surprisingly, My Swimming Bench. You've seen the bench, you've heard the story, now read the poem. It's at http://benchsite.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/my-swimming-bench.html
Jo Jakeman photographed the Dad bench back in 2008. It was at the magnificent Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland. https://www.flickr.com/photos/jojakeman/2803264633/
The brilliant Pencil Bench is a work by British designers Boex 3D Creative Solutions www.boex.co.uk The pencil bench won a Cornwall Design award in 2007. It also appears on Benchsite World Book Day in 2013 and in the School's Out story. Sam Boex has previously given permission to use images of the Pencil Bench.
Formal is the name of the stunning photo with the grey bench. This is grey at its very best: intense, intelligent, smart. It was taken in Dresden in 2013 by Mathias Liebing, whose photostream I could browse for hours. Bright colours, brilliant patterns, exquisite textures - he uses the landscapes and townscapes of northern Germany to great effect. https://www.flickr.com/photos/mathias764/9590484988 For 50 shades of grey benches see
The two stately Labradors were around during the Dog Days of August benches. They were made by Stephen Huneck, a self-taught sculptor who carved by hand. The Stephen Huneck Gallery is at Dog Mountain, in St. Johnsbury, Vermont. http://www.dogmt.com/ Dog Mountain is set on a 150 acre private mountaintop and is always open to people and their dogs. Its unspoiled haven is covered with hiking trails and dog ponds. There is no leash law on Dog Mountain: dogs are not just welcome here, they are cherished. Dogs are free to run, play, swim and meet other dogs. Stephen's artworks include paintings, sculptures, books, and a Dog Chapel, A place where people can go and celebrate the spiritual bond they have with their dogs. It is the largest artwork of my life and my most personal. Stephen died in 2010 but his love of dogs lives on in his artwork.
Feeding a baby is a photograph called Generationen by Klaus D. Peter in Wiehl, Germany. The three generations were photographed in England in 1976.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Generationen.jpg By the way, feeding a baby is one of the 31 Things You Can Do on a Bench.
The colourful mermaid was photographed by Kat from Racine, Wisconsin in 2007. The mermaid and other sea life benches are in the Kid's Cove play area next to Lake Michigan. She and a kissing fish bench appeared in Mikey's story for World Oceans Day back in 2013. Kat has eclectic interests shown in her wonderful photos at https://www.flickr.com/photos/43067379@N00/357077960/
Last year I attended a wedding at landlocked Wells in Somerset. Not a likely prospect to find a sea bench. The reception was in a beautiful walled garden high on the hill overlooking Wells Cathedral and Glastonbury Tor. I took my glass of champagne and went wandering. The boat bench was alongside the pond. What a lovely bench to find in time for World Maritime Day.
The beautiful curling wave bench is in Karlskrona in Sweden, photographed in 2005 by Dave Jimison. Dave was a student then; I expect by now he has another occupation. https://www.flickr.com/photos/djimison/125942216/
The cheap but cheerful sunglasses were given to all the kids at Sammi's bar mitzvah back in 2009. She hand-lettered them all, and then Peter Lee took the photo while the ink dried. As far as I can tell, this all happened in Chelmsford, Massachusetts. https://www.flickr.com/photos/oldpatterns/3886241380/
The bench with balloons is a Banc public le long du canal Saint-Martin à Paris.It was photographed in 11 June 2013 by TCY and is available in Wikimedia through Creative Commons. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bench_in_Paris_with_balloons.jpeg?uselang=en-gb
The pretty mosaic bench with a birthday girl was photographed in 2011 in Charlottesville, probably not on June 28th. The bench was made by Virginia Gardner at Virginia Mosaics. It has been much photographed with many people sitting on it. https://www.flickr.com/photos/virginiamosaics/5809290878/in/album-72157624159581863/
The Canon camera on a red bench was photographed by Shannon from Meadville, Pennsylvania in 2007. Shannon owns a lot of cameras. We're partial to red benches here on Benchsite so it was great to find this. https://www.flickr.com/photos/lotterymonkey/861790343/
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